Dhammapada (translated from the Pali)
by F. Max M眉ller | 1881 | 38,599 words
The English translation of the Dhammapada鈥攁 central text in the Pali Buddhist canon, specifically part of the Sutta-pitaka. The Dhammapada comprises a collection of "law verses" that encapsulate the teachings of the Buddha, focusing on ethical conduct and mental cultivation. The text emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility, m...
Go directly to: Footnotes.
Chapter VI - The Wise Man (Pandita)
76. If you see an intelligent man who tells you where true treasures are to be found, who shows what is to be avoided, and administers reproofs, follow that wise man; it will be better, not worse, for those who follow him.
77. Let him admonish, let him teach, let him forbid what is improper!鈥攈e will be beloved of the good, by the bad he will be hated.
78.[1] Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not have low people for friends: have virtuous people for friends, have for friends the best of men.
79.[2] He who drinks in the law lives happily with a serene mind: the sage rejoices always in the law, as preached by the elect (Ariyas).
80.[3] Well-makers lead the water (wherever they like); fletchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion themselves.
81. As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, wise people falter not amidst blame and praise.
82. Wise people, after they have listened to the laws, become serene, like a deep, smooth, and still lake.
83.[4] Good people walk on whatever befall, the good do not prattle, longing for pleasure; whether touched by happiness or sorrow wise people never appear elated or depressed.
84. If, whether for his own sake, or for the sake of others, a man wishes neither for a son, nor for wealth, nor for lordship, and if he does not wish for his own success by unfair means, then he is good, wise, and virtuous.
85.[5] Few are there among men who arrive at the other shore (become Arhats); the other people here run up and down the shore.
86. But those who, when the law has been well preached to them, follow the law, will pass across the dominion of death, however difficult to overcome.
87-88.[6] A wise man should leave the dark state (of ordinary life), and follow the bright state (of the Bhikshu). After going from his home to a homeless state, he should in his retirement look for enjoyment where there seemed to be no enjoyment. Leaving all pleasures behind, and calling nothing his own, the wise man should purge himself from all the troubles of the mind.
89.[7] Those whose mind is well grounded in the (seven) elements of knowledge, who without clinging to anything, rejoice in freedom from attachment, whose appetites have been conquered, and who are full of light, are free (even) in this world.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
It is hardly possible to take mitte kaly膩峁噀 in the technical sense of 办补濒测腻峁嘺-尘颈迟谤补, 'ein geistlicher Rath,' a spiritual guide. Burnouf (Introd. p. 284) shows that in the technical sense 办补濒测腻峁嘺-mitra was widely spread in the Buddhist world.
[2]:
[3]:
See verses 33 and 145, the latter being a mere repetition of our verse. The nettik膩s, to judge from the commentary and from the general purport of the verse, are not simply water-carriers, but builders of canals and aqueducts, who force the water to go where it would not go by itself. The Chinese translator says, 'the pilot manages his ship. ' See Beal, l. c. p. 79.
[4]:
The first line is very doubtful. I have adopted, in my translation, a suggestion of Mr. Childers, who writes, 'I think it will be necessary to take sabbattha in the sense of "everywhere," or "under every condition;" pa帽cakhand膩dibhedesu, sabbadhammesu, says Buddhaghosha. I do not think we need assume that B. means the word vijahanti to be a synonym of vajanti. I would rather take the whole sentence together as a gloss upon the word vajanti:鈥攙ajant墨ti arahatta帽膩nena apaka岣嶀笉hant膩 肠丑补苍诲补谤腻驳补峁� vijahanti; vajanti means that, ridding themselves of lust by the wisdom which Arhatship confers, they cast it away. ' I am inclined to think the line means 'the righteous walk on (unmoved) in all the conditions of life. ' 狈颈苍诲腻, 辫补蝉补峁僺腻, sukha, dukkha are four of the eight lokadhammas, or earthly conditions; the remaining lokadhammas are l膩bba, 补濒腻产丑补, yasa, ayasa.
In v. 245, passat膩, 'by a man who sees,' means 'by a man who sees clearly or truly. ' ln the same manner vraj may mean, not simply 'to walk,' but 'to walk properly,' or may be used synonymously with pravraj.
[5]:
'The other shore' is meant for 狈颈谤惫腻峁嘺, 'this shore' for common life. On reaching 狈颈谤惫腻峁嘺, the dominion of death is overcome. The commentator supplies t膩ritv膩, 'having crossed,' in order to explain the accusative maccudheyyam. Possibly 辫腻谤补尘 essanti should here be taken as one word, in the sense of overcoming.
[6]:
Dark and bright are meant for bad and good; cf. 厂耻迟迟补-苍颈辫腻迟补, v. 526, and Dhp. v. 167. Leaving one鈥檚 home is the same as becoming a mendicant, without a home or family, an 补苍腻驳腻谤补, or anchorite. A man in that state of viveka, or retirement (see v. 75, note), sees, that where before there seemed to be no pleasure there real pleasure is to be found, or vice vers膩. A similar idea is expressed in verse 99. See Burnouf, Lotus, p. 474, where he speaks of 'Le plaisir de la satisfaction, n茅 de la distinction. '
The five troubles or evils of the mind are passion, anger, ignorance, arrogance, pride; see Burnouf, Lotus, pp. 360, 443. As to pariyodapeyya, see verse 183, and Lotus, pp. 523, 528; as to aki帽cano, see Mah膩bh. XII, 6568, 1240.
[7]:
The elements of knowledge are the seven Sambodhvangas, on which see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 796. D'Alwis explains them as the thirty-seven 叠辞诲丑颈辫补办办丑颈测补-诲丑补尘尘腻. Kh墨峁嚹乻av膩, which I have translated by 'they whose frailties have been conquered,' may also be taken in a more metaphysical sense, as explained in the note to v. 39. The same applies to the other terms occurring in this verse, such as 腻诲腻苍补, 补苍耻辫腻诲腻测补, etc. Dr. Fausb枚ll seems inclined to take 腻蝉补惫补 in this passage, and in the other passages where it occurs, as the 笔腻濒颈 representative of 腻艣谤补测补. But 腻艣谤补测补, in Buddhist phraseology, means rather the five organs of sense with manas, 'the soul,' and these are kept distinct from the 腻蝉补惫补s, 'the inclinations, the appetites, passions, or vices. ' The commentary on the Abhidharma, when speaking of the 驰辞驳腻肠腻谤补蝉, says, 'En r茅unissant ensemble les r茅ceptacles (膩艣r ya), les choses re莽ues (腻艣谤颈迟补) et les supports (腻濒补尘产补苍补), qui sont chacun compos茅s de six termes, on a dix-huit termes qu'on appelle "顿丑腻迟耻蝉" ou contenants. La collection des six r茅ceptacles, ce sont les organes de la vue, de l'ou茂e, de l'odorat, du go奴t, du toucher, et le "manas" (ou l'organe du coeur), qui est le dernier. La collection des six choses re莽ues, c'est la connaissance produite par la vue et par les autres sens jusqu'au "manas" inclusivement. La collection des six supports, ce sont la forme et les autres attributs sensibles jusqu'au "Dharma" (la loi ou l'膿tre) inclusivement. ' See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 449.
Parinibbuta is again a technical term, the Sanskrit pariniv峁泃a meaning 'freed from all worldly fetters,' like vimukta. See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 590. See Childers, s. v. 苍颈产产腻苍补, p. 270, and Notes on Dhammapada, p. 3; and D'Alwis, Buddhist 狈颈谤惫腻峁嘺, p. 75.