The Dhammapada - Chapter 21 - Miscellaneous

The Dhammapada is the most well-known of all Buddhist texts. It is a collection of the sayings of the Buddha from his most famous discourses. Dhamma means law, discipline, righteousness, and truth. Pada means path, footstep, and foundation. Translated from Pali by F. Max Muller.

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Transcript

The Dhammapada,

Chapter 21,

Miscellaneous If by leaving a small pleasure one sees a great pleasure,

Let a wise man leave the small pleasure and look to the great.

He who,

By causing pain to others,

Wishes to obtain pleasure for himself,

He entangled in the bonds of hatred,

Will never be free from hatred.

What ought to be done is neglected.

What ought not to be done is done.

The desires of unruly thoughtless people are always increasing.

But they whose whole watchfulness is always directed to their body,

Who do not follow what ought not to be done,

And who steadfastly do what ought to be done,

The desires of such watchful and wise people will come to an end.

A true Brahmana goes scathless,

Though he have killed father and mother,

And two valiant kings,

Though he has destroyed a kingdom with all its subjects.

A true Brahmana goes scathless,

Though he have killed father and mother,

And two holy kings and an eminent man besides.

The disciples of Gautama,

The Buddha,

Are always well awake,

And their thoughts day and night are always set on the Buddha.

The disciples of Gautama are always well awake,

And their thoughts day and night are always set on the law.

The disciples of Gautama are always well awake,

And their thoughts day and night are always set on the Church.

The disciples of Gautama are always well awake,

And their thoughts day and night are always set on their body.

The disciples of Gautama are always well awake,

And their mind day and night always delights in compassion.

The disciples of Gautama are always well awake,

And their mind day and night always delights in meditation.

It is hard to leave the world to become a friar.

It is hard to enjoy the world.

Hard is the monastery,

Painful are the houses.

Painful it is to dwell with equals,

To share everything in common.

And the itinerant mendicant is beset with pain.

Therefore let no man be an itinerant mendicant,

And he will not be beset with pain.

Whatever place a faithful,

Virtuous,

Celebrated and wealthy man chooses,

There he is respected.

Good people shine from afar,

Like the snowy mountains.

Bad people are not seen,

Like arrows shot by night.

He alone who,

Without ceasing,

Practices the duty of sitting alone and sleeping alone,

He subduing himself,

Will rejoice in the destruction of all desires alone,

As if living in a forest.