The Dhammapada
Chapter Eighteen -- Impurity
- Like a withered leaf are you now; death's
messengers are waiting for you. You stand on
the eve of your departure, yet you have made no
provision for your journey!
- Make an island for yourself! Strive hard
and become wise! Rid of impurities and cleansed
of stain, you shall enter the celestial abode
of the Noble Ones.
- Your life has come to an end now;
you are setting forth into the presence of Yama,
the King of Death. No resting place is there for
you on the way, yet you have made no provision
for your journey!
- Make an island for yourself! Strive hard
and become wise! Rid of impurities and cleansed of
stain, you shall not come again to birth and decay.
- One by one, little by little, moment by
moment, a wise person should remove one's own
impurities, as a smith removes the dross of silver.
- Just as rust arising from iron eats away
the base from which it arises, even so their own
deeds lead transgressors to states of woe.
- Non-repetition is the bane of scriptures;
neglect is the bane of a home; slovenliness is
the bane of personal appearance, and heedlessness
is the bane of a watchman.
- Unchastity is the taint in a person, and
niggardliness is the taint in a giver. Taints,
indeed, are all evil things, both in this world
and the next.
- A worse taint than these is ignorance,
the worst of all taints. Destroy this one taint
and become taintless, O renunciates!
- Easy is life for the shameless one who is as
impudent as a crow, back-biting and forward,
arrogant and corrupt.
- Difficult is life for the modest one who
always seeks purity, is detached and unassuming,
clean in life, and discerning.
246-247. One who destroys life, utters lies,
takes what is not given, goes to another person's
spouse, and is addicted to intoxicating drinks--such
a one digs up one's own root even in this very world.
- Know this, O good person: evil things are
difficult to control. Let not greed and wickedness
drag you to protracted misery.
- People give according to their faith or
regard. If one becomes discontented with the
food and drink given by others, one does not
attain meditative absorption, either by day or by night.
- But one in whom this (discontent) is fully
destroyed, uprooted and extinct, that person attains
absorption, both by day and by night.
- There is no fire like lust; there is no grip
like hatred; there is no net like delusion; there is
no river like craving.
- Easily seen are the faults of others, but
one's own are difficult to see. Like chaff one
winnows another's faults, but hides one's own,
even as a crafty fowler hides behind sham branches.
- One who seeks another's faults, who is
ever censorious--that person's cankers grow.
That person is far from the destruction of the cankers.
- There is no track in the sky, and no recluse
outside (the Buddha's dispensation). Mankind
delights in worldliness, but the Buddhas are
free from worldliness.
- There is no track in the sky, and no recluse
outside (the Buddha's dispensation). There are
no conditioned things that are eternal, and
no instability in the Buddhas.
messengers are waiting for you. You stand on
the eve of your departure, yet you have made no
provision for your journey!
and become wise! Rid of impurities and cleansed
of stain, you shall enter the celestial abode
of the Noble Ones.
you are setting forth into the presence of Yama,
the King of Death. No resting place is there for
you on the way, yet you have made no provision
for your journey!
and become wise! Rid of impurities and cleansed of
stain, you shall not come again to birth and decay.
moment, a wise person should remove one's own
impurities, as a smith removes the dross of silver.
the base from which it arises, even so their own
deeds lead transgressors to states of woe.
neglect is the bane of a home; slovenliness is
the bane of personal appearance, and heedlessness
is the bane of a watchman.
niggardliness is the taint in a giver. Taints,
indeed, are all evil things, both in this world
and the next.
the worst of all taints. Destroy this one taint
and become taintless, O renunciates!
impudent as a crow, back-biting and forward,
arrogant and corrupt.
always seeks purity, is detached and unassuming,
clean in life, and discerning.
difficult to control. Let not greed and wickedness
drag you to protracted misery.
regard. If one becomes discontented with the
food and drink given by others, one does not
attain meditative absorption, either by day or by night.
destroyed, uprooted and extinct, that person attains
absorption, both by day and by night.
like hatred; there is no net like delusion; there is
no river like craving.
one's own are difficult to see. Like chaff one
winnows another's faults, but hides one's own,
even as a crafty fowler hides behind sham branches.
ever censorious--that person's cankers grow.
That person is far from the destruction of the cankers.
outside (the Buddha's dispensation). Mankind
delights in worldliness, but the Buddhas are
free from worldliness.
outside (the Buddha's dispensation). There are
no conditioned things that are eternal, and
no instability in the Buddhas.
