The Buddha's Path of Virtue Part 17

Whoso hath neither part nor lot in Name and Form[2]

(Who saith not "this is I" or "this is mine") And grieveth not for what existeth not, A mendicant is called.

368.

Whoso in friendly wise with all mankind abides, Firm in the teaching of the Awakened One; Reaches the bliss where all conditions cease, Reaches the State of Peace.

369.

O mendicants! bail out the water from this boat![3]

Swift will it go when from this burden freed.

Of pa.s.sion and of hatred cut the root; Then shalt thou reach The Peace.

370.

Cut off the five; desert the five; the five subdue!

That mendicant, who from the fetters five[4]

Hath freed himself at last, by men is called "A crosser of the Stream".

371.

O mendicant! be meditative; let not sloth,[5]

Let not thy pa.s.sions toss thee to and fro;[6]

Lest, swallowing the ball, thou burning cry, "Ah! this is suffering!"

372.

Who hath no wisdom cannot ecstasy attain;[7]

Who knows not ecstasy, no wisdom gains; Whoso both ecstasy and wisdom hath, Unto The Peace is nigh.

373.

The mendicant, whose mind hath gained tranquillity, When he hath entered on his empty cell,[8]

Hath joy beyond man's power to tell, for he The Truth discerneth well.

374.

Soon as he grasps the rise and fall of elements,[9]

Such pleasure and delight thereby he wins As falls to them that rightly know the state Of immortality.[10]

375.

Let the wise mendicant in this world thus begin; Guard thou thy senses; next, with mind content, By discipline restrained, seek n.o.ble friends Who zealous live and pure;

376.

And by the laws of friendship act, live perfectly, And upright walk according to the Norm; Then in the fullness of thy joy thou shalt An end of suffering make.

377.

O mendicants! just as the snow-white _va.s.sika_, The jasmine, putting forth fresh blooms to-day, Sheds down the withered blooms of yesterday, So shed ye l.u.s.t and hate.

378.

Tranquil in body, speech and mind, O mendicants, Whoso in every way is well-restrained, Who all this world's desires hath thrown aside He is "the tranquil" called.

379.

Rouse thou the self by self, by self examine self; Thus guarded by the self, and with thy mind Intent and watchful, thus, O mendicant, Thou shall live happily.

380.

Yea! Self is guard of self and refuge takes in self; Just as a dealer trains a thoroughbred, A n.o.ble steed, and breaks him to the rein, So do thou self restrain.

381.

That mendicant, with utter joy and gladness filled, Firm in the teaching of the Awakened One, Reaches the bliss where all conditions cease, Reaches the State of Peace.

382.

Lo ye! a mendicant, though young he be, that strives To grasp the teaching of the Awakened One, Lights up the world, as from a cloud released The moon lights up the night.

[1] Cf. vv. 229-30.

[2] _Nama rupa_, a traditional Vedic term for "mind and Matter," the immortal and the perishable, borrowed by the Buddha to stand for the mental and bodily compound in the individual, cf. _Buddhist Psychology_, Mrs. C.A. Rhys-Davids, pp. 23-5.

[3] The body with its needs and pa.s.sions (water in the boat) hampers the progress across the stream.

[4]

I. The first five fetters of _delusion of self_, _doubt_, _ceremonial observance_, _l.u.s.t_ and _ill-will_.

II. The second five fetters of _desire for form_, _desire for the formless_, _pride_, _vanity_ and _ignorance_.

III. If the verb of the third clause, _vuttaribhavaye_, be translated "pay attention to," as is possible, the meaning will be, "develop the five good qualities of _faith_, _zeal_, _concentration_, _meditation_, _wisdom_."

IV. This may refer to the second five fetters, by throwing off which one becomes an Arahat.

[5] "Toss thee," reading _kamaguna bhami?su_ (for _kamagune bhama.s.su_) as Prof. Dines Andersen suggests (p. 192, _Glossary to Dhammapada._ Pt.

2).

[6] Cf. v. 107. One of the tortures in the h.e.l.ls.

[7] "ecstasy," _jhana_. There are four stages of mystic meditation leading to rebirth in the higher worlds.

[8] "Empty cell," _sunnagaram_, may refer to the meditation in the "cave of the heart," when all thought vibrations are stilled, cf. v. 37.

[9] "The rise and fall," reading _udayavyayam_. cf. v. 113.

[10] 'immortality': _viz._: 'the Ambrosial'.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

THE BRAHMANA.

383.

Cut off the stream,[1] O Brahmana, right manfully; Repel desires; when thou hast known the end Of things conditioned, thou shalt be A knower of the Uncreate.[2]

384.