Pathway to Japanese Literature

Preface

The term "Dhammapada" was broadly interpreted in two ways. The first took *dhamma* to mean "teachings," rendering it as "the verses of the Buddha’s teachings." The second interpreted *dhamma* as the ultimate reality—the essence of all phenomena, namely Nirvana—while *pada* originally meant "footprint," later evolving to signify either "path" or "verse." Understood through this primordial sense of "path," Dhammapada could also be translated as "the path to Nirvana," which equivalently meant "the teachings leading to enlightenment." Though both interpretations held validity, it was traditionally rendered as *Faju* (Dhammapada) in Chinese translations, a term that had become widely familiar.

General Content

As could be inferred from its chapter titles, the Dhammapada taught standards for daily morality grounded in Buddhism's standpoint. Society was afflicted and tormented by life's sufferings—the pain of livelihood, illness, aging, separation from loved ones, encounters with enemies, and ultimately death. How could one permanently escape these agonies? How could one attain unconditioned peace in Nirvana? To rephrase: people suffered because mental afflictions—deluded thoughts, erroneous views, greed, and arrogance—prevented them from comprehending reality's true nature. Blinded by ignorance, they clung and conflicted, increasing their daily turmoil. But if one opened wisdom's eye and overcame delusions, both body and mind attained tranquility, ultimately reaching Nirvana's state. This teaching constituted Buddhism's purpose and the Dhammapada's essence. Kept at hand as a model for cultivation and a spur for spiritual practice, if read morning and night while earnestly internalizing its verses, it became an infallible remedy for mental refinement, upright conduct, and worldly wisdom alike.

Authors and Date

The Dhammapada consists entirely of verses—a collection of scattered gems from ancient Buddhist scriptures like the Vinaya and Sūtras, forming what should be called a compendium of didactic stanzas or an anthology. While its author is unquestionably the Buddha himself, the text inevitably underwent additions and deletions over time due to its nature. The Dhammapada jointly translated by Zhu Lüyan and Zhi Qian of Wu in 224 CE is said to have expanded from a 500-verse version to 753 verses. According to Zhi Qian’s records (?), three versions already existed at that time: those with 500, 700, and 900 verses. The Pali version translated here contains 26 chapters and 423 verses—422 when excluding one duplicate verse. This smaller verse count suggests the Pali transmission preserves an older stratum.

Though the compiler remains unknown, the expanded collection added to the Northern Transmission Dhammapada—that is, the Pali Transmission—was traditionally attributed to Dharmatāta. While his exact era remains unclear, it was estimated to be approximately four hundred years after the Buddha’s parinirvana, around the first century BCE. Therefore, based on the aforementioned reasoning, the Pali Transmission Dhammapada must predate this period. Moreover, even if its compilation occurred several hundred years post-parinirvana, there remains no doubt that the majority of collected verses originated from the Buddha’s own teachings—though they may include later additions inserted by disciples.

Position in Buddhism

The Buddha’s teachings occurred either when he responded to questioners or when he proactively instructed without being asked. In the former case，he tailored his discourse by considering listeners’ dispositions and mental states—what was termed “prescribing medicine to ailments”—and thus naturally adapted his approach to time and place to achieve his aim. In cases where no questioner existed，however，he frequently revealed his true intent directly and taught without such adaptation. The Dhammapada was also referred to as *Udānam*，translated as “spontaneous utterances”—poetry composed when striking heartstrings. From this perspective too，the Dhammapada stood as Buddhism’s most direct means to elucidate Śākyamuni’s core intent.
This was not merely due to its verses’ primitive origin.

The Pali original of this text was first published eighty-one years ago in Ansei 2 [1855] by the Danish scholar Viggo Fausbøll, who appended a Latin translation. Since then, it was translated into English, German, French, Italian, and other languages, becoming highly valued among European readers. In Japan, Mr. Tokiwa Daijō published a Japanese translation based on English and Chinese versions in Meiji 39 [1906], though his work did not introduce the text directly from the original. Disregarding my own inadequacy, I strove to convey the original meaning as faithfully as possible and, wishing to aid students reading the Pali text, attempted an unembellished translation without polishing the phrasing. Titled *A New Translation of the Dhammapada*, it was serialized in the journal *Shūkyōkai*. Now, twenty-three years later at the encouragement of the Iwanami Shoten owner, I revised the earlier draft, augmented the annotations, and republished it as a standalone volume.

April 1935 Unrai Ogiwara

Chapter One: The Dual Verses

It is named "Dual Verses" because it presents two verses in contrast each time.

One: All phenomena are preceded by the mind, governed by the mind, and formed by the mind. If one speaks or acts with an impure mind, suffering follows them as a wheel follows the ox that pulls it.

Two: All phenomena are preceded by the mind, governed by the mind, and formed by the mind. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows them like a shadow that never parts from its form.

Three: The anger of those who firmly cling to “He reviles me, strikes me, defeats me, robs me” does not cease.

Four: The anger of those who do not firmly cling to “He reviles me, strikes me, defeats me, robs me” ceases.

Five: In the world, hatred does not cease through hatred.
Hatred ceases through non-hatred; this law is not easy.

Six: However, other people do not realize, “We need self-restraint in the world.” If a person thus realizes this, for that reason conflicts cease.

Seven: If one seeks ease in life, does not guard the senses, is immoderate in food and drink, and is lazy and cowardly, Mara overcomes him, just as the wind topples a weak tree.

Not guarding the senses—indulging freely in the five sensual desires of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

Eight: If one does not seek ease in life, guards the senses, is moderate in food and drink, has faith, and is vigorous, Mara cannot overpower them—just as wind cannot shake a towering mountain.

Nine: He who tries to don impure robes without cleansing himself of defilement yet lacks self-restraint and truth does not deserve those impure robes.

Impure robes—a translated term for kasaya, also called improperly dyed.

Ten: When one expels defilements oneself, earnestly keeps all precepts in mind, and possesses self-restraint and truth—then he becomes worthy of impure robes.

Eleven: One who calls the unreal real and sees the real as unreal dwells in wrong thought without understanding reality.

Twelve: One who knows the real as real and the unreal as unreal understands reality and dwells in Right Intention.

Thirteen: As rain leaks through a roughly thatched roof, so greed pierces an uncultivated mind.

Fourteen: As rain cannot leak through a tightly thatched roof, so greed cannot pierce a well-cultivated mind.

Fifteen: A person who creates sin grieves in this life and grieves after death; they grieve in both realms. They are tormented, seeing their own defiled karma.

Sixteen: A person who creates merit rejoices in this life and rejoices after death; they rejoice in both realms. They delight and rejoice, seeing their own pure karma.

Seventeen: A person who creates sin suffers in this life and suffers after death; they are tormented in both realms. Tormented by the thought "I have done evil," they fall into evil realms and suffer even more.

Eighteen: A person who creates merit rejoices in this life and rejoices after death; they rejoice in both states. Rejoicing in the thought “I have created merit,” they are born into a favorable realm and rejoice even more.

Nineteen: Though one recites many scriptures, a heedless person who does not practice them is like a herdsman counting another's cattle; they do not enter the ranks of religious practitioners.

Twenty: Though one recites few scriptures, if they practice the Dharma, abandon greed, hatred, and delusion, possess correct knowledge, fully liberate their mind, and cling to neither this world nor the next—they enter the ranks of religious practitioners.

Chapter Two: The Chapter on Heedfulness

Twenty-One: Heedfulness leads to deathlessness; heedlessness leads to death. The heedful do not die; the heedless are as if dead.

Twenty-Two: Those who clearly understood this principle and were well-established in heedfulness rejoiced in heedfulness and delighted in the state of the noble ones.

Twenty-Three: They meditated, persevered, always acted valiantly, and were wise—thus attaining the supreme peace of Nirvana.

Twenty-Four: Striving, deliberating, engaging in pure actions, restraining themselves, living according to the Dharma—when one was heedful, their renown increased.

Through striving, heedfulness, control, and discipline, the wise person creates an island not swept away by violent currents.

Island—meaning a refuge or sanctuary.

Twenty-Six: Foolish ordinary people indulged in heedlessness; the wise guarded heedfulness as one guards precious treasures.

Twenty-Seven: They did not indulge in heedlessness; they did not pursue sensual pleasures. Those who meditated with heedfulness attained great joy.

Twenty-Eight: The discerning one who had repelled heedlessness through heedfulness ascended to the pavilion of wisdom. Free from sorrow, they observed those with sorrow—as one dwelling on a mountain observes people on the plain—serenely beholding the foolish.

Twenty-Nine: The wise person who remained heedful amidst heedlessness and stayed awake among those who slept advanced like a thoroughbred leaving inferior horses behind.

Thirty: Through heedfulness, Maghavan attained lordship over the gods. People all praise heedfulness; heedlessness is always condemned.

Maghavan—signifying benevolence, another name for Indra.

Thirty-One: A monk who delights in heedfulness and fears heedlessness burns through all fetters—coarse and fine—like fire while living.

While living—the meaning is "while living in the world."

Fetters—another name for defilements.

Thirty-Two: A monk who delights in heedfulness and fears heedlessness has no reason to regress; he has already drawn near to Nirvana.

Chapter Three: The Mind

Thirty-Three: The mind is restless, difficult to guard and hard to control; the wise person straightens it—just as an arrow-maker does an arrow.

Thirty-Four: Like a fish taken from its watery abode and thrown onto land, our mind trembles as it strives to escape Mara’s dominion.

Thirty-Five: How good is the taming of the restless, unruly mind! The tamed mind brings happiness.

Thirty-Six: The wise person should guard the mind—so very difficult to see, extremely subtle, and unruly. The guarded mind brings happiness.

Thirty-Seven: One who skillfully controls the mind—distant, solitary, formless, hidden in a secret place—is freed from Mara’s bonds.

Secret place—refers to the heart.

Thirty-Eight: When the mind is unsettled, does not know the true Dharma, and faith wavers—wisdom does not become perfect.

Thirty-Nine: One who has abandoned attachment to the mind, whose thoughts are undisturbed, who has transcended notions of sin and merit—such an awakened person knows no fear.

Forty: Perceive this body as a jar; make this mind dwell securely like a fortress; fight Mara with wisdom’s weapons; guard his captives and do not grow negligent.

Jar—it illustrates the perilous fragility of the body.

Forty-One: Alas, this body would not lie long upon the earth; when consciousness departed, it would be cast aside like worthless lumber.

Forty-Two: Whatever harm enemies might inflict upon enemies, or foes upon foes—none could equal the evil wrought by a mind inclined to wickedness.

Forty-Three: Whatever a mother, father, or other relatives may do, it cannot surpass the happiness created by a rightly directed mind.

Chapter Four: Flowers

Forty-Four: Who conquers this earth? Who conquers Yama’s realm and the heavenly realm? Who plucks the well-taught path to peace as a wise one plucks flowers?

This earth: humans, hungry ghosts, animals.

Yama’s realm—hell.

Forty-Five: Those who study Buddhism conquer this earth, conquer Yama’s realm and the heavenly realm; those who study Buddhism pluck the well-taught path to peace just as a wise person plucks flowers.

Forty-Six: One who knows this body to be like fleeting foam and perceives it as a mirage destroys Mara’s flowery arrows and does not behold the Death King.

Mara’s flowery arrows—they are likened to the various tempting desires that entice our minds.

Death King—the so-called Yama—and “beholding the Death King” refers to dying and falling into hell.

Forty-Seven: Death seized and carried off those who intently gathered flowers, just as a violent current sweeps away sleeping villagers.

Gathering flowers—it metaphorically represented clinging to pleasing sensory experiences.

Forty-Eight: Death subdued those who intently gathered flowers while still unsatiated by desire.

Forty-Nine: As a bee takes nectar without harming the flower’s hue or fragrance then flies away, so too should the wise act when receiving alms in villages.

Fifty: One should not dwell on others’ faults nor on what they did or left undone; one should observe only one’s own deeds and omissions.

Fifty-One: Just as a lovely, beautiful flower lacks fragrance, so too the words of good teachings bear no fruit if not put into practice.

Fifty-Two: Just as a lovely, beautiful flower has fragrance, the words of good teachings bear fruit when rightly practiced.

Fifty-Three: Just as one gathers various flowers to make many garlands, being born human, one should perform many good deeds.

“Flowers” are likened to many virtuous acts; “flower garlands” to the wholesome fruits of future lives.

Fifty-Four: The fragrance of flowers does not travel against the wind—not sandalwood, nor Tagara, nor Mallikā. Yet the fragrance of a virtuous person does travel against the wind; a virtuous one perfumes all directions.

Tagara—a name for incense, translated as “Zero Cold Fragrance.”

Mallikā—a name for fragrant wood, translated as Nai.

Fifty-Five: Neither sandalwood nor Tagara, nor even blue lotus or Bashikitsu—the fragrance of these cannot rival the fragrance of precepts.

Bashikitsu—a name for fragrant wood, a type of Mallikā.

Fifty-Six: The fragrance of Tagara and sandalwood was slight; the fragrance of one who observed precepts wafted unsurpassed among the gods.

Fifty-Seven: One who possessed precepts, dwelt heedfully, and was liberated through right knowledge—Mara found no opportunity with such a person.

Fifty-Eight: Just as a fragrant, delightful lotus grew amidst a heap of rubbish discarded on the main road,

Fifty-Nine: Just so, amidst blinded ordinary people equal to rubbish, the disciples of the Rightly Self-Awakened One shone forth through wisdom’s light.

Rightly Self-Awakened One—refers to Buddha.

Chapter Five: Fools

Sixty: For those who do not sleep, the night was long; for those who were weary, the road was long; for ordinary fools who knew not the true Dharma, samsara was long.

Sixty-One: If while walking the path one met neither superior nor equal, it was better to walk alone and err not; one should keep no fools as companions.

Sixty-Two: Ordinary fools suffered and agonized thinking "My child, my wealth"—yet no self existed to possess; whose child? Whose wealth?

Sixty-Three: A fool who deemed themselves a fool was already wise; one who being a fool deemed themselves wise—this was truly called a fool.

Sixty-Four: A fool might spend a lifetime near a wise person yet never know the true Dharma—like a spoon that never tastes the broth’s flavor.

Sixty-Five: A wise person who approaches a sage even momentarily swiftly knows the true Dharma—like a tongue that instantly tastes the broth’s flavor.

Sixty-Six: Foolish ordinary people act toward themselves as if they were enemies; they perform evil deeds and reap bitter fruits.

Sixty-Seven: Deeds done only to be regretted later—with tears streaming down faces and weeping as their karmic results unfold—were never well-made.

Sixty-Eight: Deeds that cause no regret after being done, deeds whose fruits are joyfully borne after death—these are well-made deeds.

Sixty-Nine: So long as evil deeds remain unripened, the fool considers them sweet as honey. When those evil deeds fully ripen, the fool suffers anguish.

Seventy: Though a fool might daily subsist on kusa grass-tips, he would not equal one-sixteenth part of those who reflect upon the Dharma.

Using the tips of kusa grass for eating and drinking—this refers to restricting food and drink like an ascetic.

Discernment—the act of knowing and judging.

One-sixteenth—a small portion.

Seventy-One: Evil deeds once created were like freshly squeezed milk—not yet ripened—yet pursued and tormented the fool, just as fire smoldering beneath ashes does.

Fire covered in ashes—the heat did not easily depart; it metaphorically represented the tenacity of karmic force.

Seventy-Two: While the intention to harm others arose in a fool, that intention destroyed the fool's merits and severed his head.

Merits—so-called meritorious points.

Seventy-Three: Many people desire empty respect—in the monastic community they desire precedence, in their dwellings they desire authority, in others’ homes they desire veneration.

Seventy-Four: Among both laypeople and monastics exist those who declare, “This was truly created through me,” and “All matters among deeds and non-deeds should indeed be at my discretion.” This is what fools contemplate—thus their desires and arrogance swell.

Seventy-Five: One path leads to worldly gain, the other to Nirvana. A monk who is a disciple of the Buddha and comprehends this should not delight in fame and renown but increasingly dwell in seclusion.

Chapter Six: The Wise and Virtuous

Seventy-Six: Like one who reveals hidden treasure, when you encounter a wise person who shows what should be avoided and gives admonition, become a companion to this virtuous one. When you take such a person as companion, there is victory and no wrongdoing.

Hidden treasure—a place where treasure lies buried.

Seventy-Seven: Instruct! Admonish! Avoid what should not be done. He is loved by the virtuous and unloved by the wicked.

Seventy-Eight: Do not associate with evil companions; do not take inferior people as companions. Associate with virtuous friends; take noble ones as companions.

Seventy-Nine: Those who drink the Dharma-water sleep peacefully and have pure hearts; such wise ones always delight in the Dharma proclaimed by the Noble Ones.

Eighty: Canal workers guide water; arrow makers adjust arrows; carpenters shape wood; the wise discipline themselves.

Eighty-One: Like a massive rock unshaken by the wind, the wise do not waver amidst blame and praise.

Eighty-Two: Like a deep abyss clear and still, the wise become serene upon hearing the Dharma.

Eighty-Three: The virtuous abandon all, covet no desires, lament not, and whether encountering pleasure or suffering, they neither become anxious nor grieve.

Eighty-Four: The virtuous should not desire descendants for their own sake or others’, nor seek wealth or land to prosper unlawfully; they shall listen well and act rightly.

Eighty-Five: Among many people, few reached the far shore (Nirvana); the rest wandered on this shore (samsara).

The far shore—Nirvana.

This shore—samsara.

Eighty-Six: When the Dharma had been rightly proclaimed, only those who practiced it reached the far shore; the realm of death was exceedingly difficult to cross.

The realm of death—samsara’s abode.

Eighty-Seven: The wise were to abandon unwholesome dharmas and cultivate wholesome ones; they were to depart from household life for homelessness and pursue solitude hard to delight in.

Black and White—different names for evil and good, as in the following verse.

Eighty-Eight: Let the wise rejoice—they abandon all desires, possess nothing, and purify themselves to eliminate defilements.

Eighty-Nine: The person who correctly cultivates the factors of right Bodhi—free from attachment, delighting in abandoning attachment, purging the mind’s defilements, and possessing knowledge and insight—has already entered Nirvana in this very world.

Chapter Seven: The Arhat

Arhat—translated as “Worthy of Offerings,” meaning one qualified to receive people’s reverence; also interpreted as “Killer of Thieves,” referring to having already slain the thieves of defilements.

Ninety: For one who has passed beyond the path to be traversed, removed sorrow, become liberated in all respects, and severed all bonds—there is no suffering.

The path to be traversed—refers to conditioned samsara.

Ninety-One: They are diligent and reflective, taking no delight in residences; like geese abandoning a small pond, they abandon all dwelling places.

Residences—the realm of samsara.

Dwelling places—the realm of samsara.

Ninety-Two: If a person does not accumulate possessions, consumes in moderation, and abides in emptiness, signlessness, and liberation, their path is difficult to trace, like birds’ tracks in the sky.

Their path is difficult to trace—this refers to having already departed from the realm of changing existence (samsara) and entered the realm of Nirvana.

Ninety-Three: If a person purges all defilements from the mind, does not delight in food and drink, and abides in emptiness, signlessness, and liberation, their path is difficult to trace, like birds’ tracks in the sky.

Ninety-Four: If a person restrains the senses like a horse well-trained by a charioteer, cuts off arrogance, and purges mind defilements, even the gods envy such a person.

A person as such—refers to the Buddha’s Arhat disciples.

Ninety-Five: A person as such does not contend like earth, remains thoroughly prudent like a threshold, and resembles a pond free from mud—for such a person, there exists no samsara.

Does not contend like the earth—this refers to willingly enduring the world’s slander, ridicule, demotion, and dismissal.

Prudent like a threshold—even when trampled upon by ordinary people, they do not manifest anger through body or speech.

Ninety-Six: They whose mind is tranquil, whose speech and actions are likewise tranquil—such persons, liberated through right knowledge, have attained peace.

Ninety-Seven: The person who has abandoned [other] faiths, realized Nirvana, severed the bonds of continued existence, repelled temptations, and discarded hopes—that very one is the true supreme being.

The unconditioned—another name for Nirvana.

Ninety-Eight: Whether in villages, forests, plains, or highlands—wherever an Arhat dwells is pleasant.

Ninety-Nine: Forests should be cherished—for they are not favored by ordinary people; those free from desire delight in them, since they do not seek sensual pleasures.

Chapter Eight: The Thousand

One Hundred: A single beneficial phrase that brings peace when heard is superior to a thousand words composed of useless phrases.

One Hundred One: A single verse that brings peace when heard was declared superior to a thousand verses composed of useless phrases.

One Hundred Two: Even reciting a hundred verses composed of useless phrases did not equal reciting a single Dharma verse that brings peace when heard.

One Hundred Three: More than one who conquered thousands upon thousands of enemies on the battlefield, the person who conquered oneself was truly declared the supreme among warriors.

One Hundred Four: Conquering oneself was declared superior to conquering other people; the victory belonged to the person who mastered themselves and whose conduct remained always restrained.

One Hundred Five: Gods, Gandharvas, Mara, and Brahma cannot oppose the victory of such a person.

Gandharvas are a type of ghostly deity.

Mara is also called an evil spirit.

Brahma is called a creator deity.

One Hundred Six: One person might perform worship a thousand times monthly over a hundred years, yet another’s veneration of a cultivated person for even a single moment surpassed their century of rituals.

One Hundred Seven: There was one who served Agni in the forest for a hundred years, yet another’s veneration of a cultivated person for even a single moment surpassed their century of worship.

Agni—fire deity.

One Hundred Eight: In this world, some made sacrifices or cast offerings into fire seeking blessings throughout a year; yet even all this did not equal a quarter of revering the upright.

Casting offerings into fire—this refers to the ritual of venerating deities by having the smoke rise to heaven and reach them.

They do not amount to a quarter—the effect is extremely small.

The upright—Arhats.

One Hundred Nine: For those who diligently uphold reverence and constantly respect elders, four things increase—longevity, beauty, happiness, and strength.

One Hundred Ten: If a person lives a hundred years but is lax in discipline and distracted, they cannot surpass one who lives a single day maintaining discipline and meditation.

One Hundred Eleven: If a person lives a hundred years but is unwise and distracted, they cannot surpass one who lives a single day possessing wisdom and meditating.

One Hundred Twelve: If a person lives a hundred years but is lazy and timid, they cannot surpass one who lives a single day vigorous, diligent, and steadfast.

One Hundred Thirteen: If a person lives a hundred years but does not see birth and death, they cannot surpass one who lives a single day seeing birth and death.

One Hundred Fourteen: If one were to live a hundred years without beholding the realm of immortality-nectar, they could not surpass one who lives a single day seeing the realm of immortality-nectar.

The realm of immortality-nectar—also called the deathless realm—refers to Nirvana.

One Hundred Fifteen: If one were to live a hundred years without perceiving the supreme Dharma, they could not surpass one who lives a single day perceiving the supreme Dharma.

Chapter Nine: Evil Deeds

One Hundred Sixteen: Hasten to good; guard your mind against evil. Should one create merit but grow negligent and sluggish, their mind will delight in evil deeds.

One Hundred Seventeen: If a person commits evil, let them not repeat it; let them not take pleasure in it—for evil's accumulation brings suffering.

One Hundred Eighteen: If a person creates merit, let them do so repeatedly; let them take pleasure in merit—for merit's accumulation brings happiness.

One Hundred Nineteen: So long as evil fruits remain unripened, even an evildoer may meet fortune; when those fruits ripen, they meet evil.

One Hundred Twenty: So long as good fruits remain unripened, even a virtuous one may meet misfortune; when those fruits ripen, they meet good.

One Hundred Twenty-One: Do not think, “It will not return to me,” and belittle evil; just as water droplets fill a water pot—though accumulated little by little—a fool becomes filled with evil.

One Hundred Twenty-Two: Do not think, “It will not return to me,” and belittle good; just as water droplets fill a water pot—though accumulated little by little—a wise person becomes filled with good.

One Hundred Twenty-Three: Just as a merchant with abundant wealth but few companions avoids dangerous paths, and just as one who desires long life avoids poison—so should one avoid evil deeds.

One Hundred Twenty-Four: If one's palm has no sore, let them take poison by hand; poison does not harm the unblemished, nor does evil reach those who commit no evil.

One Hundred Twenty-Five: Slander an unstained person or accuse one pure and free from defilement—the calamity reverts to that fool, like dust cast against the wind.

One Hundred Twenty-Six: Some enter the womb; evil-doers descend to hell; the righteous ascend to heaven; the undefiled attain Nirvana.

One Hundred Twenty-Seven: Not in the sky, nor the sea's depths, nor mountain crevices—no place exists in the world where one escapes evil's retribution.

One Hundred Twenty-Eight: Not in the sky, not in the sea, not within mountain caves—there exists no place in the world where death's power cannot reach.

Chapter Ten: Violence

One Hundred Twenty-Nine: All beings fear violence; all beings dread death. Comparing oneself to others, one should not kill nor cause others to kill.

One Hundred Thirty: All beings fear violence; life is dear to all beings. Comparing oneself to others, one should not kill nor cause others to kill.

One Hundred Thirty-One: All beings delight in happiness. If a person harms others with violence while seeking their own happiness, that person will not attain happiness after death.

One Hundred Thirty-Two: All beings delight in happiness. If a person does not harm others with violence while seeking their own happiness, that person will attain happiness after death.

One Hundred Thirty-Three: Do not speak harshly. Those addressed will respond to you likewise; wrathful words bring suffering—retribution will instead visit you.

One Hundred Thirty-Four: If you remain unstirred like a cracked bell (which cannot ring), you have already attained Nirvana; no contention exists for you.

One Hundred Thirty-Five: Just as a herdsman drives cattle to pasture with a staff, so too do old age and death drive the lifespans of living beings.

One Hundred Thirty-Six: Yet ordinary fools create evil deeds without awareness; ignorant and dull, they suffer through their own karma, as if burned by fire.

One Hundred Thirty-Seven: If someone harms innocent and harmless beings with violence, they will swiftly encounter one of ten consequences listed below.

One Hundred Thirty-Eight: They will suffer severe pain, aging, bodily injury, grave affliction, or mental derangement.

One Hundred Thirty-Nine: Or they will face royal punishment, terrifying slander, their relatives' ruin, or destruction of possessions.

One Hundred Forty: Blazing fire consumes their home; when their body perishes, this evil-minded one will be reborn in hell.

One Hundred Forty-One: Neither nakedness nor matted hair, neither smearing with ashes nor fasting, neither lying on bare ground nor wallowing in filth, nor squatting austerities can purify those who cling to doubt.

Nakedness—a type of ascetic practice.

Matted hair—the practice of asceticism without cutting one’s hair.

Mud and ashes—the practice of smearing mud and ashes on the body, a type of ascetic practice.

Dust and dung—lying amidst dust and dung.

One Hundred Forty-Two: Though one does not adorn the body, if they act fairly, peacefully, gently, and without self-indulgence, practice pure conduct, and do not harm any living beings—such a person is a Brahmin; they are an ascetic; they are a monk.

One Hundred Forty-Three A: Who in the world restrains themselves through shame? Knowing how blame arises and avoiding it is like a good horse steering clear of the whip.

One Hundred Forty-Three B: Like a whipped thoroughbred, you all must strive vigorously.

One Hundred Forty-Four: Through faith and precepts, through valor and mental focus, through discerning truth—endowed with wisdom and conduct, ever-mindful—cast off this weighty suffering.

One Hundred Forty-Five: The irrigator channels water; the fletcher straightens shafts; the carpenter shapes timber; the virtuous master themselves.

Chapter Eleven: Old Age

One Hundred Forty-Six: What laughter? What mirth? The world burns unceasingly! Shrouded in darkness—will you not seek wisdom’s flame?

Ablaze—this metaphor compares all things in the world, which are entirely impermanent and subject to destruction, to a fiercely burning fire.

One Hundred Forty-Seven: Look! This variegated image—a body accumulated with sores—experiences pain and abundant desires. There is nothing permanent or steadfast here.

Variegated image—this refers to the body and illustrates that it has no solid self.

One Hundred Forty-Eight: This form decays; a nest of maladies; bound for ruin; the heap of foulness crumbles; life meets death without exception.

One Hundred Forty-Nine: Like a gourd cast aside in autumn—beholding these discarded ash-hued bones, what delight could linger here?

One Hundred Fifty: With bone as a castle, plastered with flesh and blood, within are harbored old age, death, pride, and concealment.

Concealment—refers to hiding one’s own sins.

One Hundred Fifty-One: The splendid royal chariot will inevitably decay; the body too declines in this manner. Yet the virtue of good does not decay—this is what the virtuous discuss among themselves.

One Hundred Fifty-Two: The aging of a fool resembles that of an ox; his flesh grows, but his wisdom does not increase.

One Hundred Fifty-Three: I sought the builder of this house but did not find him; having passed through many births in samsara, there exists no life free from suffering.

House—a metaphor for the transient existence of birth and death.

One Hundred Fifty-Four: O House-Builder, you have been seen! Build no house again. All your rafters lie broken; your ridgepole stands shattered. With mind free from fabrication and desires extinguished—

One Hundred Fifty-Five: Should one fail to practice pure conduct and acquire no wealth in youth, they perish like an aged goose in a fishless pond.

One Hundred Fifty-Six: If one does not practice pure conduct and gains no wealth in their prime, they lie down reminiscing about the past like a broken arrow.

Chapter Twelve: The Self

One Hundred Fifty-Seven: If one loves oneself, one must guard oneself with utmost care. A wise person should reflect upon themself at least once among the three times.

One Hundred Fifty-Eight: First dwell yourself in what ought to be done, then instruct others. The wise one who does so remains untroubled.

One Hundred Fifty-Nine: As you would teach others, so train yourself. Only when well-trained yourself can you train others—truly self-discipline is hardest.

One Hundred Sixty: Make yourself your master—what other master exists? Through thorough self-discipline comes mastery hard-won.

One Hundred Sixty-One: Self-made crimes—self-born, self-caused—destroy fools like diamonds shatter gems.

One Hundred Sixty-Two: If a person does not hold any precepts, like a sal tree overgrown with vines, they will act according to their enemy’s desires.

One Hundred Sixty-Two Annotation: A sal tree overgrown with vines—just as a sal tree entangled by many vines withers, if a person does not hold any precepts, they destroy themselves; this is what their enemy delights in.

One Hundred Sixty-Three: Doing what is unwholesome and not beneficial to oneself is easy; doing what is beneficial and good is exceedingly difficult.

One Hundred Sixty-Four: The fool who ridicules the noble and righteous teachings of the saints clings to wrong views; he is like the Kotaka tree that destroys itself when its fruit ripens.

One Hundred Sixty-Five: By creating defilements oneself, one becomes stained; by not creating defilements oneself, one becomes purified. Purity and impurity belong to oneself; one cannot be purified by another.

Defilement—refers to receiving the karmic results of evil.

One Hundred Sixty-Six: However significant benefiting others may be, one must not neglect benefiting oneself. Recognize one’s own duty and always devote oneself to it.

Chapter Thirteen: Worldly Matters

One Hundred Sixty-Seven: One must not learn base practices; one must not dwell in heedlessness; one must not adopt wrong views; one must not promote worldly concerns.

One Hundred Sixty-Eight: Arouse! Do not be heedless. Practice the Dharma of excellent conduct. One who acts according to the Dharma sleeps peacefully both in this world and the next.

One Hundred Sixty-Nine: Practice the Dharma of excellent conduct; do not practice the Dharma of evil conduct. One who acts according to the Dharma sleeps peacefully both in this world and the next.

One Hundred Seventy: Observe the world as foam; observe it as a mirage. The King of Death does not see those who observe the world thus.

One Hundred Seventy-One: Come behold this world like a multihued royal chariot—fools drown within it; the wise cling to nothing.

One Hundred Seventy-Two: Should one first be heedless but later become vigilant, they light up this world like the moon breaking through clouds.

One Hundred Seventy-Three: Should one first commit evil deeds but later quench them with good, they light up this world like the moon breaking through clouds.

One Hundred Seventy-Four: This world lies shrouded in blackest night; rare are those who see clearly within it—as rare as birds slipping through nets to reach celestial heights.

One Hundred Seventy-Five: Wild geese follow the sun’s path; people travel through the void using psychic power; the wise destroy Mara and his army, transcending the world.

Wild geese—a type of migratory bird.

One Hundred Seventy-Six: Those who break a precept, lie, and disbelieve other realms—there is no evil they will not commit.

One Hundred Seventy-Seven: The greedy never reach heaven; fools never commend charity; the wise delight in giving and thereby find joy in future lives.

One Hundred Seventy-Eight: More than governing the earth, more than ascending to heaven, more than all worldly kingships—the fruit of stream-entry surpasses them all.

Fruit of stream-entry—attaining unwavering conviction in Buddhism.

Chapter Fourteen: The Buddha

One Hundred Seventy-Nine: How could anyone lead into evil paths this Buddha of boundless wisdom—he who conquered himself and remains unconquered by others, he who attained a victory unattainable to ordinary people?

One Hundred Eighty: How could anyone lead into evil paths this Buddha of boundless wisdom—he who cannot be led astray by love that tempts and obstructs?

One Hundred Eighty-One: Wise persons devoted themselves to meditation and rejoiced in the tranquility of renunciation; even the gods envied this Rightly Enlightened Contemplative One.

One Hundred Eighty-Two: It was difficult to obtain human birth; difficult to be born with a lifespan; difficult to hear the wonderful Dharma; difficult for Buddhas to appear in the world.

One Hundred Eighty-Three: To do no evil, to perform good, and to purify one’s own mind—this was the teaching of the Buddhas.

One Hundred Eighty-Four: The endurance of suffering had been the highest ascetic practice; Nirvana was supreme—this was the teaching of the Buddhas. There were no monastics who harmed others; there were no ascetics who troubled others.

One Hundred Eighty-Five: Not slandering, not harming, being cautious in speech and action, knowing moderation in eating, dwelling in quiet places, and contemplating with single-minded focus—this is the teaching of the Buddhas.

One Hundred Eighty-Six: Even were heaven to rain coins, desires would never be sated. Wise is one who knows desires bear scant savor and bitter aftertaste.

One Hundred Eighty-Seven: Finding no joy even in celestial delights, yet rejoicing in craving's cessation—such a one walks as disciple of the Rightly Enlightened One.

One Hundred Eighty-Eight: When people are driven by fear, they take refuge in many mountains, forests, groves, solitary trees, and spirit shrines.

One Hundred Eighty-Nine: This refuge is not superior; this refuge is not noble; through this refuge, one cannot be liberated from all sufferings.

One Hundred Ninety: Take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; observe the Four Noble Truths with right wisdom,

The Four Noble Truths—as mentioned in the following verse: suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path leading to the cessation of suffering.

One Hundred Ninety-One: Suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the Eightfold Path leading to the cessation of suffering—if one observes these,

One Hundred Ninety-Two: This refuge is superior; this refuge is noble; through this refuge, one can be liberated from all sufferings.

One Hundred Ninety-Three: A noble person is hard to obtain; he is not born everywhere. The clan where such a wise person is born thrives in peace and prosperity.

One Hundred Ninety-Four: The appearance of Buddhas brings joy; expounding the true Dharma brings joy; the harmony of the Sangha brings joy; the courageous progress of the harmonious assembly brings joy.

One Hundred Ninety-Five: One should venerate the Buddha or his disciples—those worthy of veneration who have transcended vain disputes and crossed over sorrow and lamentation—and venerate them.

One Hundred Ninety-Six: Should there be someone who venerates such a saint—peaceful and fearless—there would be none capable of measuring the extent of this merit.

Chapter Fifteen: Peace and Bliss

One Hundred Ninety-Seven: One should live most joyfully without anger amidst enmity; dwell without enmity among those who harbor enmity.

One Hundred Ninety-Eight: One should live most joyfully without pain amidst pain; dwell without pain among those who are in pain.

One Hundred Ninety-Nine: One should live most joyfully without greed amidst greed; dwell without greed among those who are greedy.

Two Hundred: One should live most joyfully with few possessions; make joy their food like those in the Radiant Pure Heaven.

Radiant Pure Heaven—a class of deities dwelling in the heavenly realm.

Two Hundred One: Victory breeds enmity; the defeated lie in suffering; the serene person, detached from victory and defeat, lies happily.

Two Hundred Two: There exists no fire comparable to greed; no sin comparable to hatred; no suffering comparable to the aggregates; no joy surpassing Nirvana.

Aggregates—a collection of elements of changing existence.

Tranquility—Nirvana.

Two Hundred Three: Hunger stands as the supreme illness; aggregates stand as the supreme suffering. Should any person know this truth as it is, there exists Nirvana—the supreme bliss.

Two Hundred Four: The foremost benefit lies in health; the foremost wealth in contentment; the foremost kinship in trust; the foremost bliss in Nirvana.

Two Hundred Five: Having drunk the liquid of detachment, drunk the liquid of tranquility, and drunk the liquid of Dharma-joy, one abandons transgressions and evil.

Two Hundred Six: Excellent! To see saints and dwell with them brings joy; not seeing ordinary fools means constant joy.

Two Hundred Seven: Traveling the path with ordinary fools makes one grieve the long journey; dwelling with them brings constant pain like living among enemies. Dwelling with wise people brings joy like reuniting with kin.

Therefore,

Two Hundred Eight: Follow such a virtuous wise person—endowed with wisdom, learning, patience, precepts, and holiness—as the moon moves among constellations.

Chapter Sixteen: The Section on Affection and Attachment

Two Hundred Nine: A person who corresponds to what is unfitting yet fails to correspond to what is fitting—who abandons true meaning to cling to the beloved—envies those who correspond appropriately.

Correspondence—the original term being yoga—carries meanings of contemplative practice and active practice. When interpreted as correspondence between mind and object, it signifies contemplative practice; when interpreted as correspondence between capability and object, it signifies active practice.

Two Hundred Ten: Do not meet with the beloved; never meet with the unloved. Not seeing the beloved brings suffering; seeing the unloved likewise brings suffering.

Two Hundred Eleven: Therefore, do not create attachment; to lose what is beloved is calamity. For one without attachment or aversion, there exist no bonds whatsoever.

Two Hundred Twelve: From attachment arises sorrow; from attachment arises fear. For one who has abandoned attachment, there is no sorrow—how then could there be fear?

Two Hundred Thirteen: From affection arises sorrow; from affection arises fear. For one who has abandoned affection, there is no sorrow—how then could there be fear?

Two Hundred Fourteen: From delight in attachment arises sorrow; from delight in attachment arises fear. For one who has abandoned delight in attachment, there is no sorrow—how then could there be fear?

Two Hundred Fifteen: From sensual desires arises sorrow; from sensual desires arises fear. For one who has abandoned sensual desires, there is no sorrow—how then could there be fear?

Two Hundred Sixteen: From craving arises sorrow; from craving arises fear. For one who has abandoned craving, there is no sorrow—how then could there be fear?

Two Hundred Seventeen: A person endowed with precepts and insight, righteous and truthful in speech, who performs their own duties—such a one is loved by people.

Two Hundred Eighteen: One who aspires to Nirvana, applies effort without negligence, and whose mind remains unhindered by various desires—they are called a Noble One.

Namelessness—Nirvana.

Noble One—this denotes those approaching Nirvana by ascending the stream of life and death. According to later scholarly interpretations, it signifies one who attains upstream Nirvana, a category of non-returner.

Two Hundred Nineteen: Just as relatives and friends joyfully welcome someone who journeyed long to distant lands and returned safely,

Two Hundred Twenty: A person who thus creates merit and departs from this world to the next is welcomed by their meritorious deeds, like loved ones welcoming one who has returned.

Chapter Seventeen: The Section on Anger

Two Hundred Twenty-One: Abandon anger, relinquish conceit, transcend all fetters. For one who owns nothing—not clinging to mind or matter—no sufferings follow.

Fetters—that which binds people, namely defilements.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two: If one can restrain anger that has arisen in oneself like stopping a runaway chariot, I call that one a charioteer; those who do not merely hold the reins.

Two Hundred Twenty-Three: Conquer anger through non-anger; conquer evil through good; conquer stinginess through generosity; conquer false speech through truth.

Two Hundred Twenty-Four: Speak truthfully; do not be angry; when asked, give even if what you have is little. By these three things, one may attain rebirth in the heavenly realm.

Two Hundred Twenty-Five: If wise people constantly guard their bodies and do no harm, they reach the deathless realm; having gone there, they grieve no more.

Two Hundred Twenty-Six: Should a person remain ever vigilant, study diligently day and night, and faithfully comprehend Nirvana, their mental defilements will be extinguished.

Two Hundred Twenty-Seven: O Atula, this was declared not first today but since ancient times: "They censure one who sits silent; they censure one who speaks much; they censure too one who speaks little. None in this world escapes censure."

Two Hundred Twenty-Eight: There has never been, nor will there be, nor is there now anyone who is entirely criticized or entirely praised.

Two Hundred Twenty-Nine: When a wise person discerns and is praised daily, he whose conduct is flawless—intelligent and endowed with wisdom and precepts—

Two Hundred Thirty: Like ornaments of Jambunada gold—who could find fault with him? The gods praise him; Brahma himself praises him.

Jambunada gold—the highest grade of gold.

Two Hundred Thirty-One: Guard against bodily anger; safeguard the body. Abandon bodily misconduct and perform good conduct through the body.

Two Hundred Thirty-Two: Guard against verbal anger; safeguard speech. Abandon verbal misconduct and perform good conduct through speech.

Two Hundred Thirty-Three: Guard against mental anger; safeguard the mind. Abandon mental misconduct and perform good conduct through the mind.

Two Hundred Thirty-Four: A wise person who guards body and speech, and a wise person who guards the mind—they are truly those who guard well.

Chapter Eighteen: The Section on Defilements

Two Hundred Thirty-Five: You are now like a withered leaf; Yama’s messengers approach your side; you now stand at death’s gate—yet you have no provisions for the journey ahead.

Two Hundred Thirty-Six: Create your own refuge; strive quickly; be wise. One who has removed defilements and is pure will go to the sacred abode of heaven.

Two Hundred Thirty-Seven: You have now passed your prime; you stand by Yama’s side; yet there is no abode for you in the intermediate state, nor do you have provisions for the journey ahead.

Two Hundred Thirty-Eight: Create your own refuge; strive quickly; be wise. One who has removed defilements and is pure will not approach birth and aging again.

Two Hundred Thirty-Nine: A wise person should gradually remove their own defilements—bit by bit, moment by moment—as a silversmith purges impurities from silver.

Two Hundred Forty: Just as rust born from iron consumes its parent metal, so too does an impure practitioner become led to evil realms through their own karma.

Two Hundred Forty-One: Consider neglect of recitation as the stain of mantras; lack of diligence as the household's stain; indolence as beauty's blemish; heedlessness as a guardian's failing.

Mantras—the primary texts of the Vedas, ancient India's sacred scriptures, which Brahmins must recite at dawn and dusk.

The phrase "non-diligence" refers to the decline and ruin of a family's way when household management is neglected.

The phrase “indolence” refers to how if one neglects cleansing and adornment, everything becomes unclean and loses its beauty.

Two Hundred Forty-Two: Regard unchastity as a woman’s stain, stinginess as a giver’s stain, and evil deeds as the stain of both this life and the next.

Two Hundred Forty-Three: Ignorance is the stain among these stains—the foremost stain. O monks, abandon this stain and become stainless.

Two Hundred Forty-Four: For a shameless person—brazen-faced, malicious by nature, arrogant, audacious, and corrupt in virtue—life comes easily.

Two Hundred Forty-Five: Yet for a person with shame—constantly seeking purity, free from attachment, humble in livelihood, living purely with wisdom—life proves difficult.

Two Hundred Forty-Six: If a person kills animals, utters false speech, takes what is not given in the world, and violates another’s wife,

Two Hundred Forty-Seven: If one becomes addicted to sura and maireya liquors, even in this present life, they are already digging up their own roots.

Sura—a liquor made by fermenting grains.

Maireya—a liquor made by fermenting roots, stems, flowers, and fruits.

Digging up one’s own roots—refers to destroying oneself.

Two Hundred Forty-Eight: O people, know thus: lack of control is evil. Do not let greed and wrongdoing cause you lasting suffering and harm.

Two Hundred Forty-Nine: People give according to their faith and preferences. Should a person feel ashamed of the food and drink received from others—thinking, "What I obtain is meager or coarse"—day and night he finds no means to attain peace of mind.

Two Hundred Fifty: If a person severs this shame, roots it out, and utterly destroys it, day and night he attains peace of mind.

Two Hundred Fifty-One: There exists no fire like greed, no grip like hatred, no net like delusion, no torrent like attachment.

Two Hundred Fifty-Two: Others’ faults are easy to see, but one’s own are hard to see. Others’ faults are like chaff being winnowed away, while one’s own are like a cunning gambler concealing unlucky dice throws.

Two Hundred Fifty-Three: If someone seeks out others’ faults and constantly disparages them, their mental defilements grow, and the eradication of those defilements becomes distant.

Two Hundred Fifty-Four: In the sky there are no bird tracks; among heretics there are no true ascetics; fools delight in idle speculation; the Tathagata is free from frivolous debate.

Two Hundred Fifty-Five: In the sky there are no bird tracks; among heretics there are no true ascetics; in conditioned phenomena there is no permanence; in the Buddha there is no disturbance.

Conditioned phenomena (saṅkhāra)—refers to all aggregates.

Chapter Nineteen: The Section on Righteousness

Righteousness—orthodoxy.

Two Hundred Fifty-Six: To hastily judge public affairs is not righteous; a wise person must discern both true righteousness and false righteousness.

Two Hundred Fifty-Seven: One who does not use violence, guides others fairly, upholds righteousness, and is wise—such a person is called a Dweller in Righteousness.

Two Hundred Fifty-Eight: One is not a wise person merely by speaking much; one who is calm, without hatred or fear is called a wise person.

Two Hundred Fifty-Nine: One is not a Dharma-holder merely by speaking much; if one hears even a little Dharma and practices it in conduct, they are truly a Dharma-holder; they do not neglect the Dharma.

Two Hundred Sixty: Merely having white hair does not make one an elder; such a one should be called one who has aged in vain.

Two Hundred Sixty-One: If a person possesses truth, Dharma, non-harm, precepts, and gentleness, that one is indeed called a wise elder who has expelled defilements.

Two Hundred Sixty-Two: A person of jealousy, stinginess, and deceit does not become virtuous through eloquence alone or a comely appearance.

Two Hundred Sixty-Three: Should one sever these entirely—cutting them off at the root and utterly destroying them—they are called a wise virtuous one who has purged faults.

Two Hundred Sixty-Four: Though one shaves their head, if lacking precepts and speaking falsely, they are no ascetic. How could one burdened with desire and greed be an ascetic?

Two Hundred Sixty-Five: If a person ceases all offenses, both gross and subtle, they are called an ascetic because of the cessation of offenses.

“Ascetic”—though it means “diligence” or “practitioner,” it is so named because its sound phonetically corresponds to the meaning of “cessation.”

Two Hundred Sixty-Six: Merely begging from others does not make one a monk; merely adhering to all prescribed duties does not make one a monk.

Two Hundred Sixty-Seven: If a person dwells in pure conduct—free from both sin and merit in this present world—and lives prudently within society, they are called a true monk.

Two Hundred Sixty-Eight: Even if one dwells in silence through foolishness and ignorance, they are not a muni (silent sage). A wise person selects good like holding scales,

Silence—the precept of non-speech.

Muni—meaning either silence or wise person; it is so called because "silence" (寂默) and "muni" (牟尼) share phonetic resonance.

Two Hundred Sixty-Nine: One who avoids evil becomes truly silent through being this muni. When a person in the world weighs both good and evil, they are thereby called a muni.

To measure—this word is called as such because it shares phonetic resonance with muni.

Two Hundred Seventy: It is not by harming life that one becomes Ariya; one is called Ariya through refraining from harming all living beings.

Ariya—while meaning "holy," it was perhaps named so because its sound resembles the word for "enemy."

Two Hundred Seventy-One: I uphold precepts, study extensively, attain peace of mind, or dwell in secluded places,

Two Hundred Seventy-Two: One does not attain the bliss of liberation—unpracticed by ordinary people—O monk; do not set your mind at ease until you have eradicated all defilements within.

Chapter Twenty: The Section on the Path

Two Hundred Seventy-Three: Among all paths, the Eightfold Path is supreme; among all truths, the Four Noble Truths; among all virtues, detachment; among two-legged beings, the Enlightened One.

The Eightfold [Path]—comprising Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration—is the essential path leading to liberation and Nirvana; therefore, it is called the Noble Eightfold Path.

The four—suffering, origin, cessation, and path—are inherently natural principles; therefore, they are named the Four Noble Truths.

Enlightened One—refers to the Buddha.

Two Hundred Seventy-Four: This is indeed the path of right thought; there is no other path of right thought. You all must practice this; this world is Mara’s illusion.

Two Hundred Seventy-Five: If you all practice this path, you will surely end suffering. I have realized the removal of the poisoned arrow and expound the path to you all.

Two Hundred Seventy-Six: You must strive diligently; the Tathagata teaches the path. Those who contemplate and practice shall escape Mara’s bonds.

Two Hundred Seventy-Seven: All conditioned things are impermanent. When one knows this through wisdom, they grow disenchanted with suffering—this is the path to purity.

Two Hundred Seventy-Eight: All conditioned things bring suffering. When one knows this through wisdom, they grow disenchanted with suffering—this is the path to purity.

Two Hundred Seventy-Nine: All phenomena lack self. When one knows this through wisdom, they grow disenchanted with suffering—this is the path to purity.

Two Hundred Eighty: One who does not rise at the proper time—though vigorous and strong—being lax in thought, weak in reflection, indolent and negligent, does not know the path through wisdom.

Two Hundred Eighty-One: Guard your speech, protect your mind, commit no evil with your body. Purify these three courses of action and attain the Way taught by the Great Sage.

Great Sage—Buddha.

Two Hundred Eighty-Two: Truly, wisdom springs from observance; through non-observance wisdom perishes. Knowing these two paths—the profitable and unprofitable—let one cultivate them oneself to make wisdom grow.

Two Hundred Eighty-Three: Cut down the forest [of desire], not just the trees! From forest springs fear; having felled both forest [desire] and undergrowth [attachment], become forestless [Nirvana], O monks.

Forest—in the original language, this has the meaning of "[desire]."

Stumps—in the original language, this has the meaning of "[attachment]."

Forestless—phonetically close to Nirvana.

Two Hundred Eighty-Four: Even if a man had but the slightest attachment to a woman, as long as he did not sever this, his mind remained bound—like a calf suckling milk from its mother.

Two Hundred Eighty-Five: Sever your attachments—as one would pluck autumn lotuses by hand—cultivate the path leading to peace, and expound the Sugata’s Nirvana.

The path of peace—the expedient means to reach Nirvana.

Two Hundred Eighty-Six: “I shall dwell here in autumn, here in winter too, here in summer”—thus contemplated the fool, unaware of death’s approach.

Here—refers to the present world.

Two Hundred Eighty-Seven: Death seized those infatuated with descendants and livestock—like a violent torrent sweeping away a slumbering village.

Two Hundred Eighty-Eight: Children could not save them, nor fathers, friends, or kin—those claimed by death.

Two Hundred Eighty-Nine: Having grasped this truth, the wise guarded precepts and swiftly purified Nirvana's path.

Chapter Twenty-One: The Miscellaneous Section

Two Hundred Ninety: If one abandons lesser pleasures to gain greater ones, then a wise person—seeing the greater pleasure—should abandon the lesser.

Two Hundred Ninety-One: Those who seek their own pleasure through others' suffering sink into enmity's turmoil and never escape hatred.

Two Hundred Ninety-Two: When one neglects duties and acts improperly—arrogant and heedless—mental defilements grow within them.

Two Hundred Ninety-Three: Those ever diligent and self-aware avoid wrong deeds, persist in right actions, maintain proper understanding—thereby eradicating mental defilements.

Two Hundred Ninety-Four: Having killed mother and father, slain two kings, and destroyed the country along with its entourage, the Brahmin passes unharmed.

Mother—a metaphor for love.

Father—a metaphor for the conceit of thinking "I exist."

Two Kings—a metaphor for the two views of eternalism and annihilationism.

Country—a metaphor for the twelve bases: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma. These twelve are called bases because they form the foundation that gives rise to and activates mental functions.

Entourage—a metaphor for delight and greed.

Pass through unharmed—to pass through without suffering harm.

Two Hundred Ninety-Five: Having slain mother [love] and father [conceit], destroyed the two Brahmin kings [the views of eternalism and annihilationism], and eradicated the fifth hindrance [the tiger], the Brahmin passes through unharmed.

Two Brahmin kings—a metaphor for the two views of eternalism and annihilationism.

**Tiger Fifth Hindrance**—a metaphor for the Five Hindrances: sensual desire, greed-hatred, sloth-torpor (stagnation), restlessness-remorse (agitation), and doubt. These five obscure the mind’s clarity like a cover, hence they are called “hindrances.” The tiger metaphorically represents the fifth hindrance [doubt]. “Tiger Fifth Hindrance” means “the tiger numbered as the fifth.”
The meaning of the above annotations: The Northern Tradition appears in Chapter 20 of the *Abhidharma Jnana Prasthana Shastra*, with slight differences.

Two Hundred Ninety-Six: Gautama’s disciples were ever awake and aware; day and night they recollected the Buddha.

Gautama—the family name of Shakukō.

Two Hundred Ninety-Seven: Gautama’s disciples were ever awake and aware; day and night they recollected the Dharma.

Two Hundred Ninety-Eight: Gautama’s disciples were ever awake and aware; day and night they recollected the Sangha.

Two Hundred Ninety-Nine: Gautama’s disciples were ever awake and aware; day and night they recollected the body.

Three Hundred: Gautama’s disciples remain ever wakeful and aware; their minds take delight in non-harm both day and night.

Three Hundred One: Gautama’s disciples remain ever wakeful and aware; their minds take delight in heart's steadiness both day and night.

Three Hundred Two: Renouncing household life proves difficult; finding joy in ascetic practice proves difficult. The home becomes hardship layered upon hardship; dwelling among peers brings pain. As aging comes, suffering follows. Therefore let one wish neither to age nor be followed by suffering.

Three Hundred Three: Wherever one who has faith, is endowed with precepts, and possesses repute and wealth may go, there is no place where they are not venerated.

Three Hundred Four: A good person is visible like a snowy mountain even from afar; an evil person is not seen even when near—like an arrow shot at night.

Three Hundred Five: One should practice sitting and lying down alone without tiring; discipline oneself alone and find joy in stillness as if dwelling in a forest.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Hell Section

Three Hundred Six: Those who speak falsehoods fall into hell; those who commit evil yet say “I did not do it” also fall into hell. Both these people, after death, equally become people of base occupations in the next world.

After death—this likely refers to what occurs after dying in hell.

Three Hundred Seven: Many who don the kasaya on their shoulders commit evil and lack restraint; such evildoers fall into hell due to their wicked deeds.

Three Hundred Eight: One would rather eat flame-like scorching iron balls than receive the people’s alms while being immoral and lacking restraint.

Three Hundred Nine: A heedless person who violates another’s wife encounters four things: the gaining of an ill reputation, lying down in discomfort, thirdly reproach, and fourthly hell.

Three Hundred Ten: He gains an ill reputation and falls into an evil realm; few are the pleasures he finds with the woman who is feared and fears, and the king imposes severe punishment. Therefore, one should not become intimate with another’s wife.

Three Hundred Eleven: Just as carelessly grasping sharp-edged grass injures the hand, so too if one misuses efforts, they drag a person into hell.
Three Hundred Twelve: Those negligent in their actions, impure in their observances, or suspect in their holy life—none attain great fruits.
Three Hundred Thirteen: Do what ought to be done; perform this vigorously! Negligent non-Buddhists would rather stir up much dust.

Three Hundred Fourteen: Evil deeds should not be done; evil deeds bring suffering afterward. Good deeds should be done; having done them, there is no regret.

Three Hundred Fifteen: Guard yourself as a border fortress guarded both inside and out; do not be negligent even for a moment.

Three Hundred Sixteen: Sentient beings who harbor wrong views—who feel shame where they should not and feel no shame where they should—are reborn in evil realms.

Three Hundred Seventeen: Sentient beings who harbor wrong views—who perceive fear where they should not and perceive no fear where they should—are reborn in evil realms.

Three Hundred Eighteen: Sentient beings who harbor wrong views—who declare one should avoid what should not be avoided and see what should be avoided as not to be avoided—are reborn in evil realms.

Three Hundred Nineteen: Sentient beings who harbor right views—who know to avoid what should be avoided and know not to avoid what should not be avoided—are reborn in good realms.

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Elephant Section

Three Hundred Twenty: Like an elephant on the battlefield enduring arrows shot from a bow, I will endure slander, for many people are precept-breakers.

Three Hundred Twenty-One: A tamed elephant is led to the battlefield by someone; the tamed elephant becomes a king’s mount. To skillfully discipline oneself and endure slander is supreme among humans.

Three Hundred Twenty-Two: A tamed mule was good; a Sindh-produced thoroughbred horse was good; an elephant possessing large tusks was good; but a person who had disciplined themselves was even better.

Sindh—this refers to the Indus River; it is said that this region produces thoroughbred horses.

Three Hundred Twenty-Three: Through these beasts one could never reach the unreached place; only a tamed person who had disciplined themselves, having well disciplined themselves, should go.

The unreached place—refers to Nirvana.

Three Hundred Twenty-Four: The elephant named Dhanapālaka, maddened and unruly, proved difficult to control; when bound, it refused to eat. This elephant only yearned for the elephant forest.

Three Hundred Twenty-Five: Those fond of sleep, gluttonous in nature, with dull and inferior minds—tossing and turning in slumber like large pigs fattened on grains—such dullards entered the womb repeatedly.

Gluttony—the act of greedily devouring.

Three Hundred Twenty-Six: This mind once went wherever it pleased, following desires and responding to pleasures—but now I will fully control it, like a hook-wielding person controls a drunken elephant.

Drunken elephant—when elephants reach their mating season, they become violent and frenzied as if intoxicated; therefore, elephants during this period are named "drunken elephants."

Three Hundred Twenty-Seven: You all should delight in heedfulness, guard your own minds, rescue yourselves from difficult circumstances—as if an elephant sunk in mire.

Difficult circumstances—this analogizes the difficulty of escaping defilements.

Three Hundred Twenty-Eight: If a person is wise and virtuous, acts rightly, and gains a steadfast friend, they can confront all perils and joyfully proceed together with him in mindfulness.

Three Hundred Twenty-Nine: If one is wise and virtuous, acts rightly, yet gains no steadfast friend, one should walk alone—like abandoning a kingdom destroyed by its king, like an elephant in the forest.

Three Hundred Thirty: Better to walk alone than keep company with fools. Walk solitary without committing evil, content with few desires—like an elephant in the forest.

Three Hundred Thirty-One: Friends bring joy when trials arise; contentment brings joy in all things; fortune brings joy when life ends; but the utter cessation of suffering brings perfect joy.

When things arise—it is because friends help seek this when there is fortune and help avoid this when there is calamity.

Three Hundred Thirty-Two: Having motherhood in the world is joyful; having fatherhood is also joyful. Having the nature of an ascetic in the world is joyful; having the nature of a Brahmin is also joyful.

Motherhood—the meaning of "what is called a mother."

Fatherhood—the meaning of "what is called a father."

Three Hundred Thirty-Three: Joyful is reaching old age while upholding precepts; joyful is having faith firmly established; joyful is attaining wisdom; joyful is abstaining from all evil.

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Sensual Desires Section

Three Hundred Thirty-Four: The heedless person's sensual desires flourish like the Maruva vine; he drifts from existence to existence, like a monkey in the forest seeking fruit.

Maruva—the name of a creeping plant.

Existence—transmigratory becoming.

Three Hundred Thirty-Five: A person subdued by fierce sensual desires in the world finds their manifold sorrows growing abundantly, like flourishing Biranas grass.

Three Hundred Thirty-Six: If there exists a person in the world who skillfully subdues these fierce and inescapable sensual desires, sorrows depart from them—like water droplets sliding from a lotus leaf.

Three Hundred Thirty-Seven: Therefore I instruct you all—let everyone gathered here dig up the roots of sensual desires! Let those seeking Ushira do so as one digs Biranas grass, that Mara may not destroy you time and again—just as a stream pierces through reeds.

Ushira—translated as “fragrant herb.”
Reiyaku—the name of a cooling remedy.

Mara—refers to defilements, aggregates (formed through accumulated causes and conditions), and the demon of death.

Three Hundred Thirty-Eight: Just as a tree with undisturbed, firm roots will regrow even when felled, so too will this suffering of life and death recur if latent sensual desires remain undestroyed.

Three Hundred Thirty-Nine: When thirty-six torrential currents of craving leak through desirable objects, the waves of discriminative thought born from greed sweep away those holding wrong views.

Thirty-six torrential currents: The six attachments to sense-objects become six; multiplied by three—sensory craving, existence-craving, and annihilation-craving—making eighteen. These eighteen are further divided into internal and external craving-based discriminations, totaling thirty-six.

Three Hundred Forty: Currents perpetually leak; vines ceaselessly sprout. When one sees the vines growing, cut off their roots with wisdom.

Three Hundred Forty-One: Human joy overflows and becomes attached; such a person indulges in delight, seeks pleasure, and undergoes birth, aging, sickness, and death.

Three Hundred Forty-Two: A person driven by craving runs like a rabbit caught in a snare; bound by fetters and attachments, they endure suffering time and again over a long period.

Three Hundred Forty-Three: A person driven by craving runs like a rabbit caught in a snare; therefore, let the monk seek detachment and eliminate craving.

Three Hundred Forty-Four: When a person leaves the forest of lay life, entrusts their heart to the forest of ascetic abodes, escapes the forest of lay desires, yet returns to the forest of craving—behold, this person has attained liberation but seeks bondage anew.

Three Hundred Forty-Five: The wise do not consider bonds of iron, wood, or grass as strong—but clinging attachment to jewels, ornaments, wives, and children—
Three Hundred Forty-Six: Though heavy, slack, and hard to escape, the wise call this a firm bond; they sever this without hesitation, cut off sensual pleasures, and wander.

Three Hundred Forty-Seven: Those who cling to greed go along currents they themselves create, like a spider moving along threads it spins. The wise sever these without hesitation—cutting off desires—and wander freely.

Three Hundred Forty-Eight: You must exhaust existence's limits; abandon past desires, abandon present desires, abandon future desires. Achieve liberation throughout all aspects of mind—you shall not undergo birth again nor aging nor death.

Past desires refer to sensual attachments within aggregates of three periods: past lives; present desires to current existence; future desires to coming rebirths.

Three Hundred Forty-Nine: A person disturbed by discursive thoughts—with fierce greed seeking life's pleasures—finds their sensual desires multiply and swell; they truly strengthen their bonds.

Three Hundred Fifty: A person who delights in the stillness of discursive thought, constantly contemplates, and observes impurity will surely destroy Mara’s bonds; he will sever them.

Three Hundred Fifty-One: Having attained the ultimate without fear, free from attachment and defilement—this is the final body severed from existence’s arrow.

Three Hundred Fifty-Two: If there is a person free from sensual desires, without grasping, skilled in interpreting words, and who knows the combination of characters and their sequence—that person is called a great wise one possessing the final body.

**Knowing the sequence of characters**—this means that if one hears the first character, they comprehend the middle and last characters without hearing them; if one hears the last character, they comprehend the first and middle characters without hearing them; if one hears the middle character, they comprehend the first and last characters without hearing them.

Three Hundred Fifty-Three: I conquer all things, know all things; untainted by any matter, I abandon all things. With craving extinguished and liberated, I awaken alone—whom shall I teach?

Three Hundred Fifty-Four: The gift of Dharma surpasses all gifts; the flavor of Dharma surpasses all flavors; the joy of Dharma surpasses all joys; the extinction of craving surpasses all suffering.

Three Hundred Fifty-Five: Sensual pleasures kill the fool who does not seek Nirvana; the fool, craving sensual pleasures, destroys themselves as if killing an enemy.

The Other Shore—that is Nirvana.

Three Hundred Fifty-Six: Fields are harmed by weeds; people are harmed by greed. Therefore, giving to those free from greed yields great fruit.

Three Hundred Fifty-Seven: Fields are harmed by weeds; people are harmed by anger. Therefore, giving to those free from anger yields great fruit.

Three Hundred Fifty-Eight: Fields are harmed by weeds; people are harmed by delusion. Therefore, giving to those free from delusion yields great fruit.

Three Hundred Fifty-Nine: Fields are harmed by weeds; people are harmed by desire. Therefore, giving to those free from desire yields great fruit.

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Monk Section

Monk—a disciple of the Buddha who has left home.

Three Hundred Sixty: Guard the eye; guard the ear; guard the nose; guard the tongue;

Three Hundred Sixty-One: Guard the body; guard speech; guard the mind; guard all.

Three Hundred Sixty-Two: One who controls hands, controls feet, controls speech—most skillfully controlled; who delights inwardly, abides in concentration, and dwells content in solitude—such a person is called a monk.

To delight inwardly—this means to take pleasure in meditative concentration.

Three Hundred Sixty-Three: If a monk controls his speech, expounds what is wise and good, and demonstrates meaning and Dharma with tranquility, his words become sweet.

Three Hundred Sixty-Four: When a monk dwells in the Dharma, delights in the Dharma, contemplates the Dharma, and recollects the Dharma, he will not decline from the Dharma.

Three Hundred Sixty-Five: Find no fault with what you have obtained; envy not others. A monk who envies others gains no stability of mind.

Three Hundred Sixty-Six: There exists a monk who feels no discontent though his gains be few; even still do the gods praise this one of pure livelihood and unflagging effort.

Three Hundred Sixty-Seven: A person who has no thought of possession regarding all things and does not grieve at destruction is truly called a monk.

Three Hundred Sixty-Eight: A monk who always maintains a compassionate heart and believes in the Buddha’s teachings will reach the realm where transformations cease—the tranquil and peaceful abode.

Three Hundred Sixty-Nine: O monk, bale out this boat; once the water is drained, it will move swiftly. If you sever greed and hatred, you will attain Nirvana.

Boat—it is metaphorically likened to self-nature.

Water—it metaphorically represents unwholesome thoughts.

Three Hundred Seventy: Cut off five, abandon five, and diligently cultivate five—a monk who has transcended the five attachments is called one who has crossed the torrent.

The first “five”—identity view, doubt, adherence to rites and rituals, sensual desire, and ill will—are fetters that conduce to the desire realm, the lower world dominated by sensory intensity; thus they are called the five lower fetters. The next “five”—craving for form, craving for formlessness, restlessness, conceit, and ignorance—are fetters that conduce to the form and formless realms, the upper worlds; thus they are named the five higher fetters. The next “five”—faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom—are the roots from which wholesome states arise; thus they are called the five faculties. The last “five”—greed, hatred, delusion, conceit, and views—are those that strongly cling; thus they are named the five attachments.

Three Hundred Seventy-One: O monk, practice meditation; do not be heedless. Do not let your mind dwell on sensual pleasures. Do not swallow a red-hot iron ball through heedlessness; do not cry out "This is suffering!" when you are burned.

Three Hundred Seventy-Two: One without wisdom has no meditation; one without meditation has no wisdom; one who possesses both meditation and wisdom has indeed drawn near to Nirvana.

Three Hundred Seventy-Three: A monk who enters an empty dwelling with tranquil mind, correctly contemplates the Dharma, experiences joy not found among humankind.

**"Entering an empty house..."**—This refers to when [a monk], in a quiet place, advances from the preparatory stage of meditation (*kammaṭṭhāna*) to attain meditative concentration and sits with focused mental application.

Three Hundred Seventy-Four: If a person earnestly contemplates the arising and ceasing of the aggregates, they will attain the joy and happiness of one who has realized Nirvana.

Aggregates—things accumulated through the power of causes and conditions.

Deathlessness—Nirvana.

Three Hundred Seventy-Five: The beginning of a wise monk in the present world is said to be guarding the senses, being content, upholding moral precepts, living rightly, and associating with good friends.

Three Hundred Seventy-Six: Make giving a constant practice; be skillful in all deeds. Through this, one attains abundant joy and exhausts all suffering.

Making giving a constant practice—this refers to not neglecting the two kinds of giving: material and Dharma.

Three Hundred Seventy-Seven: Just as the vāsikā plant sheds its withered blossoms, so must all monks cast off greed and hatred.

Vāsikā—a plant of the jasmine family.

Three Hundred Seventy-Eight: A monk whose body is tranquil, speech tranquil, who through tranquility attains concentration and has spewed forth worldly gains—this one is called a serene being.

Three Hundred Seventy-Nine: A monk who self-admonishes, self-examines, thoroughly contemplates, and self-guards shall abide in bliss.

Three Hundred Eighty: Take yourself as sovereign; take yourself as refuge. Therefore restrain yourself as a merchant restrains his prize steed.

Three Hundred Eighty-One: A monk who has much joy and pure faith in the Buddha’s teachings will reach the tranquil realm of bliss where transformations cease.

Three Hundred Eighty-Two: Though there is a monk who is young, if he is diligent in the Buddha’s teachings, he illuminates this world like the moon emerging from clouds.

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Brahmin Section

Brahmin—In ancient India, Brahmins occupied society's highest position, revered as leaders in religion and philosophy, recognized as society's greatest individuals deemed closest to the gods; in Buddhism, this term is understood as meaning "those who have eliminated evil," equated with Arhats, and is frequently used synonymously with Buddha.

Three Hundred Eighty-Three: O Brahmin, courageously sever the stream; eradicate desires. Having fully comprehended the cessation of transformations, you shall know the Unconditioned, O Brahmin.

Stream—it is metaphorically likened to craving.

Brahmin—it refers to one who has destroyed the defilements. However, this verse applies the name of the result to the cause.

Unconditioned—Nirvana.

Three Hundred Eighty-Four: When a Brahmin has reached the far shore of two practices, all bonds binding this wise one are destroyed.

Two practices—stillness and insight.

The far shore—the realm of perfection.

Three Hundred Eighty-Five: I call one a Brahmin who is fearless and unfettered—for whom there exists neither far shore nor near shore, nor both nor neither.

Three Hundred Eighty-Six: I call one a Brahmin who meditates, free from craving, steadfast in resolve; who has completed the task, with mind purified, having attained the supreme goal.

Three Hundred Eighty-Seven: The sun blazes by day; the moon gleams by night; the warrior shines in armor; the Brahmin glows through meditation; but the Buddha radiates splendor that dispels all delusion’s darkness.

Three Hundred Eighty-Eight: Because one has abandoned all evils, one is a Brahmin; because one practices tranquility, one is called an ascetic; because one has expelled impurities, one is called a renunciant.

In the text, the terms “saru” (abandon), “jakujō” (tranquility), and “joken” (expulsion) are used in this manner because their sounds resemble “Brahmin,” “ascetic,” and “renunciant,” respectively.

Three Hundred Eighty-Nine: Do not strike a Brahmin; a Brahmin who has been struck should not retaliate against the one who struck him. How could one strike a Brahmin? How much less should one retaliate against the striker?

Three Hundred Ninety: To restrain one’s mind toward loved ones is a praiseworthy act of a Brahmin; when harmful intentions cease, corresponding suffering is extinguished.

**“Toward loved ones and so forth”**—this refers to restraining anger toward loved ones such as parents and the Buddha.

Three Hundred Ninety-One: I call that person a Brahmin who creates no evil through body, speech, or mind and guards these three spheres.

Three Hundred Ninety-Two: If there is one who expounds the Dharma taught by the Perfectly Enlightened One, people should reverently pay homage to him, just as Brahmins pay homage to the fire god.

Three Hundred Ninety-Three: A Brahmin is not one by matted hair, nor by clan, nor by birth; if one possesses truth and Dharma, he is a pure Brahmin.

Matted hair—a type of ascetic practice performed in India.

Three Hundred Ninety-Four: O fool, what good is matted hair to you? What good is a deerskin robe? You have a thicket within yet adorn the exterior.

Deerskin robe—worn by Indian ascetics.

Thicket—this compares wrong views to a thicket.

Three Hundred Ninety-Five: I call that person a Brahmin who wears rag-robes, emaciated with protruding veins, dwells alone in the forest, and meditates.

Three Hundred Ninety-Six: I do not call one a Brahmin by birth or mother’s clan. Such a one may be called a noble; he may be deemed wealthy. I call that person a Brahmin who owns nothing and takes nothing.

Three Hundred Ninety-Seven: I call that person a Brahmin who has severed all bonds, never grieves, has abandoned attachments, and is free from fetters.

Three Hundred Ninety-Eight: I call that person a Brahmin who has severed cords, straps, ropes and their attachments, destroyed the barrier, and has awakened.

Cord—it is metaphorically likened to anger that has the nature of binding.

Strap—it is metaphorically likened to love that has the nature of binding.

Rope and its attachments—it is metaphorically likened to the sixty-two erroneous views.

Barrier—it is metaphorically likened to ignorance.

Awakening—this refers to understanding the principle of the Four Noble Truths.

Three Hundred Ninety-Nine: I call one a Brahmin who commits no evil yet endures insults, blows, and bondage—who possesses forbearance as their strength and perseveres through it.

Four Hundred: I call that person a Brahmin who is free from anger, observes ascetic practices, upholds precepts, is without desire, self-restrained, and in their final body.

Ascetic practices—the conduct of those who have few desires and are content.

Precepts—the four pure precepts: (1) Prātimokṣa precepts (vows to abstain from unwholesome acts through body and speech), (2) sense restraint precepts (controlling sensory faculties), (3) livelihood purification precepts (regulating one’s way of life), and (4) dependent requisites precepts (moderating life’s necessities).

Desire—craving.

Restraint—controlling the six senses.

Final body—the absence of defilements that would lead to subsequent existences.

Four Hundred One: Like water on a lotus leaf, like a mustard seed on a needle’s tip—I call that person a Brahmin who remains unstained by desire.

Water on a lotus leaf—symbolizing being unstained.

A mustard seed on a needle’s tip—symbolizing non-attachment.

Four Hundred Two: I call that person a Brahmin who, even in this present life, has fully comprehended the cessation of suffering, laid down the burden, and severed all bonds.

Four Hundred Three: I call that person a Brahmin who possesses profound wisdom, demonstrates discernment, has mastered both the path and non-path, and attained the supreme truth.

The supreme truth—this denotes Arhatship.

Four Hundred Four: I call that person a Brahmin who associates with neither householders nor the homeless, has no fixed abode, and is of few desires.

Four Hundred Five: If one dwells among living beings—whether weak or strong—without discrimination, discards weapons, neither kills nor causes others to kill, him I call a Brahmin.

Four Hundred Six: Amidst conflict, one who does not fight; amidst hostility, one who does not anger; amidst clinging, one who is free from attachment—such a person I call a Brahmin.

Clinging—refers to recognizing the self in both spirit and body.

Four Hundred Seven: If there is a person who has abandoned greed, anger, pride, and concealment like a mustard seed falling from a needle's tip, him I call a Brahmin.

Concealment—the act of hiding others' virtues or one's own faults.

Four Hundred Eight: I call that person a Brahmin who utters instructive words that are not harsh and, through those words, does not anger anyone.

Four Hundred Nine: If someone in this world does not take what is not given—whether short or long, coarse or fine, pure or impure—I call him a Brahmin.

Four Hundred Ten: If someone does not long for this world or the next, is free from longing, and has severed all bonds, I call him a Brahmin.

Four Hundred Eleven: If someone is free from attachment, knows (the truth) without doubt, and has reached the source of Nirvana, I call him a Brahmin.

Nectar—it refers to Nirvana.

Four Hundred Twelve: If a person in this world ceases clinging to both merit and sin, is without sorrow, free from greed, and pure, I call him a Brahmin.

Four Hundred Thirteen: Like the moon free from clouds—pure, clear, and bright—I call that person a Brahmin whose attachment to changing existence has completely ended.

Four Hundred Fourteen: If a person has crossed over these enemies—dangerous paths, samsara, and delusion—has already crossed, reached the far shore, meditates, is without desire, without doubt, without grasping, and is tranquil, him I call a Brahmin.

Enemy—it refers to greed and others.

Dangerous path—it refers to defilements.

Four Hundred Fifteen: If a person in this present world severs all desires, abandons home to wander as an ascetic, and eradicates the existence of desire, I call him a Brahmin.

Four Hundred Sixteen: I call that person a Brahmin who has severed love in this present world, abandoned home to wander as an ascetic, and eradicated the existence of love.

Four Hundred Seventeen: I call that person a Brahmin who has severed the yoke of humanity, transcended the yoke of divinity, and freed themselves from all bonds of yokes.

The yoke of divinity—the yoke refers to a type of defilement that enslaves both humans and divinities, rendering them unfree; "divinity" denotes a category among changing existences—beings who surpass humanity yet have not attained perfect states.

Four Hundred Eighteen: I call that hero a Brahmin who has abandoned both pleasure and displeasure, is cool and calm, devoid of the seeds of changing existences, and has conquered all worlds.

Four Hundred Nineteen: I call that person a Brahmin who knows the death and rebirth of all sentient beings, is free from attachment, fortunate, and awakened.

Four Hundred Twenty: The destination of the Arhat with an undefiled mind is unknown even to gods, gandharvas, or humans; I call him a Brahmin.

Gandharva—a type of supernatural being.

Four Hundred Twenty-One: He who has no possessions at the beginning, end, or in between—him, being without ownership and grasping, I call a Brahmin.

Four Hundred Twenty-Two: I call him a Brahmin—the supreme valiant bull-king, great sage, self-subdued one, desireless one, purified one, enlightened one.

Four Hundred Twenty-Three: There exists one who knows past existences, sees divine realms and woeful destinies, attains rebirth's end, becomes a sage with perfected psychic powers, and possesses every perfection—him I call a Brahmin.