- All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.
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All tremble at violence; life is dear to all. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.
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One who, while himself seeking happiness, oppresses with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will not attain happiness hereafter.
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One who, while himself seeking happiness, does not oppress with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will find happiness hereafter.
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Speak not harshly to anyone, for those thus spoken to might retort. Indeed, angry speech hurts, and retaliation may overtake you.
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If, like a broken gong, you silence yourself, you have approached Nibbana, for vindictiveness is no longer in you.
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Just as a cowherd drives the cattle to pasture with a staff, so do old age and death drive the life force of beings (from existence to existence).
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When the fool commits evil deeds, he does not realize (their evil nature). The witless man is tormented by his own deeds, like one burnt by fire.
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He who inflicts violence on those who are unarmed, and offends those who are inoffensive, will soon come upon one of these ten states:
138-140 Sharp pain, or disaster, bodily injury, serious illness, or derangement of mind, trouble from the government, or grave charges, loss of relatives, or loss of wealth, or houses destroyed by ravaging fire; upon dissolution of the body that ignorant man is born in hell.
- Neither going about naked, nor matted locks, nor filth, nor fasting, nor lying on the ground, nor smearing oneself with ashes and dust, nor sitting on the heels (in penance) can purify a mortal who has not overcome doubt.
Even though he be well-attired, yet if he is poised, calm, controlled and established in the holy life, having set aside violence towards all beings — he, truly, is a holy man, a renunciate, a monk.
Only rarely is there a man in this world who, restrained by modesty, avoids reproach, as a thoroughbred horse avoids the whip.
Like a thoroughbred horse touched by the whip, be strenuous, be filled with spiritual yearning. By faith and moral purity, by effort and meditation, by investigation of the truth, by being rich in knowledge and virtue, and by being mindful, destroy this unlimited suffering.
Irrigators regulate the waters, fletchers straighten arrow shafts, carpenters shape wood, and the good control themselves.
“Dandavagga: Violence” (Dhp X), translated from the Pali by Acharya Buddharakkhita. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013.
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129-130
All
tremble at the rod,
all
are fearful of death.
Drawing the parallel to
yourself,
neither kill nor get others to kill.
All
tremble at the rod,
all
hold their life dear.
Drawing the parallel to
yourself,
neither kill nor get others to kill.
131-132
Whoever takes a rod
to harm living beings desiring ease,
when he himself is looking for ease,
will meet with no ease after death.
Whoever doesn’t take a rod
to harm living beings desiring ease,
when he himself is looking for ease,
will meet with ease after death.
133
Speak harshly to no one,
or the words will be thrown
right back at you.
Contentious talk is painful,
for you get struck by rods in return.
134
If, like a flattened metal pot
you don’t resound,
you’ve attained an Unbinding;
in you there’s found
no contention.
135
As a cowherd with a rod
drives cows to the field,
so aging & death
drive the life
of living beings.
136
When doing evil deeds,
the fool is oblivious.
The dullard
is tormented
by his own deeds,
as if burned by a fire.
137-140
Whoever, with a rod,
harasses an innocent man, unarmed,
quickly falls into any of ten things:
harsh pains, devastation, a broken body, grave illness,
mental derangement, trouble with the government,
violent slander, relatives lost, property dissolved,
houses burned down.
At the break-up of the body
this one with no discernment,
reappears in
hell.
141-142
Neither nakedness nor matted hair
nor mud nor the refusal of food
nor sleeping on the bare ground
nor dust & dirt nor squatting austerities
cleanses the mortal
who’s not gone beyond doubt.
If, though adorned, one lives in tune
with the chaste life
— calmed, tamed, & assured —
having put down the rod toward all beings,
he’s a contemplative
a brahman
a monk.
143
Who in the world
is a man constrained by conscience,
who awakens to censure
like a fine stallion to the whip?
144
Like a fine stallion
struck with a whip,
be ardent & chastened.
Through conviction
virtue, persistence,
concentration, judgment,
consummate in knowledge & conduct,
mindful,
you’ll abandon this not-insignificant pain.
145
Irrigators guide the water.
Fletchers shape the arrow shaft.
Carpenters shape the wood.
Those of good practices control
themselves.
“Dandavagga: The Rod” (Dhp X), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013.
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