Control of the eye is good; good is control of the ear;
control of the nose is good; good is control of the tongue.
Control of the body is good; good is control of speech;
control of thought is good; good is control of all things.
A mendicant controlled in all things is freed from sorrow.
Whoever controls one’s hand, whoever controls one’s feet,
whoever controls one’s speech, whoever is well-controlled,
whoever finds inner joy, who is collected,
who is alone and content they call a mendicant.
The mendicant who controls one’s tongue,
who speaks wisely and calmly, who is not proud,
who illuminates the meaning of the truth,
that one’s words are sweet.
Whoever lives in the truth, who finds joy in the truth,
meditates on the truth, follows the truth,
that mendicant does not fall away from the truth.
Let one not despise what one has received
nor envy others.
A mendicant who envies others does not find peace.
A mendicant, who, though receiving little,
does not despise what one has received,
even the gods praise, if one’s life is pure and not lazy.
Whoever never identifies with name and form
and whoever does not grieve from not having anything
is called a mendicant.
The mendicant who lives in friendliness
with confidence in the doctrine of the Buddha
will find peace, the blessed place where existence ends.
Empty the boat, mendicant;
when emptied it will go quickly.
Having cut off desire and hate, you will go to freedom.
Cut off the five; get rid of the five; master the five.
A mendicant who has freed oneself from the five chains
is called “one who has crossed the flood.”Meditate, mendicant; do not be careless.
Do not think of pleasures
so that you may not for your carelessness
have to swallow the iron ball,
so that you may not cry out when burning, “This is painful!”
There is no meditation for one without wisdom,
no wisdom for one without meditation;
whoever has wisdom and meditation is close to nirvana.
A mendicant who with a peaceful heart
has entered an empty house,
has more than human joy when seeing the truth clearly.
When one has comprehended
the origin and destruction of the elements of the body,
one finds happiness and joy
which belong to those who know the eternal.
This is the beginning here for a wise mendicant:
control of the senses, contentment,
living according to the moral law,
associating with friends
who are noble, pure, and not lazy.
Let one live in love;
let one be adept in one’s duties;
then joyfully one will see the end of sorrow.
As the jasmine sheds its withered flowers,
people should shed desire and hate, mendicants.
A mendicant is said to be calm
who has a calm body, calm speech, and a calm mind,
who has mastered oneself
and rejected the baits of the world.
Lift up your self by yourself;
examine your self by yourself.
Thus self-protected and attentive
you will live joyfully, mendicant.
For self is the master of self;
self is the refuge of self.
therefore tame yourself,
like a merchant tames a noble horse.
Joyful and faithful in the doctrine of the Buddha,
the mendicant finds peace,
the joy of ending natural existence.
Whoever, even as a young mendicant,
applies oneself to the path of the Buddha
illuminates this world,
like the moon when free from clouds.
~The Dhammapada
