[28]
You are now like a yellowed leaf;
Yama's men, too, have appeared before you;
you stand at the mouth of departure,
yet provisions for the journey you have none.
Make an island for yourself!
Strive quickly; be wise!
With stains smelted away, free from blemish,
you will come to the divine plane of the noble ones.
You are now one whose span of life is far spent;
you have set out for the presence of Yama;
there is no resting place for you along the way,
yet provisions for the journey you have none.
Make an island for yourself!
Strive quickly; be wise!
With stains smelted away, free from blemish,
you will not come again to birth (jāti) and aging (jarā).
By degrees, little by little, moment by moment,
a wise man should smelt away his own stain,
as a smith the dross of silver.
As a stain sprung from iron itself,
arisen from it, devours that very iron,
so his own deeds (kamma) lead one who lives transgressing due reflection (atidhonacārī)
to a bad destination.
Sacred texts have non-recitation as their stain;
houses have neglect as their stain;
sloth is the stain of beauty;
heedlessness is the stain of one who keeps watch.
Misconduct is the stain of a woman;
stinginess is the stain of a giver;
evil states are stains indeed,
in this world and in the next.
A stain worse than these stains —
ignorance (avijjā) is the supreme stain.
Abandoning this stain,
be stainless, bhikkhus!
Life is easily lived by one without shame,
bold as a crow, a disparager,
presumptuous, insolent, and defiled.
But life is hard for one with moral shame (hirī),
ever seeking purity,
free from slackness, not insolent,
pure in livelihood, and discerning.
Whoever destroys life,
speaks false speech,
takes in the world what is not given,
and goes to the wife of another,
and whatever man is given
to drinking liquor and fermented brews —
that one, right here in this world,
digs up his own root.
Know thus, good man:
evil states are unrestrained.
Let not greed (lobha) and unrighteousness
subject you long to suffering (dukkha).
People give according to their faith (saddhā),
according to their confidence.
Whoever therein becomes sullen
over the drink and food given to others
does not attain concentration (samādhi)
by day or by night.
But he in whom this has been cut off,
destroyed at the root, uprooted —
he indeed attains concentration
by day or by night.
There is no fire like lust (rāga),
no seizer like hatred (dosa),
no net like delusion (moha),
no river like craving (taṇhā).
Easily seen are the faults of others,
but one's own are hard to see;
for one winnows the faults of others like chaff,
but conceals one's own,
as a crafty gambler conceals a losing throw.
For one who watches for the faults of others,
ever perceiving occasions for blame,
the taints (āsava) increase;
far is he from the destruction of the taints.
There is no footprint in the sky;
there is no ascetic outside;
beings delight in proliferation (papañca);
the Tathāgatas are free from proliferation.
There is no footprint in the sky;
there is no ascetic outside;
no conditioned things (saṅkhāra) are eternal;
there is no perturbation in the Buddhas.
The Mala-vagga, the Eighteenth, is concluded.
______________
Dhammapada Verses: the Dhammaṭṭha-vagga, the Nineteenth
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.