[378] 1.
One should train in virtue (sīla) alone here, well trained in this world;
for virtue, when cultivated, brings all prosperity within reach.
The wise one should guard virtue, aspiring to three happinesses:
praise, the gaining of wealth, and, after death, rejoicing in heaven.
For the virtuous one, through restraint, obtains many friends;
but the immoral one, doing evil, falls away from his friends.
The immoral man reaps blame and ill fame;
the virtuous one ever gains praise, fame, and commendation.
Virtue is the beginning, the foundation, and the mother of good things;
it is the foremost of all dhammas: therefore one should purify virtue.
Virtue is the boundary and the restraint, the gladdening of the mind (citta),
and the ford of all the Buddhas: therefore one should purify virtue.
Virtue is a peerless power; virtue is the supreme weapon;
virtue is the best adornment; virtue is a wondrous coat of mail.
Virtue is a bridge of great might; virtue is an unsurpassed fragrance;
virtue is the finest unguent, by which it is wafted from quarter to quarter.
Virtue truly is the foremost of provisions; virtue is the supreme provision for the journey;
virtue is the best conveyance, by which it is wafted from quarter to quarter.
Right here he incurs blame, and after death he is dejected in a state of loss (apāya);
everywhere the fool is dejected, not composed in virtues.
Right here he gains fame, and after death he is glad in heaven;
everywhere the steadfast one is glad, well composed in virtues.
Virtue alone is supreme here, but the one possessed of wisdom is the highest;
among humans and among gods, through virtue and wisdom they are victorious.
The Elder Sīlava.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.