Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1295. A true Brahmaza goes scatheless, though he have killed father and mother, and two holy kings, and an eminent man besides. 292. Cf. Beal, Catena, p. 264. 294, 295. These two verses are either meant to show that a truly holy man who, by accident, commits all these crimes is guiltless, or they refer to some particular event in Buddha’s history. The commentator is so startled that he explains them allegorically. Mr. D’Alwis is very indignant that I should have supposed Buddha capable of pardoning patricide. ‘Can it be believed,’ he writes, ‘that a Teacher, who held life, even the life of the minutest insect, MISCELLANEOUS. 71 296. The disciples of Gotama (Buddha) are always well awake, and their thoughts day and night are always set on Buddha. 297. The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their thoughts day and night are always set on the law. | Y 298. The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their thoughts day and night are always set on the church. 299. The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their thoughts day and night are always set on their body. nay, even a living tree, in such high estimation as to prevent its wanton destruction, has declared that the murder of a Brahmaaa, to whom he accorded reverence, along with his own Sangha, was blameless?’ D’Alwis, Nirvana, p. 88. Though something might be said in reply, considering the antecedents of king Ag@tasatru, the patron of Buddha, and stories such as that quoted by the commentator on the Dhammapada (Beal, l.c. p.150), or in Der Weise und der Thor, p. 306, still these two verses are startling, and I am not aware that Buddha has himself drawn the conclusion, which has been drawn by others, viz. that those who have reached the highest Sambodhi, and are in fact no longer themselves, are outside the domain of good and bad, and beyond the reach of guilt. Verses like 39 and 412 admit of a different explanation. Still our verses being miscellaneous extracts, might possibly have been taken from a work in which such an opinion was advanced, and I find that Mr. Childers, no mean admirer of Buddha, was not shocked by my explanation. ‘In my judgment,’ he says,‘ this verse is intended to express in a forcible manner the Buddhist doctrine that the Arhat cannot commit a serious sin.’ However, we have met before with far-fetched puns in these verses, and it is not impossible that the native commentators were right after all in seeing some puns or riddles in this verse. D’Alwis, following the commentary, explains mother as lust, father as pride, the two valiant kings as heretical systems, and the realm as sensual pleasure, while veyyaggha is taken by him for a place infested with the tigers of obstruction against final beatitude. Some confirmation of this interpretation is sup- 72 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXI. 300. The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their mind day and night always delights in compassion.
2Some confirmation of this interpretation is sup- 72 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXI. 300. The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their mind day and night always delights in compassion. 301. The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their mind day and night always delights in meditation. 302. It is hard to leave the world (to become a friar), it is hard to enjoy the world; hard is the monastery, painful are the houses; painful it is to dwell with equals (to share everything in common), and the itinerant mendicant is beset with pain. Therefore let no man be an itinerant mendicant, and he will not be beset with pain. 303. Whatever place a faithful, virtuous, celebrated, and wealthy man chooses, there he is respected. 304. Good people shine from afar, like the snowy plied by a passage in the third book of the Lank4vatdra-sfitra, as quoted by Mr. Beal in his translation of the Dhammapada, Introduction, p. 5. Here a stanza is quoted as having been recited by Buddha, in explanation of a similar startling utterance which he had made to Mahdmati: ‘Lust, or carnal desire, this is the Mother, Ignorance, this is the Father, The highest point of knowledge, this is Buddha, All the klesas, these are the Rahats, The five skandhas, these are the Priests; To commit the five unpardonable sins Is to destroy these five And yet not suffer the pains of hell.’ The Lank4vatara-sfitra was translated into Chinese by Bodhirudi (508-511); when it was written is doubtful. See also GAtaka, vol. ii. p. 263. 302. This verse is difficult, and I give my translation as tentative only. Childers (Notes, p. 11) does not remove the difficulties, and I have been chiefly guided by the interpretation put on the verse by the Chinese translator; Beal, Dhammapada, p. 137. \ MISCELLANEOUS. 73 mountains ; bad people are not seen, like arrows shot by night. 305. He alone who, without ceasing, practises the duty of sitting alone and sleeping alone, he, subduing himself, will rejoice in the destruction of all desires alone, as if living in a forest. 305. Ihave translated this verse so as to bring it into something like harmony with the preceding verses. Vandnte, according to a pun pointed out before (v. 283), means both ‘in the end of a forest,’ and ‘in the end of desires.’ [10] ; i 74 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP, XXII. CHAPTER XXII. THE DOWNWARD COURSE. 306. He who says what is not, goes to hell; he also who, having done a thing, sa says ‘I ‘have not done it. After death both are equal, they are men with evil deeds in the next world. 307. Many men whose shoulders are covered with the yellow gown are ill-conditioned and unrestrained ; such evil-doers by their evil deeds go to hell. 308. Better it would be to swallow a heated iron ball, like flaring fire, than that a bad unrestrained fellow should live on the charity of the land. 309. Four things does a ¢reckless man gain who “covets his neighbour’s wife,—a bad reputation, an
3308. Better it would be to swallow a heated iron ball, like flaring fire, than that a bad unrestrained fellow should live on the charity of the land. 309. Four things does a ¢reckless man gain who “covets his neighbour’s wife,—a bad reputation, an ' uncomfortable bed, thirdly, punishment, and lastly, hell. 306. I translate niraya, ‘the exit, the downward course, the evil path,’ by ‘hell,’ because the meaning assigned to that ancient mythological name by Christian writers comes so near to the Buddhist idea of niraya, that it is difficult not to believe in some actual contact between these two streams of thought. See also Mahabh. XII, 7176. Cf. Gataka, vol. ii. p. 416; Suttanipata, v. 660. 307, 308. These two verses are said to be taken from the Vinayapifaka I, 4,1; D’Alwis, Nirvaza, p. 29. 308. The charity of the land, i.e. the alms given, from a sense of religious duty, to every mendicant that asks for it. 309, 310. The four things mentioned in verse 309 seem to be repeated in verse 310. Therefore, apufialabha, ‘bad fame,’ is the same in both: gati papika must be niraya; dazda must be nind4, and ratf thokika explains the anikimaseyyam. Buddhaghosa THE DOWNWARD COURSE. 75 310. There is bad reputation, and the evil way (to hell), there is the short pleasure of the frightened in the arms of the frightened, and the king imposes heavy punishment; therefore let no man think of his neighbour's wife. 311. As a grass-blade, if badly grasped, cuts the arm, badly-practised asceticism leads to hell.; 312. An act carelessly performed, a broken vow, and hesitating obedience to discipline, all this brings no great reward. 313. If anything is to be done, let a man do it, let him attack it vigorously! A careless pilgrim only scatters the dust of his passions more widely. 314. An evil deed is better left undone, for a man repents of it afterwards; a good deed is better done, for having done it, one does not repent. 315. Like a well-guarded frontier fort, with defences within and without, so let a man guard himself. Not a moment should escape, for they who allow the right moment to pass, suffer pain when they are in hell. 316. They who are ashamed of what they ought not to be ashamed of, and are not ashamed of what they ought to be ashamed of, such men, embracing false doctrines, enter the evil path. 317. They who fear when they ought not to fear, _and fear not when they ought to fear, such men, embracing false doctrines, enter the evil path. takes the same view of the meaning of anikdmaseyya, i.e. yatha ikkhati evam seyyam alabhitva, anikkhitam parittakam eva kalam seyyam labhati, ‘not obtaining the rest as he wishes it, he obtains it, as he does not wish it, for a short time only.’ 313. As to raga meaning ‘dust’ and ‘passion,’ see Buddhaghosha’s Parables, pp. 65, 66. 12 76 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXII.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1295. A true Brahmaza goes scatheless, though he have killed father and mother, and two holy kings, and an eminent man besides. 292. Cf. Beal, Catena, p. 264. 294, 295. These two verses are either meant to show that a truly holy man who, by accident, commits all these crimes is guiltless, or they refer to some particular event in Buddha’s history. The commentator is so startled that he explains them allegorically. Mr. D’Alwis is very indignant that I should have supposed Buddha capable of pardoning patricide. ‘Can it be believed,’ he writes, ‘that a Teacher, who held life, even the life of the minutest insect, MISCELLANEOUS. 71 296. The disciples of Gotama (Buddha) are always well awake, and their thoughts day and night are always set on Buddha. 297. The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their thoughts day and night are always set on the law. | Y 298. The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their thoughts day and night are always set on the church. 299. The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their thoughts day and night are always set on their body. nay, even a living tree, in such high estimation as to prevent its wanton destruction, has declared that the murder of a Brahmaaa, to whom he accorded reverence, along with his own Sangha, was blameless?’ D’Alwis, Nirvana, p. 88. Though something might be said in reply, considering the antecedents of king Ag@tasatru, the patron of Buddha, and stories such as that quoted by the commentator on the Dhammapada (Beal, l.c. p.150), or in Der Weise und der Thor, p. 306, still these two verses are startling, and I am not aware that Buddha has himself drawn the conclusion, which has been drawn by others, viz. that those who have reached the highest Sambodhi, and are in fact no longer themselves, are outside the domain of good and bad, and beyond the reach of guilt. Verses like 39 and 412 admit of a different explanation. Still our verses being miscellaneous extracts, might possibly have been taken from a work in which such an opinion was advanced, and I find that Mr. Childers, no mean admirer of Buddha, was not shocked by my explanation. ‘In my judgment,’ he says,‘ this verse is intended to express in a forcible manner the Buddhist doctrine that the Arhat cannot commit a serious sin.’ However, we have met before with far-fetched puns in these verses, and it is not impossible that the native commentators were right after all in seeing some puns or riddles in this verse. D’Alwis, following the commentary, explains mother as lust, father as pride, the two valiant kings as heretical systems, and the realm as sensual pleasure, while veyyaggha is taken by him for a place infested with the tigers of obstruction against final beatitude. Some confirmation of this interpretation is sup- 72 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXI. 300. The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their mind day and night always delights in compassion.
2Some confirmation of this interpretation is sup- 72 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXI. 300. The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their mind day and night always delights in compassion. 301. The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their mind day and night always delights in meditation. 302. It is hard to leave the world (to become a friar), it is hard to enjoy the world; hard is the monastery, painful are the houses; painful it is to dwell with equals (to share everything in common), and the itinerant mendicant is beset with pain. Therefore let no man be an itinerant mendicant, and he will not be beset with pain. 303. Whatever place a faithful, virtuous, celebrated, and wealthy man chooses, there he is respected. 304. Good people shine from afar, like the snowy plied by a passage in the third book of the Lank4vatdra-sfitra, as quoted by Mr. Beal in his translation of the Dhammapada, Introduction, p. 5. Here a stanza is quoted as having been recited by Buddha, in explanation of a similar startling utterance which he had made to Mahdmati: ‘Lust, or carnal desire, this is the Mother, Ignorance, this is the Father, The highest point of knowledge, this is Buddha, All the klesas, these are the Rahats, The five skandhas, these are the Priests; To commit the five unpardonable sins Is to destroy these five And yet not suffer the pains of hell.’ The Lank4vatara-sfitra was translated into Chinese by Bodhirudi (508-511); when it was written is doubtful. See also GAtaka, vol. ii. p. 263. 302. This verse is difficult, and I give my translation as tentative only. Childers (Notes, p. 11) does not remove the difficulties, and I have been chiefly guided by the interpretation put on the verse by the Chinese translator; Beal, Dhammapada, p. 137. \ MISCELLANEOUS. 73 mountains ; bad people are not seen, like arrows shot by night. 305. He alone who, without ceasing, practises the duty of sitting alone and sleeping alone, he, subduing himself, will rejoice in the destruction of all desires alone, as if living in a forest. 305. Ihave translated this verse so as to bring it into something like harmony with the preceding verses. Vandnte, according to a pun pointed out before (v. 283), means both ‘in the end of a forest,’ and ‘in the end of desires.’ [10] ; i 74 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP, XXII. CHAPTER XXII. THE DOWNWARD COURSE. 306. He who says what is not, goes to hell; he also who, having done a thing, sa says ‘I ‘have not done it. After death both are equal, they are men with evil deeds in the next world. 307. Many men whose shoulders are covered with the yellow gown are ill-conditioned and unrestrained ; such evil-doers by their evil deeds go to hell. 308. Better it would be to swallow a heated iron ball, like flaring fire, than that a bad unrestrained fellow should live on the charity of the land. 309. Four things does a ¢reckless man gain who “covets his neighbour’s wife,—a bad reputation, an
3308. Better it would be to swallow a heated iron ball, like flaring fire, than that a bad unrestrained fellow should live on the charity of the land. 309. Four things does a ¢reckless man gain who “covets his neighbour’s wife,—a bad reputation, an ' uncomfortable bed, thirdly, punishment, and lastly, hell. 306. I translate niraya, ‘the exit, the downward course, the evil path,’ by ‘hell,’ because the meaning assigned to that ancient mythological name by Christian writers comes so near to the Buddhist idea of niraya, that it is difficult not to believe in some actual contact between these two streams of thought. See also Mahabh. XII, 7176. Cf. Gataka, vol. ii. p. 416; Suttanipata, v. 660. 307, 308. These two verses are said to be taken from the Vinayapifaka I, 4,1; D’Alwis, Nirvaza, p. 29. 308. The charity of the land, i.e. the alms given, from a sense of religious duty, to every mendicant that asks for it. 309, 310. The four things mentioned in verse 309 seem to be repeated in verse 310. Therefore, apufialabha, ‘bad fame,’ is the same in both: gati papika must be niraya; dazda must be nind4, and ratf thokika explains the anikimaseyyam. Buddhaghosa THE DOWNWARD COURSE. 75 310. There is bad reputation, and the evil way (to hell), there is the short pleasure of the frightened in the arms of the frightened, and the king imposes heavy punishment; therefore let no man think of his neighbour's wife. 311. As a grass-blade, if badly grasped, cuts the arm, badly-practised asceticism leads to hell.; 312. An act carelessly performed, a broken vow, and hesitating obedience to discipline, all this brings no great reward. 313. If anything is to be done, let a man do it, let him attack it vigorously! A careless pilgrim only scatters the dust of his passions more widely. 314. An evil deed is better left undone, for a man repents of it afterwards; a good deed is better done, for having done it, one does not repent. 315. Like a well-guarded frontier fort, with defences within and without, so let a man guard himself. Not a moment should escape, for they who allow the right moment to pass, suffer pain when they are in hell. 316. They who are ashamed of what they ought not to be ashamed of, and are not ashamed of what they ought to be ashamed of, such men, embracing false doctrines, enter the evil path. 317. They who fear when they ought not to fear, _and fear not when they ought to fear, such men, embracing false doctrines, enter the evil path. takes the same view of the meaning of anikdmaseyya, i.e. yatha ikkhati evam seyyam alabhitva, anikkhitam parittakam eva kalam seyyam labhati, ‘not obtaining the rest as he wishes it, he obtains it, as he does not wish it, for a short time only.’ 313. As to raga meaning ‘dust’ and ‘passion,’ see Buddhaghosha’s Parables, pp. 65, 66. 12 76 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXII.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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