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DHAMMAPADA.
CHAP. XIV.
183. Not to commit any sin, to do good, and to purify one's mind, that is the teaching of (all) the Awakened.
184. The Awakened call patience the highest penance, long-suffering the highest Nirvana; for he is not an anchorite (pravragita) who strikes others, he is not an ascetic (sramana) who insults others.
185. Not to blame, not to strike, to live restrained under the law, to be moderate in eating, to sleep and sit alone, and to dwell on the highest thoughts, this is the teaching of the Awakened.
183. This verse is again one of the most solemn verses among the Buddhists. According to Csoma Körösi, it ought to follow the famous âryâ stanza, 'Ye dhamma' (Lotus, p. 522), and serve as its complement. But though this may be the case in Tibet, it was not so originally. The same verse (ascribed to Kanakamuni) occurs at the end of the Chinese translation of the Prâtimoksha (Beal, J. R. A. S. XIX, p. 473; Catena, p. 159); in the Tibetan translation of the Gâthâsangraha, v. 14 (Schiefner, Mél. Asiat. VIII, pp. 568, 586; and Csoma Körösi, As. Res. XX, p. 79). Burnouf has fully discussed the metre and meaning of our verse on pp. 527, 528 of his Lotus.' He prefers sakittaparidamanam, which Csoma translated by the mind must be brought under entire subjection' (svakittaparidamanam), and the late Dr. Mill byproprii intellectus subjugatio.' But his own MS. of the Mahậpadhâna-sutta gave likewise sakittapariyoda panam, and this is no doubt the correct reading. (See D'Alwis, Attanugaluvansa, p. cxxix.) We found pariyodappeya in verse 88, in the sense of purging oneself from the troubles of thought. From the same verb, (pari) ava + dai, we may derive the name Avadana, a legend, originally a pure and virtuous act, an åploteca, afterwards a sacred story, and possibly a story the hearing of which purifies the mind. See BoehtlingkRoth, s. v. avadana.
184. Childers, following the commentator, translates, 'Patience, which is long-suffering, is the best devotion, the Buddhas declare that Nirvana is the best of things).'
185. Cf. Suttanipâta, v. 337. Pâtimokkhe, 'under the law,' i.e. according to the law, the law which leads to Moksha, or freedom.' Prâtimoksha is the title of the oldest collection of the moral laws
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| SR No. | 007674 |
| Book Title | Dhammapada |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Max Muller |
| Publisher | Oxford |
| Publication Year | 1881 |
| Total Pages | 2540 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 45 MB |