■ ^^''"'■*>^.] ;,VJ%^^VE ^^^Ht^ri 766 Broadway ] L ^vv- YOR^ v;| \-'^-ii=,^-^ -.•_,-..--iW ^^*^^^^ 5,^^^. PRINCETON, N. J. R BL 1010 .S3 v.lO Dhammapada. English The Dhammapada r^ y- f r I 1. mm 1 i w THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST [10] VOLUME X Part I. The Dhammapada Part II. The Sutta-Nipata Uonlron HENRY FROWDE OXPOED UNIVEESITY PBESS WAREHOUSE 7 PATERNOSTER ROW THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST TRANSLATED BY VARIOUS ORIENTAL SCHOLARS AND EDITED BY F. MAX MULLER VOLUME X PART I AT THE CLARENDON PRESS l8bl \_All righh reserved'\ THE DHAMMAPADA A COLLECTION OF VERSES BEING ONE OF THE CANONICAL BOOKS OF THE BUDDHISTS TRANSLATED FROM PALI BY / F. MAX MULLER AT THE CLARENDON PRESS i88i [All rights reserved] CONTENTS. Introduction to the Dhammapada ix-lv DHAMMAPADA. Chapter 1. The Twin-verses ...... :^ »> 2. On Earnestness . 9 }) 3. Thought 12 >> 4. Flowers i6 >} 5. The Fool . 20 )} 6. The Wise Man (Paw^ita) • 23 >> 7. The Venerable (Arhat) • 27 >5 8. The Thousands . • 31 » 9. Evil .... • 34 » 10. Punishment . . 36 )J 11. Old Age . 41 5> 12. Self .... 45 >> 13. The World . • 47 » 14. The Buddha (the Awakened) • 49 » 15. Happiness . • 53 » 16. Pleasure 56 » 17. Anger 58 J> 18. Impurity .... 60 » 19. The Just . 64 >> 20. The Way .... 67 »> 21. Miscellaneous 70 5> 22. The Downward Course 74 >J 23. The Elephant 77 » 24. Thirst .... 80 >> 25. The Bhikshu (Mendicant) . 85 >> [ndex 26. The Brahmawa (Arhat) . 89 97 Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the Translations of the Sacred Books of the East (see the end of this volume) ^^^ p EI IT c !]'::: ■ ^• RtC.JUN IBb. THEOLOGIC-. INTRODUCTION TO THE DHAMMAPADA. The Dhammapada, a Canonical Book. The Dhammapada forms part of the Pah Buddhist canon, though its exact place varies according to different authori- ties, and we have not as yet a sufficient number of complete MSS. of the Tipi/aka to help us to decide the question \ Those who divide that canon into three Pi/akas or baskets, the Vinaya-pi^"aka, Sutta-pi/aka, and Abhidham- ma-pi/aka, assign the Dhammapada to the Sutta-pi/aka. That Pi/aka consists of five Nikayas : the Digha-nikaya, the Ma^^//ima-nikaya, the Sa;«yutta-nikaya, the Anguttara- nikaya, and the Khuddaka-nikaya. The fifth, or Khuddaka- nikaya, comprehends the following works : i. Khuddaka- pa//^a; 3. DHAMMAPADA; 3. Udana ; 4. Itivuttaka; 5. Sutta- nipata ; 6. Vimanavatthu ; 7. Petavatthu ; 8. Theragatha ; 9.Therigatha; 10. 6^ataka ; ii.Niddesa; 12. Pa/isambhida; 13. Apadana; 14. Buddhavawsa ; 15. /fariya-pi/aka. According to another division ^, however, the whole Bud- dhist canon consists of five Nikayas : the Digha-nikaya, the Ma^^^ima-nikaya, the Sa;;^yutta-nikayaj the Aiiguttara- nikaya, and the fifth, the Khuddaka-nikaya, which Khud- daka-nikaya is then made to comprehend the whole of the Vinaya (discipline) and Abhidhamma (metaphysics), together with the fifteen books beginning with the Khud- daka-pa//^a. The order of these fifteen books varies, and even, as it would seem, their number. The Dighabha;/aka school 1 See Peer, Journal Asiatique, 1871, p. 263. There is now at least one com- plete MS. of the Tipi^aka, the Phayre MS., at the India Office, and Professor Forchhammer has just published a most useful List of Pdli MSS., collected in Burma, the largest collection hitherto known. 2 See Childers, s. v. Nikaya, and extracts from Buddhaghosa's comment.ary on the Brahmag-ala-sutta. DHAMMAPADA. admits twelve books only, and assigns them all to the Abhi- dhamma, while the Ma^^/nmabha;/akas admit fifteen books, and assign them to the Sutta-pi/aka. The order of the fifteen books is: i. 6^ataka [lo] ; 2. Mahaniddesa [n]; 3. ATullaniddesa [n]; 4- Pa/isambhidamagga [12] ; 5. Sutta- nipata [5] ; 6. DHAMMAPADA [2] ; 7. Udana [3] ; 8. Iti- vuttaka [4] ; 9. Vimanavatthu [6] ; 10. Petavatthu [7] ; II. Theragatha [8]; 12. Therigatha [9]; 13. Kaviya.- pi/aka [15] ; 14. Apadana [13] ; 15. Buddhava;«sa [14] \ The Khuddaka-pa///a is left out in the second list, and the number is brought to fifteen by dividing Niddesa into Maha-niddesa and iTulla-niddesa. There is a commentary on the Dhammapada in Pali, and supposed to be written by Buddhaghosa ^, in the first half of the fifth century A.D. In explaining the verses of the Dhammapada, the commentator gives for every or nearly every verse a parable to illustrate its meaning, which is likewise believed to have been uttered by Buddha in his intercourse with his disciples, or in preaching to the multi- tudes that came to hear him. Date of the Dhammapada. The only means of fixing the date of the Dhammapada is trying to ascertain the date of the Buddhist canon of which it forms a part, or the date of Buddhaghosa, who wrote a commentary on it. This, however, is by no means easy, and the evidence on which we have to rely is such that we must not be surprised if those who are accustomed to test historical and chronological evidence * The figures within brackets refer to the other list of books in the Khud- daka-nikaya. See also p. xxviii. * M. Leon Feer in the Journal Asiatique, 1871, p. 266, mentions another com- mentary of a more philosophical character, equally ascribed to Buddhaghosa, and having the title Vivara Bra Dhammapada, i. e. L'auguste Dhammapada devoile. Professor Forchhammer in his 'List of Manuscripts,' 1879-80, men- tions the following works in connection with the Dhammapada : Dhammapada- Nissayo ; Dh. P. A^Aakatha by Buddhaghosa ; Dh. P. Attha.ka.tha. Nissayo, 3 vols., containing a complete translation of the commentary ; Dh. P. Yattku. Of printed books he quotes : Kayanupassanakyam, a work based on the Garavaggo, Mandalay, 1876 (390 pages), and Dhammapada-desanakyam, printed in ' British Burma News.' INTRODUCTION. xi in Greece and Rome, decline to be convinced by it. As a general rule, I quite agree that we cannot be too sceptical in assigning a date to ancient books, particularly if we intend to use them as documents for tracing the history of human thought. To the initiated, I mean to those who have themselves worked in the mines of ancient Oriental literature, such extreme scepticism may often seem un- scientific and uncalled for. They are more or less aware of hundreds of arguments, each by itself, it may be, of small weight, but all combined proving irresistible. They are conscious, too, of having been constantly on the look out for danger, and, as all has gone on smoothly, they feel sure that, in the main, they are on the right road. Still it is always useful to be as incredulous as possible, particularly against oneself, and to have before our eyes critics who will not yield one inch beyond what they are forced to yield by the strongest pressure of facts. The age of our MSS. of the canonical books, either in Pdli or Sanskrit, is of no help to us. All Indian MSS. are comparatively modern, and one who has probably handled more Indian MSS. than anybody else, Mr. A. Burnell, has lately expressed his conviction that 'no MS. written one thousand years ago is now existent in India, and that it is almost impossible to find one written five hundred years ago, for most MSS. which claim to be of that date are merely copies of old MSS. the dates of which are repeated by the copyists ^.' Nor is the language, whether Sanskrit or Pali, a safe guide for fixing dates. Both languages continue to be written to our own time, and though there are some characteristic marks to distinguish more modern from more ancient Buddhist Sanskrit and Pali, this branch of critical scholarship requires to be cultivated far more extensively and accurately before true scholars would venture to fix the date of a Sanskrit or Pali text on the strength of linguistic evidence alone ^. 1 Indian Antiquary, 1880, p. 233. _ « See some important remarks on this subject in Fausboll's Introduction to Sutta-nipata, p. xi. XU DHAMMAPADA. The Buddhists themselves have no difficulty in assigning a date to their sacred canon. They are told in that canon itself that it was settled at the First Council, or immediately after the death of Buddha, and they believe that it was afterwards handed down by means of oral tradition, or actually written down in books by order of Kaj-yapa, the president of the First Council ^ Buddhaghosa, a learned and in some respects a critical scholar, living in the be- ginning of the fifth century A.D., asserts that the canon which he had before him, was the same as that fixed by the First Council ^. Several European students have adopted the same opinion, and, so far as I know, no argument has yet been advanced showing the impossibility of the native view, that some collection of Buddha's doctrines was made im- mediately after his death at Ra^agaha, and that it was finally settled at what is called the Second Council, or the Council of Vesali. But what is not impossible is not there- fore true, nor can anything be gained by appealing to later witnesses, such as, for instance, Hiouen Thsang, who tra- velled through India in the seventh century, and wrote down anything that he could learn, little concerned whether one statement tallied with the other or not ^. He says that the Tipi/aka was written down on palm leaves by Kaj-yapa at the end of the First Council. But what can be the weight of such a witness, living more than a thousand years after the event, compared with that, for instance, of the Maha- vawsa, which dates from the fifth century of our era, and ^ Bigandet, Life of Gaudama (Rangoon, 1866), p. 350 ; but also p. 120 note. * See Childers, s. v. Tipi/aka. There is a curious passage in Buddhaghosa's account of the P'irst Council. ' Now one may ask,' he says, ' Is there or is there not in this first Parag-ika anything to be taken away or added ? ' I reply, There is nothing in the words of the Blessed Buddha that can be taken away, for the Buddhas speak not even a single syllable in vain, yet in the words of disciples and devatas there are things which may be omitted, and these the elders who made the recension, did omit. On the other hand, additions are everywhere necessary, and accordingly, whenever it was necessary to add anything, they added it. If it be asked. What are the additions referred to ? I reply. Only sentences necessary to connect the text, as ' at that time,' ' again at that time,' ' and so forth.' ^ Pelerins Bouddhistes, vol. i. p. 15S. INTRODUCTION. xiii tells us in the account of Mahinda's missionary journey to Ceylon (241/318), that the son of Asoka had to spend three years in learning the Tipi/'aka by heart from the mouth of a teacher ^ ? No mention is then made of any books or MSS., when it would have been most natural to do so 2. At a later time, during the reign of King Va//aga- mani^ (88-76 B.C.), the same chronicle, the Mahava;;zsa, tells us that ' the profoundly wise priests had theretofore orally (mukhapa//^ena) perpetuated the Pali of the Pi/akattaya and its A^*///akatha (commentary), but that at this period the priests, foreseeing the perdition of the people assembled, and in order that the religion might endure for ages, re- corded the same in books (potthakesu likhapayuw)''.' No one has yet questioned the dates of the Dipava;;^sa, about 400 A.D., or of the first part of the Mah^vamsa., between 459-477 a. d., and though no doubt there is an interval of nearly 600 years between the composition of the Mahavawsa and the recorded writing down of the Buddhist canon under Va//agamani, yet we must remember that the Ceylonese chronicles were confessedly founded on an older A/^//akatha preserved in the monasteries of the island, and representing an unbroken line of local tradition. My own argument therefore, so long as the question was only whether we could assign a pre-Christian date to the Pali Buddhist canon, has always been this. We have the commentaries on the Pali canon translated from Sin- halese into Pali, or actually composed, it may be, by Buddhaghosa. Buddhaghosa confessedly consulted various » Mahava7wsa, p. 37 ; DipavawsaVII, 28-31 ; Buddhaghosha's Parables, p.xviii. ^ Bigandet, Life of Gaudama, p. 351. s Dr. E. Muller (Indian Antiquary, Nov. 1880, p. 270) has discovered inscrip- tions in Ceylon, belonging to Devanapiya Maharaja Gami;ii Tissa, whom he identifies with Va^^agamani. * The same account is given in the Dipavawzsa XX, 20, and in the Sara- sangraha, as quoted by Spence Hardy, Legends, p. 192. As throwing light on the completeness of the Buddhist canon at the time of King Va//agamani. it should be mentioned that, according to the commentary on theMabavamsa (Tumour, p. liii), the sect of the Dhammaru^ikas established itself at the Abhayavihara, which had been constructed by Va^/agamani, and that one of the grounds of their secession was their refusing to acknowledge the Panvara (thus I read instead of Pariwana) as part of the Vinaya-pi/aka. Accordmg to the Dipava7Ksa (VII, 42) Mahinda knew the Parivara. XIV DHAMMAPADA. MSS., and gives various readings, just as any modern scholar might do. This was in the beginning of the fifth century A.U., and there is nothing improbable, though I would say no more, in supposing that some of the MSS., consulted by Buddhaghosa, dated from the first century B.C., when Va//agamani ordered the sacred canon to be reduced to writing. There is one other event with reference to the existence of the sacred canon in Ceylon, recorded in the Mahava;;«sa, between the time of Buddhaghosa and Va//agamani, viz. the translation of the Suttas from Pali into the language of Ceylon, during the reign of Buddhadasa, 339-368 A. D. If MSS. of that ancient translation still existed, they would, no doubt, be very useful for determining the exact state of the Pali originals at that time ^. But even without them there seems no reason to doubt that Buddhaghosa had before him old MSS. of the Pali canon, and that these were in the main the same as those written down at the time of Va//agamani. Buddhaghosa's Age. The whole of this argument, however, rested on the supposition that Buddhaghosa's date in the beginning of the fifth century a. d. was beyond the reach of reasonable doubt. ' His age,' I had ventured to say in the Preface to Buddhaghosha's Parables (1870), 'can be fixed with greater accuracy than most dates in the literary history of India.' But soon after, one of our most celebrated Pali scholars, the great Russian traveller. Professor Joh. Minayefif, expressed in the Melanges Asiatiques (13/25 April, 1871) the gravest doubts as to Buddhaghosa's age, and thus threw the whole Buddhist chronology, so far as it had then been accepted by all, or nearly all scholars, back into chaos. He gave as his chief reason that Buddhaghosa was not, as I supposed, the contemporary of Mahanama, the ^ A note is added, stating that several portions of the other two divi- sions also of the Pi/akattaya were translated into the Sinhalese language, and that these alone are consulted by the priests, who are unacquainted with Pali, On the other hand, it is stated that the Sinhalese text of the A^Aakatha exists no longer. See Spence Hardy, Legends, p. xxv, and p. 69. INTRODUCTION. XV author of the Mahava;«sa, but of another Mahanama, the king of Ceylon. Professor MinayefF is undoubtedly right in this, but I am not aware that I, or anybody else, had ever questioned so palpable a fact. There are two Mahanamas ; one, the king who reigned from 410-433 A. D.; the other, the supposed author of the Mahavawsa, the uncle and protector of King Dhatusena, 459-477. ' Dhatusena,' I had written, ' was the nephew of the historian Mahanama, and owed the throne to the protection of his uncle. Dhatusena was in fact the restorer of a national dynasty, and after having defeated the foreign usurpers (the Damilo dynasty) " he restored the religion which had been set aside by the foreigners'" (Mahav. p. 356). Among his many pious acts it is particularly mentioned that he gave a thousand, and ordered the Dipa- va;«sa to be promulgated. As Mahanama was the uncle of Dhatusena, who reigned from 459-477, he may be con- sidered as a trustworthy witness with regard to events that occurred between 410 and 432. Now the literary activity of Buddhaghosa in Ceylon falls in that period \' These facts being admitted, it is surely not too great a stretch of probability to suppose, as I did, that a man whose nephew was king in 459-477, might have been alive in 410-433, that is to say, might have been a con- temporary of Buddhaghosa. I did not commit myself to any further theories. The question whether Mahanama, the uncle of Dhatusena, was really the author of the Maha- va;;^sa, the question whether he wrote the second half of the 37th chapter of that work, or broke off his chronicle in the middle of that chapter, I did not discuss, having no new materials to bring forward beyond those on which Tumour and those who followed him had founded their conclusions, and which I had discussed in my History of Sanskrit Literature (1859), p. 2,6y. All I said was, ' It is difficult to determine whether the 38th as well as the (whole of the) 37th chapter came from the pen of Mahanama, for 1 ' Ungefahr 50 Jahre alter als Mahanama ist Buddhaghosha,' see Wester* gaard, tjber Buddha's Todesjahr, p. 99. XVI DHAMMAPADA. the Mahavawsa was afterwards continued by different writers, even to the middle of the last century. But, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, it is most probable that Mahanama carried on the history to his own time, to the death of Dhatusena, 477 A.D.' What I meant by 'all the circumstances of the case' might easily be understood by any one who had read Tur- nour's Preface to the Mahava;«sa. Turnour himself thought at first that Mahinama's share in the Mahavaw^sa ended with the year 301 A.D., and that the rest of the work, called the Sulu Wans6, was composed by subsequent writers ^ Dharmakirti is mentioned by name as having continued the work to the reign of Prakrama Bahu (a.d. 1266). But Turnour afterwards changed his mind ^. Considering that the account of Mahasena's reign, the first of the Seven Kings, terminates in the middle of a chapter, at verse 48, while the whole chapter is called the Sattara^iko, ' the chapter of the Seven Kings,' he naturally supposed that the whole of that chapter, extending to the end of the reign of his nephew Dhatusena, might be the work of Mahanama, unless there were any strong proofs to the contrary. Such proofs, beyond the tradition of writers of the MSS., have not, as yet, been adduced ^. But even if it could be proved that Mahinama's own pen did not go beyond the 48th verse of the 37th chapter, the historical trustworthiness of the concluding portion of that chapter, containing the account of Buddhaghosa's literary activity, nay, even of the 38th chapter, would be little affected thereby. We know that both the Mahava;«sa and the somewhat earlier Dipava;;/sa were founded on the Sinhalese A///zakathis, the commentaries and chronicles preserved in the Mahivihara at Anuradhapura. We also know that that Vihara was demolished by Mahasena, and deserted by nearly all its inmates for the space of nine years (p. 235), and again for the space of nine months * Introduction, p. ii. The ^ulavawzsa is mentioned with the Mahavawsa, both as the works of Mahanama, by Professor Forchhammer in his List of Pali MSS. * Introduction, p. xci. ' See Rhys Davids, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1875, p. 196. INTRODUCTION. xvii (p. 237). We can well understand therefore why the older history, the Dipavawsa, should end with the death of Maha- sena (died 302 A.D.), and why in the Mahavamsa too there should have been a break at that date. But we must not forget that, during Mahanama's life, the Mahavihara at Anuradhapura was restored, that some kind of chronicle, called the Dipavawsa, whether it be a general name of any ' chronicle of the island,' or of our Dipavawsa, or, it may be, even of our Mahava;«sa, was ordered to be published or pro- mulgated (dipetum) under Dhatusena, the nephew and protege of Mahanama. Therefore, even if we do not insist on the personal authorship of Mahanama, we may certainly main- tain that historical entries had been made in the chronicles of Anuradhapura during Dhatusena's reign, and probably under the personal auspices of Mahanama, so that if we find afterwards, in the second half of the 37th chapter of his Mahavawsa, an account of events which had happened between the destruction of the Mahavihara and the reign of Dhatusena, and among them an account of so important an event as the arrival of Buddhaghosa from Magadha and his translation of the Sinhalese A////akatha into the lan- guage of Magadha, we may well suppose that they rest on the authority of native chronicles, written not long after the events, and that therefore, ' under all the circumstances of the case,' the age of Buddhaghosa can be fixed with greater accuracy than most dates in the literary history of India. There is one difficulty still remaining with regard to the date of the historian Mahanama which might have per- plexed Tumour's mind, and has certainly proved a stumbling- block to myself. Tumour thought that the author of the commentary on the Mahavawsa, the Vawsatthappakasini, was the same as the author of the Mahavawsa, viz. Maha- nama. The date of that commentary, however, as we know now, must be fixed much later, for it .speaks of a schism which took place in the year 601 A. D., during the rcign of Agrabodhi (also called Dhatapatisso). Tumour^ looked » Introduction, p. liii. [10] b XVlll DHAMMAPADA. upon that passage as a later interpolation, because he thought the evidence for the identity of the author and the commentator of the Mahavawsa too strong to be set aside. He trusted chiefly to a passage in the commentary, and if that passage had been correctly rendered, the con- clusion which he drew from it could hardly be resisted. We read in the Mahavawsa (p. 254) : ' Certain members of the Moriyan dynasty, dreading the power of the (usurper) Subho, the balattho, had settled in various parts of the country, concealing themselves. Among them there was a certain landed proprietor Dhatusena, who had established himself at Nandivapi. His son named Dhita, who lived at the village Ambiliyago, had two sons, Dhatusena and Silatissabodhi, of unexceptional descent. Their mother's brother(Mahanama), devoted to the cause of religion, continued to reside (at Anura- dhapura) in his sacerdotal character, at the edifice built by the minister Dighasandana. The youth Dhatusena became a priest in his fraternity, and on a certain day, while he was chaunting at the foot of a tree, a shower of rain fell, and a Naga, seeing him there, encircled him in his folds, and covered him and his book with his hood. . . . Causing an image of Maha Mahinda to be made, and con- veying it to the edifice (Ambamalaka) in which the thera's body had been burnt, in order that he might celebrate a great festival there, and that he might also promul- gate the contents of the Dipavawsa, distributing a thousand pieces, he caused it to be read aloud ^.' If we compare with this extract from the Mahava;;/sa a passage from the commentary as translated by Turnour, we can well understand how he arrived at the conclusion that it was written by the same person who wrote the Mahavaw^sa. Turnour translates (p. liv) : ' Upon these data by me, the thera, who had, with due * Mr. Turnour added a note in which he states that Dipavawsa is here meant for Mahavarasa, but whether brought down to this period, or only to the end of the reign of Mahasena, to which alone the T'ika extends, there is no means of ascertaining (p. 257). INTRODUCTION. xix solemnity, been invested with the dignified title of Maha- nama, resident at the parive/^a founded by the minister Dighasandana, endowed with the capacity requisite to record the narrative comprised in the Maha- va/«sa, in due order, rejecting only the dialect in which the Singhalese A////akatha are written, but retaining their import and following their arrangement, the history, entitled the Palapad6ruva;;/sa (Padyapadanuva7;/sa), is compiled. As even in times when the despotism of the ruler of the land, and the horrors arising from the inclemencies of the seasons, and when panics of epidemics and other visitations prevailed, this work escaped all injury; and moreover, as it serves to perpetuate the fame of the Buddhas, their disciples, and the Pache Buddhas of old, it is also worthy of bearing the title of Vawsatthappakasini.' As the evidence of these two passages in support of the identity of the author and the commentator of the Maha- va;//sa seemed to me very startling, I requested Mr. Rhys Davids to copy for me the passage of the commentary. The passage runs as follows : Ya ettavata mahavaw/satthanusarakusalena Dighasanda- senapatina karapita-mahaparive/^avasina Mahanamo ti ga- ruhi gahitanamadheyyena therez/a pubba-Sihala-bhasitaya Sihala///^akathaya bhasantara;« eva va^iya atthasaram eva gahetva tantinayanurupena katassa imassa Padyapada- nuva;;^sassa atthava/zwana maya tam eva sannissitena araddha, padesissariya- dubbu///^ibhaya - rogabhayadi - vivi- dha-antaraya-yuttakale pi anantarayena ni^///anam upagata, sa buddha-buddhasavaka-pa/^/^ekabuddhadina;« porawana;;/ k\kka.i;i pubbavawsatthappakasanato aysnu Vawsatthappa- kasini nama ti dharetabba. . . . Padyapadanuva;«sa- vawwana Vawsatthappakasini ni////ita. Mr. Rhys Davids translates this : ' The commentary on this Padyapadanuvawja, which (latter work) was made (in the same order and arrangement, and re- taining the sense, but rejecting the dialect, of the Sinhalese commentary formerly expressed in the Sinhalese tongue) by the elder who bore the name of Mahanama, which he had b 2 XX DHAMMAPADA. received from the venerable, who resided at the Mahapari- veua built by the minister Dighasanda, and who was well able to conform to the sense of the Mahavawsa — (this com- mentary) which was undertaken by me out of devotion to that (history), and which (though thus undertaken) at a time full of danger of various kinds — such as the danger from disease, and the danger from drought, and the danger from the government of the province — has been safely brought to a conclusion — this (commentary), since it makes known the meaning of the history of old, the mission of the ancients, of the Buddhas, of their disciples, and of the Pa^X'eka Buddhas, should bear the name Va#/satthappa- kasini. . . . ' End of the Va;//satthappakasini, the commentary on the Padyapadanuvawsa.' This shows clearly that Turnour made a mistake in trans- lating this exceedingly involved, yet perfectly intelligible, passage, and that so far from proving that the author of the commentary was the same person as the author of the text^, it proves the very contrary. Nay, I feel bound to add, that we might now argue that as the commentator must have lived later than 60 1 a. D., the fact that he too breaks oft" at verse 48 of chapter ^y, seems to show that at his time also the Mahavawsa did not extend as yet beyond that verse. But even then, the fact that with the restoration of the Mahavihara of Anuradhapuraan interest in historical studies revived in Ceylon, would clearly show that we may trust the date of Buddhaghosa, as fixed by the second part of the 37th chapter of the Mahavawsa, at all events till stronger evidence is brought forward against such a date. Now I am not aware of any such evidence ^, On the contrary, making allowance for a difference of some ten or twenty years, all the evidence which we can gain from other quarters tends to confirm the date of Buddha- ' Dr. Oldenberg informs me that the commentator quotes various readings in the text of the Mahavamsa. " The passage, quoted by Professor Minayeff from the Sasanava.'^sa, would assign to Buddhaghosa the date of 930—543 = 387 a. d., which can easily be reconciled with his accepted date. If he is called the contemporary of Siripala, we ought to know who that Siripala is. INTRODUCTION. xxi ghosa^ I therefore feel no hesitation in here reprintinc,^ that story, as we find it in the Mahavawsa, not free from legendary ingredients, it is true, yet resting, I believe, on a sound foundation of historical fact. ' A Brahman youth, born in the neighbourhood of the terrace of the great Bo-tree (in Magadha), accomplished in the "vi^^a" (knowledge) and "sippa" (art), who had achieved the knowledge of the three Vedas, and possessed great aptitude in attaining acquirements ; indefatigable as a schismatic disputant, and himself a schismatic wanderer over 6"ambudipa, established himself, in the character of a disputant, in a certain vihara 2, and was in the habit of rehearsing, by night and by day with clasped hands, a discourse which he had learned, perfect in all its com- ponent parts, and sustained throughout in the same lofty strain. A certain Mahathera, Revata, becoming acquainted with him there, and (saying to himself), "This individual is a person of profound knowledge, it will be worthy (of me) to convert him ; " enquired, " Who is this who is braying like an ass.^" The Brahman replied to him, "Thou canst define, then, the meaning conveyed in the bray of asses." On the Thera rejoining, " I can define it ; " he (the Brah- man) exhibited the extent of the knowledge he possessed. The Thera criticised each of his propositions, and pointed out in what respect they were fallacious. He who had been thus refuted, said, " Well, then, descend to thy own creed ; " and he propounded to him a passage from the Abhidhamma (of the Pi/akattaya). He (the Brahman) could not divine the signification of that passage, and enquired, "Whose manta is this.?" — "It is Buddha's manta." On his exclaiming, " Impart it to me ; " the Thera replied, "Enter the sacerdotal order." He who was desirous of acquiring the knowledge of the Pi/akattaya, subsequently coming to this conviction, " This is the sole road " (to sal- vation), became a convert to that faith. As he was as profound in his eloquence (ghosa) as Buddha himself, they conferred on him the appellation of Bud jha ghosa (the 1 See Bigandet, Life of Gaudama, pp. 351, .^8i. ^ On this vihara, its foundation and character, see OldeubL-rg, Viiaya, vol. i. p. liii ; Hiouen-thsang, III, p. 487 seq. XXll DHAMMAPADA. voice of Buddha) ; and throughout the world he became as renowned as Buddha. Having there (in 6^ambudipa) com- posed an original work called iVanodaya (Rise of Know- ledge), he, at the same time, wrote the chapter called A///^asalini, on the Dhammasahgani (one of the commen- taries on the Abhidhamma). ' Revata Thera then observing that he was desirous of undertaking the compilation of a general commentary on the Pi/akattaya, thus addressed him : " The text alone of the Pi/akattaya has been preserved in this land, the A////akatha are not extant here, nor is there any version to be found of the schisms (vada) complete. The Sinhalese A///^akatha are genuine. They were com- posed in the Sinhalese language by the inspired and pro- foundly wise Mahinda, who had previously consulted the discourses (kathamagga) of Buddha, authenticated at the three convocations, and the dissertations and arguments of Sariputta and others, and they are extant among the Sin- halese. Preparing for this, and studying the same, translate them according to the rules of the grammar of the Maga- dhas. It will be an act conducive to the welfare of the whole world." 'Having been thus advised, this eminently wise personage rejoicing therein, departed from thence, and visited this island in the reign of this monarch (i.e. Mahanama, 410- 432). On reaching the Mahavihara (at Anuradhapura), he entered the Mahapadhana hall, the most splendid of the apartments in the vihara, and listened to the Sinhalese A/Z/^akatha, and the Theravada, from the beginning to the end, propounded by the Thera Sahghapala ; and became thoroughly convinced that they conveyed the true meaning of the doctrines of the Lord of Dhamma. Thereupon paying reverential respect to the priesthood, he thus peti- tioned : " I am desirous of translating the A////akatha ; give me access to all your books." The priesthood, for the purpose of testing his qualifications, gave only two gathas, saying, " Hence prove thy qualification ; having satisfied ourselves on this point, we will then let thee have all our books.'" From these (taking these gatha for his text), and INTRODUCTION. xxlil consulting the Pi/akattaya, together with the A////akatha, and condensing them into an abridged form, he composed the work called the Visuddhimagga. Thereupon, having assembled the priesthood, who had acquired a thorough knowledge of the doctrines of Buddha, at the Bo-tree, he commenced to read out the work he had composed. The devatas, in order that they might make his (Buddhaghosa's) gifts of wisdom celebrated among men, rendered that book invisible. He, however, for a second and third time re- composed it. When he was in the act of producing his book for the third time, for the purpose of propounding it, the devatas restored the other two copies also. The assem- bled priests then read out the three books simultaneously. In those three versions there was no variation whatever from the orthodox Theravadas in passages, in words, or in syllables. Thereupon, the priesthood rejoicing, again and again fervently shouted forth, saying, " Most assuredly this is Metteya (Buddha) himself," and made over to him the books in which the Pi/akattaya were recorded, together with the A///^akatha. Taking up his residence in the secluded Ganthakara-vihara (at Anuradhapura), he trans- lated, according to the grammatical rules of the Maga- dhas, which is the root of all languages, the whole of the Sinhalese A////akatha (into Pali), This proved an achieve- ment of the utmost consequence to all beings, whatever their language. 'All the Theras and A/^ariyas held this compilation in the same estimation as the text (of the Pi/akattaya). There- after, the objects of his mission having been fulfilled, he returned to 6^ambudipa, to worship at the Bo-tree (at Uru- velaya, or Uruvilva, in Magadha).' Here ^ we have a simple account of Buddhaghosa ^ and • Mahavawsa, p. 250, translated by Tumour. 2 The Burmese entertain the highest respect for Buddhaghosa. Bishop Bigandet, in his Life or Legend of Gaudama (Rangoon, 1S66), writes: 'It is perhaps as well to mention here an epoch which has been, at all times, famous in the history of Budhism in Burma. I allude to the voyage which a Religious of Thaton, named Budhagosa, made to Ceylon, in the year of religion 943 = 400 A D The object of this voyage was to procure a copy of the scriptures. He succeeded in his undertaking. He made use of the Burmese, or rather Talaing XXIV DPIAMMAPADA. his literary labours written by a man, himself a priest, and who may well have known Buddhaghosa during his stay in Ceylon. It is true that the statement of his writing the same book three times over without a single various reading, partakes a little of the miraculous ; but we find similar legends mixed up with accounts of translations of other sacred books, and we cannot contend that writers who believed in such legends are therefore altogether unworthy to be believed as historical witnesses. But although the date which we can assign to Buddha- ghosa's translation of the commentaries on the Pali Tipi- /aka proves the existence of that canon, not only for the beginning of the fifth century of our era, but likewise, though it may be, with less stringency, for the first century before our era, the time of Va//agamani, the question whether Bud- dhaghosa was merely a compiler and translator of old com- mentaries and more particularly of the commentaries brought to Ceylon by Mahinda (241 B.C.), or whether he added any- thing of his own ^, requires to be more carefully examined. The Buddhists themselves have no difficulty on that point. They consider the A///zakathas or commentaries as old as the canon itself. To us, such a supposition seems impro- bable, yet it has never been proved to be impossible. The Mahavawsa tells us that Mahinda, the son of Asoka, who had become a priest, learnt the whole of the Buddhist canon, as it then was, in three years (p. SJ}^; and that at the end of the Third Council he was despatched to Ceylon, in order to establish there the religion of Buddha (p. 71). The king of Ceylon, Devanampiya Tissa, was converted, and Buddhism soon became the dominant characters, in transcribing the manuscripts, which were written with the cha- racters of Magatha. The Burmans lay much stress upon that voyage, and always carefully note down the year it took place. In fact, it is to Budhagosa that the people living on the shores of the Gulf of Martaban owe the pos- ses^ion of the Budhist scriptures. From Thaton, the collection made by Budha- gosa was transferred to Pagan, six hundred and fifty years after it had been imported from Ceylon.' See ibid. p. 392. * He had written the iVanodaya, and the A^/Aasalini, a commentary on the D:inmma-sanga«i, before he went to Ceylon. Cf. Mahavawsa, p. 251. * He learnt the five Nikayas, and the seven sections (of the Abhidhamma) ; the two Vibhangas of the Vinaya, the Purivara and the Khandhaka. See Dipavawsa VH, 42. INTRODUCTION. XXV religion of the island. The Tipi/'aka and the A////akatha, such as they had been collected or settled at the Third Council in 242 B.C., were brought to Ceylon by Mahinda, who promulgated them orally, the Tipi/aka in Pali, the A/Makatha in Sinhalese, together with an additional A///^akatha of his own. It does not follow that Mahinda knew the whole of that enormous literature by heart, for, as he was supported by a number of priests, they may well have divided the different sections among them, following the example of Ananda and Upali at the First Council. The same applies to their disciples also. But the fact of their transmitting the sacred literature by oral tradition^ was evidently quite familiar to the author of the Mahava;«sa. For when he comes to describe the reign of VaZ/agamani (88-76 B.C.) he simply says : 'The profoundly wise priests had heretofore orally perpetuated the Pali Pi/akattaya and its A///^akatha (commentaries). At this period these priests, foreseeing the perdition of the people (from the perversions of the true doctrines), assembled ; and in order that the reli- gion might endure for ages, wrote the same in books.' No valid objection has yet been advanced to our accepting Buddhaghosa's A///^akathas as a translation and new re- daction of the A////akathas which were reduced to writing under Va//agamani 2, and these again as a translation of the old A///zakathas brought to Ceylon by Mahinda ^ There is prima facie evidence in favour of the truth of historical events vouched for by such works as the Dipavawzsa and the Mahavawsa so far back at least as Mahinda, because we know that historical events were recorded in the monasteries of Ceylon long before Mahanama's time. Beyond Mahinda we move in legendary history, and must be ready to surrender every name and every date as soon as rebutting evidence has been produced, but not till then. I cannot, therefore, see any reason why we should not treat the verses of the Dhammapada, if not as the utter- ances of Buddha, at least as what were believed by the 1 On the importance of oral tradition in the history of Sanskrit literature see the writer's Ancient Sanskrit Literature, 1859, pp. 49 7-5 M- ^ ^ Mahavamsa, p. 207; Dipava;«sa XX, 20. => Mahavamsa, p. 25.. XXVI DHAMMAPADA. members of the Council under Ai-oka, in 242 B.C., to have been the utterances of the founder of their rehgion; nor can I see that Professor Minayeff has shaken the date of Bud- dhaghosa and the general credibility of the Ceylonese tradi- tion, that he was the translator and editor of commentaries which had existed in the island for many centuries, whether from the time of Va//agamani or from the time of Mahinda. Date of the Buddhist Canon. We now return to the question of the date of the Bud- dhist canon, which, as yet, we have only traced back to the first century before Christ, when it was reduced to writing in Ceylon under King Va//agamani. The question is, how far beyond that date we may trace its existence in a collected form, or in the form of the three Pi/akas or baskets. There may be, and we shall see that there is, some doubt as to the age of certain works, now incorporated in the Tipi/aka. We are told, for instance, that some doubt attached to the canon- icity of the iTariya-pi/aka, the Apadana, and the Buddha- va;;/sa\ and there is another book of the Abhidham ma- pi /aka, the Kathavatthu, which was reported to be the work of Tissa Moggaliputta, the president of the Third Council. Childers, s. v., stated that it was composed by the apostle Moggaliputtatissa, and delivered by him at the Third Mahasaiigiti. The same scholar, however, withdrew this opinion on p. 507 of his valuable Dictionary, where he says: ' It is a source of great regret to me that in my article on Kathavatthuppakara;/a;;/ I inadvertently followed James D'Alwis in the stupendous blunder of his assertion that the Kathavatthu was added by Moggaliputtatissa' at the Third Convocation. The Kathavatthu is one of the Abhidhamma books, mentioned by Buddhaghosa as having been rehearsed at the First Convocation, immediately after Gotama's death ; and the passage in Maheivawsa upon which D'Alwis rests his assertion is as follows, Kathavatthuppakarara;^a;;/ para- vadappamaddana;/? abhasi Tissatthero kd. tasmi;« sahgiti- maw^ale, which simply means ' in that Convocation-assem- 1 See Childers, s. v. Nikaya. INTRODUCTION. XXVll bly the Thera Tissa also recited (Buddha's) heresy-crushing Kathavatthuppakara^a.' This mistake, for I quite agree with Childers that it was a mistake, becomes however less stupendous than at first sight it would appear, when we read the account given in the Dipavawsa. Here the impression is easily conveyed that Moggaliputta was the author of the Kathavatthu, and that he recited it for the first time at the Third Council. ' Wise Moggaliputta,' we read \ ' the destroyer of the schismatic doctrines, firmly established the Theravada, and held the Third Council. Having destroyed the different (heretical) doctrines, and subdued many shameless people, and restored splendour to the (true) faith, he proclaimed (pakasayi) (the treatise called) Kathavatthu.' And again : 'They all were sectarians^, opposed to the Theravada; and in order to annihilate them and to make his own doctrine resplendent, the Thera set forth (desesi) the treatise belong- ing to the Abhidhamma, which is called Kathavatthu^.' At present, however, we are not concerned with these smaller questions. We treat the canon as a whole, divided into three parts, and containing the books which still exist in MSS., and we want to find out at what time such a collection was made. The following is a short abstract of the Tipi/aka, chiefly taken from Childers' Pali Dictionary : I. Vinaya-pi/aka. 1. Vibhahga *. Vol. I, beginning with Para^ika, or sins involving expulsion. Vol. H, beginning with Pa-i'ittiya, or sins involving penance. 2. Khandhaka. Vol. I, Mahavagga, the large section. Vol. n, A'ullavagga, the small section. 3. ParivarapaZ/m, an appendix and later resume (25 chap- ters). See p. xiii, n. 4 ; p. xxiv, n. 2. 1 Dipavawsa VII, 40. ^ Dipavamsa VII, 55. 3 Dr. Oldenberg, in his Introductien to the Vinaya-pi/aka, p. xxxii. * Oldenberg, Viaaya-pi^aka I, p. xvi, treats it as an extended reading of the Palimokkha. XXVIU DHAMMAPADA. II. Sutta-pi/aka. 1. Digha-nikaya, collection of long suttas (34 suttas)^. 2. Ma^/ama-nikaya, collection of middle suttas (152 suttas). 3. Sa;;/yutta-nikaya, collection of joined suttas. 4. Ariguttara-nikaya^ miscellaneous suttas, in divisions the length of which increases by one. 5. Khuddaka-nikaya 2, the collection of short suttas, con- sisting of — 1. Khuddakapa//^a, the small texts'*. 2. Dhammapada, law verses (423) ^. 3. Udana, praise (82 suttas). 4. Itivuttaka, stories referring to sayings of Buddha. 5- Suttanipata, 70 suttas *". 6. Vimanavatthu, stories of Vimanas, celestial palaces. 7. Petavatthu, stories of Pretas, departed spirits. 8. Theragatha, stanzas of monks. 9. Therigatha, stanzas of nuns. 10. 6"ataka, former births (550 tales) ' . 11. Niddesa, explanations of certain suttas by Sariputta. ^ The Mahaparinibbana-sutta, ed. by Childers, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, translated with other Suttas by Rhys Davids (S. B. E. vol. xi). Sept Suttas Palis, par Grimblot, Paris, 1876. ^ The first four are sometimes called the Four Nikaj-as, the five together the Five Nikayas. They represent the Dharma, as settled at the First and Second Councils, described in the ^ullavagga (Oldenberg, I, p. xi). •' Sometimes Khuddaka-nikaya stands for the whole Vinaya and Abhidhamma- pi'aka, with the fifteen divisions here given of Khuddaka-nikaya. In the com- mentary on the Brahmag-ala-sutta it is said that the Dighanikaya professors rehearsed the text of the Gataka, Maha and KnWa Niddesa, Padsambhidamagt^a, Suttanipata. Dhammapada, Udana, Itivuttaka, Vimana, and Petavatthu, Thera and Theri Gatha, and called it Khuddakagantha, and made it a canonical text, forming part of the Abhidhamma ; while the Ma^g-g'/iimanikaya professors assert that, with the addition of the A'ariyapi/aka, Apadana, and Buddhavawsa, the whole of this Khuddakagantha was included in the Suttapitaka. See Childers, s. v. Nikaya. See also p. x. * Published by Childers, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1869. * Published by Fausboll, 1855. * Thirty translated by Sir Coomara Swamy ; the whole by Fausboll, in Sacred Books of the East, vol. x. ' Published by Fausboll, translated by Rhys Davids. INTRODUCTION. xxix 12. Pa^isambhidamagga, the road of discrimination, and intuitive insight. 13. Apadana^, legends. 14. Buddhavawsa S story of twenty-four preceding Bud- dhas and of Gotama. 15. i^ariyapi/aka\ basket of conduct, Buddha's meri- torious actions ^. III. Abhidhamma-pi/aka. 1. Dhammasangawi, numeration of conditions of life**. 2. Vibhariga, disquisitions (18). 3. Kathavatthupakara//a, book of subjects for discussion (1000 suttas). ' 4. Puggalapa;7/}atti or pa;/;/atti, declaration on puggala, or personality. 5. Dhatukatha, account of dhatus or elements. 6. Yamaka, pairs (ten divisions). 7. Pa^//^anapakara;/a, book of causes. Taking this collection as a whole we may lay it down as self-evident that the canon, in its collected form, cannot be older than any of the events related therein. There are two important facts for determining the age of the Pali canon, which, as Dr. Oldenberg'^ has been the first to show, should take precedence of all other arguments, viz. 1. That in the Tipi/aka, as we now have it, no mention is made of the so-called Third Council, which took place at Pa/aliputta, under King Asoka, about 242 B.C. 2. That in the Tipi/aka, as we now have it, the First Council of Ra^agaha (477 B.C.) and the Second Council of Vesali (377 B.C.) are both mentioned. From these two facts it may safely be concluded that the Buddhist canon, as handed down to us, was finally closed ' Buddhaghosa does not say whether these were recited at the First Council. ■^ Partly translated by Gogerly, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Ceylon, 1852. ' Cf. Gogerly, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Ceylon. 184*^, p. 7- * See Oldenbei g's Vinaya-pi/aka, Introduction, p. xxv. The kings A^-atasatru (485-453 B. c), Udayin (453-437 B. c), and Mwida. (437^429 ". c.) are^ all mentioned in the Tipiifaka. See Oldenberg, Zeitschrift der D. M. G., XXXIV, PP- 752, 753- XXX DHAMMAPADA. after the Second and before, or possibly at, the Third Council. Nay, the fact that the description of the two Councils stands at the very end of the /v ullavagga may be taken, as Dr. Oldenberg remarks, as an indication that it was one of the latest literary contributions which obtained canonical authority, while the great bulk of the canon may probably claim a date anterior to the Second Council. This fact, namely, that the collection of the canon, as a whole, must have preceded the Second Council rests on an argument which does great credit to the ingenuity of Dr. Oldenberg. The Second Council was convoked to consider the ten deviations- from the strict discipline of the earliest times. That discipline had been laid down first in the Patimokkha rules, then in the commentary now included in the Vibhahga, lastly in the Mahavagga and A'ullavagga. The rules as to what was allowed or forbidden to a Bhikkhu were most minute ^, and they were so firmly established that no one could have ventured either to take away or to add anything to them as they stood in the sacred code. In that code itself a distinction is made between the offences which were from the first visited with punish- ment (para^ika and pa/^ittiya) and those misdemeanours and crimes which were put down as punishable at a later time (dukka/a and thulla/('/&aya). With these classes the code was considered as closed, and if any doubt arose as to the criminality of certain acts, it could be settled at once by an appeal to the Vinaya-pi/aka. Now it so happens that, with one exception, the ten deviations that had to be considered at the Second Council, are not provided for in the Vinaya-pi/aka ; and I quite agree with Dr. Oldenberg's argument that, if they had been mentioned in the Vinaya- pi/aka, the Second Council would have been objectless. A mere appeal to chapter and verse in the existing Pi/aka would then have silenced all dissent. On the other side, if it had been possible to add anything to the canon, as it then existed, the ten, or nine, deviations might have been con- * Oldenberg, Introduction, p. xxix. ^ Oldenberg, loc. cit. p. xx. INTRODUCTION. xxxi demned by a few additional paragraphs of the canon, without convoking a new Council. I think we may be nearly certain, therefore, that we possess the principal portion of the Vinaya-pi/aka as it existed before the Council of Vesali. So far I quite agree with Dr. Oldenberg. But if he proceeds to argue ^ that certain portions of the canon must have been finally settled before even the First Council took place, or was believed to have taken place, I do not think his arguments conclusive. He contends that in the Parinib- bana-sutta, which tells of the last days of Buddha's life, of his death, the cremation of his body, and the distribution of his relics, and of Subhadda's revolt, it would have been impossible to leave out all mention of the First Council, if that Council had then been known. It is true, no doubt, that Subhadda's disloyalty was the chief cause of the First Council, but there was no necessity to mention that Council. On the contrary, it seems to me that the unity of the Parinibbana-sutta would have been broken if, besides telling of the last days of Buddha, it had also given a full description of the Council. The very title, the Sutta of the Great Decease, would have become inappropriate, if so important a subject as the first Sahgiti had been mixed up with it. However, how little we may trust to such general arguments, is best shown by the fact that in some very early Chinese renderings of the Hinayana text of the Mahaparinibbana-sutta the story is actually carried on to the First Council, two (Nos. 552 and 119) mentioning the rehearsal under Kaj-yapa, while the third (No. 118) simply states that the Tipi/aka was then collected ^. ' Loc. cit. pp. xxvi-xxviii. ^ There are several Chinese translations of Sutras on the subject of the Maha- parinirvarza. Three belong to theMahayana school: i. Mahaparinirvawa-siitra, translated by Dharmaraksha, about 414-423 a. d.; afterwards revised, 424-453 (Nos. 113, 114). 2. Translation by Fa-hian and Buddhabhadra, about 415 a.d.; less complete (No. 120). 3. Translation (vaipulya) by Dharmaraksha I, i.e. ^u Fa-hu, about 261-308 a.d. (No. 116). Three belong to the Ilinayana school : I. Mahaparinirva«a-s{itra, translated by Po-fa-tsu, about 290-306 a.d. (No. 552). 2. Translation underthe Eastern Tsin dynasty, 317-420 a.d. (N0.119). 3. Trans- lation by Fa-hian, about 415 a.d. (No. 118). XXXU DHAMMAPADA. We must be satisfied therefore, so far as I can see at present, with fixing the date, and the latest date, of a Buddhist canon at the time of the Second Council, 377 B.C. That some works were added later, we know; that many of the treatises included in the canon existed before that Council, can hardly be doubted. The second chapter of the Dhammapada, for instance, is called the Appamada-vagga, and if the Mahavaw^sa (p. 25) tells us that at the time when Asoka was converted by Nigrodha, that Buddhist priest explained to him the Appamada- vagga, we can hardly doubt that there existed then a collection (vagga) of verses on Appamada, such as we now possess in the Dhammapada and in the Sa;//yutta- nikaya ^. With regard to the Vinaya, I should even feel inclined to admit, with Dr. Oldenberg, that it must have existed in a more or less settled form before that time. What I doubt is whether such terms as Pi^'aka, basket, or Tipi/aka, the three baskets, i. e. the canon, existed at that early time. They have not been met with, as yet, in any of the canon- ical books ; and if the Dipava;;/sa (IV, 32) uses the word ' Tipi/aka,' when describing the First Council, this is due to its transferring new terms to older times. If Dr. Olden- berg speaks of a Dvi-pi/aka- as the name of the canon before the third basket, that of the Abhidhamma, was admitted, this seems to me an impossible name, because at the time when the Abhidhamma was not yet recognised as a third part of the canon, the word pi/aka had probably no existence as a technical term ^ We must always, I think, distinguish between the three portions of the canon, called the basket of the Suttas, the * Feer, Revue Critique, 1870, No. 24, p. 377. ^ Introduction, pp. x, xii. ^ Dr. Oldenberg informs me that pi/aka occurs in the JsTankisuttanta in the Ms-gghima Nikaya (Tumour s MS., fol. the), but applied to the Veda. He also refers to the tipi/akaHryas mentioned in the Western Cave inscriptions as compared with the Paii/ianekayaka in the square Asoka character inscriptions (Cunningham, Bharhut, pi. Ivi, No. 52). In the Sfltrakr/d-anga of the Gainas, too, the term pidagain occurs (MS. Berol. fol. 77 a). He admits, however, that pi/aka or tipi/aka, as the technical name of the Buddhist canon, has not yet been met with in that canon itself, and defends Dvipi.'aka only as a convenient term. INTRODUCTION. XXxiH basket of Vinaya, and the basket of Abhidhamma, and the three subjects of Dhamma (sutta), Vinaya, and Abhi- dhamma, treated in these baskets. The subjects existed and were taught long before the three baskets were de- finitely arranged. Dhamma had originally a much wider meaning than Sutta-pi/aka. It often means the whole teaching of Buddha ; and even when it refers more par- ticularly to the Sutta-pi/aka, we know that the Dhamma there taught deals largely with Vinaya and Abhidhamma doctrines. Even the fact that at the First Council, accord- ing to the description given in the -/Tullavagga, the Vinaya and Dhamma only were rehearsed, though proving the absence at that time of the Abhidhamma, as a separate Pi^aka, by no means excludes the subject of the Abhi- dhamma having been taught under the head of Dhamma. In the Mahakaru;/apu;/(^arika-sutra the doctrine of Buddha is divided into Dharma and Vinaya ; the Abhidharma is not mentioned. But the same text knows of all the twelve Dharmapravay^anani \ the i. Sutra; 2. Geya ; 3. Vyaka- ra;za ; 4. Gatha ; 5, Udana ; 6. Nidana ; 7. Avadana ; 8. Itivr/ttaka ; 9. Cataka ; lO.VaipuIya; 11. Adbhutadharma ; 12. Upadej^a ; some of these being decidedly metaphysical. To my mind nothing shows so well the historical character both of the ATullavagga and of Buddhaghosa in the Introduc- tion to his commentary on the Digha-nikaya, as that the former, in its account of the First Council, should know only of the Vinaya, as rehearsed by Upali, and the Dhamma, as rehearsed by Ananda, while the much later Buddhaghosa, in his account of the First Council ^, divides the Dhamma into two parts, and states that the second part, the Abhi- dhamma, was rehearsed after the first part, the Dhamma. Between the time of the iTullavagga and the time of Buddhaghosa the Abhidhamma must have assumed its recognised position by the side of Vinaya and Sutta. It must be left to further researches to determine, if possible, ^ See Academy, August 28, 1880, Division of Buddhist Scriptures. ^ Oldenberg. Introduction, p. xii ; Tumour, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vi, p. 510 seq. [10] c XXXIV DHAMMAPADA. the time when the name of pi/aka was first used, and when Tipi/aka was accepted as the title of the whole canon. Whenever we see such traces of growth, we feel that we are on historical ground, and in that sense Dr. Olden- berg's researches into the growth of the Vinaya, previous to the Second Council, deserve the highest credit. He shows, in opposition to other scholars, that the earliest elements of Vinaya must be looked for in the short Pati- mokkha rules, which were afterwards supplemented by explanations, by glosses and commentaries, and in that form answered for some time every practical purpose. Then followed a new generation who, not being satisfied, as it would seem, with these brief rules and comments, wished to know the occasion on which these rules had been originally promulgated. What we now call the Vibhahga, i. e. the first and second divisions of the Vinaya-pi/aka, is a collection of the stories, illustrating the origin of each rule, of the rules themselves (the Patimokkha), and of the glosses and comments on these rules. The third and fourth books, the Mahavagga and A'ulla- vagga, are looked upon as possibly of a slightly later date. They treat, in a similar manner as the Vibhahga, on the rules not included in that collection, and give a general picture of the outward life of the monks. While the Vibhahga deals chiefly with the original so-called para§"ika, sahghadisesa, and pa/'ittiya offences, the Khandhaka, i. e. the Mahavagga and -^ullavagga, treats of the so-called dukka/a and thul- la^^aya crimes. The arrangement is the same, story, rule, and comment succeeding each other in regular sequence. If we follow the guidance of the Vinaya-pi/aka, we should be able to distinguish the following steps in the growth of Buddhism before the Second Council of Vesali : 1. Teaching of Buddha and his disciples (543/477 A.D. Buddha's death). 2. Collection of Patimokkha rules (first code). 3. Comment and glosses on these rules. 4. Stories in illustration of these rules (vibhahga). 5. Mahavagga and ATullavagga (Khandhaka). INTRODUCTION. XXXV 6. Council of Vesali for the repression of ten abuses (443/377 A. D.) 7. Description of First and Second Councils in ATuUavagga. The iiTullavagga ascribes the settlement of the canon to the First Council, and does not even claim a revision of that canon for the Second Council. The Dipava;;/sa claims a revision of the canon by the 700 Arhats for the Second Council. Chronology. In order to bring the Council of Vesali in connection with the chronology of the world, we must follow the Buddhist historians for another century. One hundred and eighteen years after the Council of Vesali they place the anointment of King Asoka, during whose reign a Third Council, under the presidency of Tissa Moggaliputta, took place at Pa/aliputta, the new capital adopted by that king, instead of Ra^agaha and Vesali. This Council is chiefly known to us through the writings of the southern Buddhists (Dipava;;zsa, Mahavawzsa, and Buddhaghosa), who belong to the school of Moggaliputta (Theravada or Vibha^^avada), which ruled supreme at Pa/aliputta, while Upagupta, the chief authority of the northern Buddhists, is altogether ignored in the Pali chronicles. Now it is well known that Asoka was the grandson of A'andagutta, and /iandagutta the contemporary of Alexander the Great. Here we see land, and I may refer to my History of Sanskrit Literature, published in 1859, for the process by which the storm-tossed ship of Indian chronology has been landed in the harbour of real historical chronology. We are told by the monks of the Mahavihara in Ceylon that Asoka was crowned, according to their computation, 146 + 18 years before the accession of Du////agamani, 161 B.C., i.e. 325 B.C. ; that between his coronation and his father's death four years had elapsed (329 B. C.) ; that his father Bindusara had reigned twenty- eight years ^ {357-3^9 B.C.), and Bindusara's father, Kan- ' Mahavamsa, p. 21. C 2 XXXVl DHAMMAPADA. dagutta, twenty-four years (381-357). As we know that A'andagutta, whom the Ceylonese place 381-357 B.C., was king of India after Alexander's conquest, it follows that Ceylonese chronology is wrong by more than half a century. For reasons stated in my History of Sanskrit Literature, I fix the exact fault in Ceylonese chronology as sixty-six years, assigning to /iandagutta the dates 315-391, instead of 381-357. This gives us 291-263 for Bindusara, 259 for Asoka's abhisheka ; 259+118 = 377 for the Council of Vesali, and 377 + 100 = 477 for Buddha's death, instead of 543 B.C.' These dates are, of course, approximate only, and they depend on one or two points on which people may differ. But, with that reservation, I see no ground whatever for modifying the chronological system which I put forward more than twenty years ago. Professor Westergaard and Professor Kern, who have since suggested different dates for the death of Buddha, do not really differ from me in principle, but only in their choice of one or the other alter- native, which I readily admit as possible, but not as more certain than my own. Professor Westergaard", for instance, fixes Buddha's death at 368 (370), instead of 477. This seems a wide difference, but it is so in appearance only. Following Justinus, who says that Sandrokyptos ^ had conquered the empire of India at the time when Seleucus laid the foundations of his own greatness, I had accepted 315^, half-way between the murder of Porus and the taking of Babylon by Seleucus, as the probable beginning * According to Bigandet, Life of Gaudama, p. 361, the era of Buddha's death was introduced by A^atasatru, at the conclusion of the First Council, and began in the year 146 of the older Eetzana era (p. 12). See, however, Rhys Davids, Num. Orient, vi, p. 38. In the Kara«t/a-vyuha, p. 96, a date is given as 300 after the Nirvana, ' tr/tiye varshasate gate mama parinirvntasya.' In the Asoka-avadana we read, mama nirvntim arabhya satavarshagata Upagupto nama bhikshur utpatsyati. '^ Uber Buddha's Todesjahr (i860), 1862. ^ The Greek name Sandrokyptus shows that the Pali corruption A'andagutta was not yet the recognised name of the king. * Mr. Rhys Davids accepts 315 b. c. as the date when, after the murder of king Nanda, A'andragupta slept into the vacant throne, though he had begun to count his reign seven or eight years before. Buddhism, p. 220. INTRODUCTION. XXXVll of iTandragupta's reign. Westergaard prefers 320 as a more likely date for A'andragupta, and therefore places the death of the last Nanda and the beginning of Aj-oka's royal pretensions 268. Here there is a difference between him and me of five years, which depends chiefly on the view we take as to the time when Seleucus really laid what Justinus calls the foundation of his future greatness. Secondly, Westergaard actually adopts the idea, at which I only hinted as possible, that the southern Buddhists made two Aj"okas out of one, and two Councils out of one. Trusting- in the tradition that 118 years elapsed between Buddha's death and the Council under A.foka (at Pa/aliputra), and that the Council took place in the king's tenth year (as was the case with the imaginary Kalaxoka's Council), he gets 268 — 10 = 258 as the date of the Council, and 368 or 370 as the date of Buddha's death \ The two points on which Westergaard differs from me, seem to me questions which should be kept before our mind in dealing with early Buddhist history, but which, for the present at least, admit of no definite solution. The same remark seems to me to apply to the calcula- tions of another eminent Sanskrit scholar. Professor Kern^. He lays great stress on the general untrustworthiness of Indian chronology, and I am the last to differ from him on that point. He then places the beginning of iTandra- gupta's reign in 322 B.C. Allowing twenty-four years to him and twenty-eight to his son Bindusara, he places the begin- ning of Aj-oka's reign in 270. Aj'oka's inscriptions would fall about 258. As Asoka. reigned thirty-six or thirty-seven years, his death would fall in 234 or 233 B.C. Like Wester- gaard, Professor Kern too eliminates Kalaj-oka, as a kind of chronological A^oka, and the Council of Vai^-ali, and there- fore places Buddha's death, according to the northern tradi- tion, 100 or no years before Dharmajoka, i.e. 270+100 or -I- 110 = 370 or 380 3; while, according to the southern • Westergaard, loc. cit. p. 128. ^ Jaartelling der Zuidelijke Buddhisten, 1873. 3 See Professor Kern's remark in Indian Antiquary, 1874, p. 79. XXXVIU DHAMMAPADA. tradition, that ii8 years elapsed between Aj-oka's acces- sion and Buddha's death, the Ceylonese monks would seem originally to have retained 270+118^ = 388 B.C. as Buddha's Nirvana, a date which, as Professor Kern holds, happens to coincide with the date assigned to the death of Maha- vira, the founder of the Caina religion. Here we see again that the moot point is the beginning of A'andragupta's reign in accordance with the information supplied by Greek historians. Professor Kern places it in 322, Westergaard in 320, I myself in 315. That difference once granted, Dr. Kern's reasoning is the same as my own. According to the traditions which we follow, Buddha's death took place 100, no, 118, or 228^ years before Aj-oka. Hence Professor Westergaard arrives at 368 or 370 B.C. Professor Kern at 370 (380) or 388 B.C., I myself at 477 B.C. Every one of these dates is liable to certain objections, and if I prefer my own date, 477 B.C., it is simply because it seems to me liable to neither more nor less reservations than those of Professor Westergaard and Professor Kern, and because, so long as we always remember the grounds of our differences, namely, the beginning of iTandragupta's reign, and the additional century, every one of these dates furnishes a good hypothesis to work on, until we can arrive at greater certainty in the ancient chronology of India. To my mind all dates beyond A'andragupta are as yet purely tentative, resting far more on a chronological theory than on actual tradition ; and though I do not doubt the historical character of the Council of Vaii-ali, I look upon the date assigned to it, on the authority of the Dipavawsa and Mahavawsa, as, for the present, hypothetical only. ' When Professor Kern states that the Mahava7?!sa (p. 22) places the Third Council 218 years after Buddha's death, this is not so. Asoka's abhisheka takes place in that year. The prophecy that a calamity would befall their religion, 118 years after the Second Council (^Mahavawsa, p. 28), does not refer to the Council, but to isTandasoka's accession, 477 — 218= 259 b. c. INTRODUCTION. XXxix B.C. 557. Buddha born. 552. BImbisara born. 537-485. Bimbisara, 5 years younger than Buddha, was 15 when crowned, 30 or 31 when he met Buddha in 522. 485-453. A^ataj-atru (4x8 years). 477. Buddha's death (485 — 8 = 477). 477. Council at Ragagriha under Kaj'yapa, Ananda, and Upah. 453-437. Udayibhadra (2x8 years). / Anuruddhaka (8 years). 437 429- \ Mu«^a (at Pa/ahputra). 429-405. Nagadasaka (3 x 8 years). 405-387. 6"ij-unaga (at VauaH). 387-359. Kalajoka. 377. Council at Vai^ali, under Yai'as and Revata, a disciple of Ananda (259 + 118=1:377). 359~337- Ten sons of Kalaj-oka (22 years). 337-315. Nine Nandas (22 years); the last, Dhana- nanda, killed by Kanakya.. 315-291. ^andragupta (477 — 162 = 315; 3x8 years)\ 291-263. Bindusara. 263-259. Ai'okaj sub-king at LJ^^ayini, as pretender — • his brothers killed. 259. Ai-oka anointed at Pa/aliputra (477 — 218 = 259). 256. Aj"oka converted by Nigrodha (D.V. VI, 18). 256-253. Building of Viharas, Sthupas, &c. 255. Conversion of Tishya (M. V. p. 34). 253. Ordination of Mahendra (born 477 — 204=273). 251. Tishya and Sumitra die (D.V. Vll, 32). 242. Council at PArALiPUTRA (259—17 = 242 ; 477 — 236 = 241), under Tishya Maudgaliputra (477 — 236 = 241; D.V. VII, 37). 241. Mahendra to Ceylon. 222. Ai-oka died (259 — 37 = 222). 193. Mahendra died (D.V. xvii, 93). 161. Du/^/zagdmani. 88-76. Vattagamani, canon reduced to writing. A.D. 400. Dipava;;/sa. 420. Buddhaghosha, Pali commentaries, 459-477. Mahavawsa. 1 Westergaard, 320-296; Kern, 322-20 xl DHAMMAPADA. Though the preceding table, embodying in the main the results at which I arrived in my History of Ancient San- skrit Literature, still represents what I hold to be true or most probable with respect to Indian chronology, previous to the beginning of our era, yet I suppose I may be expected to say here a few words on the two latest attempts to fix the date of Buddha's death ; the one by Mr. Rhys Davids in the Numismata Orientalia, Part VI, 1877, the other by Dr. Blihler in the Indian Antiquary, 1877 and 1878 \ Mr. Rhys Davids, to whom we owe so much for the elucidation of the history of Buddha's religion, accepts Westergaard's date for the beginning of A'andragupta's reign, 320 B.C., instead of 322 (Kern), 315 (myself); and as he assigns (p. 41) to Bindusara 25 years instead of 28 (Mahavawsa, p. 21), he arrives at 268 as the year of Aj-oka's coronation^. He admits that the argument derived from the mention of the five foreign kings in one of Anoka's inscriptions, dated the twelfth year of his reign, is too precarious to enable us to fix the date of Aj-oka's reign more definitely, and though, in a general way, that inscriptioxi confirms the date assigned by nearly all scholars to Ajroka in the middle of the third century B.C., yet there is nothing in it that Ai^oka might not have written in 247 quite as well as in 258-261. What chiefly distinguishes Mr. Rhys Davids' chronology from that of his predecessors is the shortness of the period between Aj^oka's coronation and Buddha's death. On the strength of an examination of the list of kings and the list of the so-called patriarchs, he reduces the traditional 218 years to 140 or 150, and thus arrives at 412 B.C. as the probable beginning of the Buddhist era. In this, however, I cannot follow him, but have to follow Dr. Biihler. As soon as I saw Dr. Biihler's first essay on the Three New Edicts of Aj-oka, I naturally felt delighted at the unexpected confirmation which he fur- nished of the date which I had assigned to Buddha's death, 477 B.C. And though I am quite aware of the * Three New Edicts of Asoka, Bombay, 1877 ; Second Notice, Bombay, 1878. ^ Mr. Rliys Davids on p. 50 assigns the 25 years of Bindusara rightly to the Purawas, the 28 years to the Ceylon Chronicles. INTRODUCTION. xll danger of unexpected confirmations of one's own views, yet, after carefully weighing the objections raised by Mr. Rhys Davids and Professor Pischel against Dr. Biihler's arguments, I cannot think that they have shaken Dr. Biihler's position. I fully admit the difficulties in the phraseology of these inscriptions : but I ask, Who could have written these inscriptions, if not Aj-oka ? And how, if written by Aj-oka, can the date which they contain mean anything but 256 years after Buddha's Nirva/za ? These points, how^ever, have been argued in so masterly a manner by Dr. Biihler in his ' Second Notice,' that I should be afraid of weakening his case by adding anything of my own, and must refer my readers to his ' Second Notice.' Allowing that latitude which, owing to the doubtful read- ings of MSS., and the constant neglect of odd months, we must allow in the interpretation of Buddhist chronology, A^oka is the only king we know of who could have spoken of a thirty-fourth year since the beginning of his reign and since his conversion to Buddhism. And if he calls that year, say the very last of his reign (322 B.C.), %^6 after the departure of the Master, we have a right to say that as early as Aj-oka's time, Buddha was believed to have died about 477 B.C. Whether the inscriptions have been accurately copied and rightly read is, however, a more serious question, and the doubts raised by Dr. Oldenberg (Mahavagga, p. xxxviii) make a new collation of the originals absolutely indispensable, before we can definitely accept Dr. Biihler's interpretation. I cannot share Dr. Biihler's opinion^ as to the entire worthlessness of the Caina chronology in confirming the date of Buddha's death. If the ^"vetambara 6'ainas place the death of Mahavira 470 before Vikramaditya, i. e. ^6 B.C. + 470 = 526B.C.,and the Digambaras 605, i.e. 7 8 a.D. deducted from 605 = 527 B.C., this so far confirms Dr. Biihler's and Dr. Jacobi's brilliant discovery that Mahavira was the same as Niga«///a Nataputta, who died at Pava during Buddha"s lifetime -. Most likely 527 is too early a date, while another ' Three Edicts, p. 21; Second Notice, pp. 9, 10. 2 See Jacobi, Kalpa-sutra of Bhadrabahu, and Oldenberg, Zeitschrift der D.M.G., XXXIV, p. 749. xlii ■ DHAMMAPADA. tradition fixing Mahavira's death 155 years before A'andra- gupta\ 470 B.C.. is too late. Yet they both show that the distance between Ajroka (259-222 B.C.), the grandson of /Tandragupta (315-291 B.C.), and the contemporaries of Buddha was by the Cainas also believed to be one of two rather than one century. When I saw that the date of Buddha's death, 477 B.C., which in my History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature (1859) I had myself tried to support by such arguments as were then accessible, had received so powerful a support by the discovery of the inscriptions of Sahasram, Rupnath, and Bairat, due to General Cunningham, who had himself always been an advocate of the date 477 B.C., and through their careful decipherment by Dr. Buhler, I lost no time in testing that date once more by the Dipavawsa, that Ceylonese chronicle having lately become accessible through Dr. Oldenberg's edition and translation ^. And here I am able to say that, before having read Dr. Biihler's Second Notice, I arrived, though by a somewhat different way, at nearly the same conclusions as those so well worked out by Dr. Biihler in his restoration of the Episcopal Succession (theravali) of the Buddhists, and therefore feel convinced that, making all such allowances as the case requires, we know now as much of early Buddhist chronology as could be known at the time of Ai'oka^s Council, 242 B.C. Taking the date of Buddha's death 477 B.C. for granted, I found that Upali, who rehearsed the Vinaya at the First Council, 477 B.C., had been in orders sixty years in the twenty-fourth year of A^atai-atru, i. e. 461 B.C., which was the sixteenth year A.B. He must therefore^ have been born in 54J B.C., and he died 447 B.C., i. e. thirty years A.B., at the age of 94. This is said to have been the sixth year of Udayi, and so it is, 453 — 6^=447 B.C. In the year 461 B.C. Daj-aka received orders from Upali, who was then 80 years of age ; and when Da^-aka had been * Oldenberg, loc. cit. p. 750- "^ The Dipavawsa, an ancient Buddhist historical record. London, 1879. ' Assuming twenty to be the minimum age at which a man could be ordained. INTRODUCTION. . xlii HI in orders forty-five years (Dipava//zsa IV, 41), he ordained ^aunaka. This would give us 461—45=416 B.C., while the tenth year of Nagadasa, 439 — 10, would give us 419 a.d. Later on the Dipava;//sa (V, 78) allows an interval of forty years between the ordinations of Da^-aka and 5aunaka, which would bring the date of ^aunaka's ordination to 421 B.C., instead of 419 or 416 B.C. Here there is a fault which must be noted. Daj-aka died 461—64 = 397 A.D., which is called the eighth year of 6"ij-unaga, and so it is, 405 — 8 = 397 A.D. When vSaunaka had been in orders forty years, i. e. 416 — 40 = 376, Kalai-oka is said to have reigned a little over ten years, i.e. 387 — 11 = 376 A.D., and in that year ^aunaka ordained Siggava. He died 416 — 66 = 350 A.D., which is called the sixth year of the Ten, while in reality it is the ninth, 359 — 6 = ^^^ A.D. If, however, we take 419 as the year of ^~"aunaka's ordination, his death would fall 419-66 = 353 B.C. Siggava, when he had been in orders sixty-four years, ordained Tishya Maudgaliputra. This date 376 — 64 = 312 B.C. is called more than two years after A'andragupta's accession, and so it very nearly is, 315 — 2 = 313. Siggava died when he had been in orders seventy-six years, i. e. 376 — 76 = 300 A.D. This year is called the fourteenth year of A'andragupta, which it very nearly is, 315-14=301. When Tishya had been in orders sixty ^ years, he or- dained Mahendra, 312 — 60 = 252 B.C. This is called six years after Aj-oka's coronation, 259 — 6 = 253, and so it very nearly is. He died 312 — 80 = 232 B.C., which is called the twenty-sixth year of Aj-oka, and so it very nearly is. 1 I take 60 (80), as given in Dipavawzsa V, 95, 107, instead of 66 (86), as given in Dipava?wsa V, 94. xllv DHAMMAPADA. Buddhist Patriarchs. Ordination of Patri- Birth. Ordination, successor. Death. Age. archate. Upali (Generally 527 461 447 94 30 20 years (60) ^^ , before . ^ . . Daraka ordination.) ^61 416 397 84 50 419 ^ 45) 421 42 40 ^aunaka „ 416 j 376 j 350 86 44(47) 419 t 379 } 353 421) 381 j (40) Siggava „ 376I 312^ 300I 96 50(52) (64) Tishya „ 312^ 253 233 100 68 (60) ]\Iahendra 273 253 „ 193 80 40 282(284) If we test the dates of this table by the length of time assigned to each patriarchate, we find that Upali ruled thirty years, from Buddha's death, 477 to 447 ; Daj-aka fifty years. To 5aunaka forty-four years are assigned, instead of forty-seven, owing to a fault pointed out before ; and to Siggava fifty-two years, or fifty-five ^ instead of fifty. Tishya's patriarchate is said to have lasted sixty-eight years, which agrees with previous statements. Lastly, the years of the death of the six patriarchs, as fixed according to the reigns of the kings of Magadha, agree extremely well. Upali died in the sixth year of Udayi, i, e. 453 — 6 = 447 B.C. Daj-aka died in the eighth year of 6"i.$"unaga, i.e. 405 — 8 = 397 B.C. .Saunaka died in the sixth year of the Ten, i. e. 359 — 6 = 353 B.C., showing again the difference of three years. ' The combined patriarchates of >S'aunaka and Siggava are given as 99 by the Dipava?«sa. INTRODUCTION. xl V Siggava died in the fourteenth year of ^andragupta, i. e. 315-14 = 301 B.C. Tishya died in the twenty-sixth or twenty-seventh year of Ai-oka, i.e. 259 — 27 = 233 B.C. This general and more than general agreement between dates taken from the history of the kings and the history of the patriarchs leaves on my mind a decided impression of a tradition which, though not strictly historical, in our sense of the word, represents at all events the result of such enquiries as could be made into the past ages of Buddhism at the time of Ai-oka. There are difficulties in that tradition which would certainly have been avoided, if the whole chronology had been simply made up : but there is no doubt a certain method too perceptible throughout, which warns us that we must not mistake a smooth chronology for solid history. The Title of Dhammapada. The title of Dhammapada has been interpreted in various ways. It is an ambiguous word, and has been accepted as such by the Buddhists themselves. Dhamma has many meanings. Under one aspect it means religion, particu- larly the religion taught by Buddha, the law which every Buddhist should accept and observe. Under another aspect dhamma is virtue, or the realisation of the law. Pada also has many meanings. In the Abhidhana- padipika it is explained by place, protection, Nirva;/a, cause, word, thing, portion, foot, footstep. Hence dhammapada may mean 'footstep of religion,' and thus the title was first rendered by Gogerly, only that he used the plural instead of the singular, and called it ' The Footsteps of Religion,' while Spence Hardy still more freel>' called it ' The Paths of Religion.' It may be quite true, as pointed out by Childers, that pada by itself never means path. But it means footstep, and the footstep towards a thing is much the same as what we call the path to a thing. Thus we read, verse 21, 'appamado amatapadam,' earnestness is the step, i. e. the path that leads to immor- xlvi DHAMMAPADA. tality. Again, ' pamado ma/^/^uno padam ' can hardly mean anything but that thoughtlessness is the path of death, is the path that leads to death. The commentator, too, rightly explains it here by amatasya adhigamupaya, the means of obtaining immortality, i. e. Nirvawa^ or simply by upayo, and even by maggo, the way. If we compare verses 92 and 93 of our text, and verses 254 and 255, we see that pad a is used synonymously with gati, going. In the same manner dhammapada would mean the footstep or the footpath of virtue, i. e. the path that leads to virtue, and supply a very appropriate title for a collection of moral precepts. In verses 44 and 45 'path of virtue' seems to be the most appropriate meaning for dhammapada ^, and it is hardly possible to assign any other meaning to it in the following verse (TTundasutta, v. 6) : Yo dhammapade sudesite Magge ^ivati sa;7/}ato satima, Anava^a-padani sevamano Tatiyam bhikkhum ahu magga^ivim, * He who lives restrained and attentive in the way that has been well pointed out, in the path of the law, cultivating blameless words, such a Bhikkhu they call a Magga^ivi (living in the way).' I therefore think that ' Path of Virtue,'' or ' Footstep of the Law,' was the idea most prominent in the mind of those who originally framed the title of this collection of verses. It seems to me that Buddhaghosa also took the same view, for the verse which D'Alwis^ quotes from the introduction of Buddhaghosa's commentary, — Sampatta-saddhammapado sattha dhammapadaw subha;;« Desesi, and which he translates, ' The Teacher who had reached the very depths (lit. bottom) of Saddhamma, preached this holy Dhammapada,' — lends itself far better to another translation, viz. ' The Teacher who had gained a firm ' Cf. Dhammapada, v. 285, nibbanam sugatena desitawz. ^ Buddhist Nirva«a, p. 62. INTRODUCTION. xlvil footing in the Good Law, showed (preached) the holy Path of the Law.' Gogerly, again, who may generally be taken as a faithful representative of the tradition of the Buddhists still pre- served in Ceylon, translates the title by the ' Footsteps of Religion,' so that there can be little doubt that the priests of that island accept Dhammapada in the sense of 'Vestiges of Religion,' or, from a different point of view, ' The Path of Virtue.' M. L. Feer ^ takes a slightly different view, and assigning to pada the meaning of foot or base, he translates Dhamma- pada by Loi fondamentale, or Base de la Religion. But it cannot be denied that the title of Dhammapada was very soon understood in a different sense also, namely, as ' Sentences of Religion.' Pada means certainly a foot of a verse, a verse, or a line, and dhammapadam actually occurs in the sense of a ' religious sentence.' Thus we read in verse 102, ' Though a man recite a hundred Gathas made up of senseless words, one dhammapadam, i.e. one single word or line of the law, is better, which if a man hears, he becomes quiet.' But here we see at once the difficulty of translating the title of ' dhammapadam ' by ' religious sen- tences.' Dhammapadam means one law verse, or wise saw, not many. Professor Fausboll, who in his excellent edition of the Dhammapada translated that title by ' a col- lection of verses on religion,' appeals to such passages as verses 44 and 102 in support of his interpretation. But in verse 42 dhammapadaw sudesita;;^, even if it does not mean the path of the law, could never mean 'versus legis bene enarratos,' but only versum legis bene enarra- tum, as Dr. Fausboll himself renders eka;;^ dhammapada;«, in verse 102, by unus legis versus. Buddhaghosa, too, when he speaks of many law verses uses the plural, for instance ^, ' Be it known that the Gatha consists of the Dhammapadani, Theragatha, Therigatha, and those un- mixed (detached) Gatha not comprehended in any of the above-named Suttanta.' ^ Revue Critique, 1870, p. 378. ^ D'Alwis, Pali Grammar, p. 61. dviii DHAMMAPADA. The only way in which Dhammapada could be defended in the sense of ' Collection of Verses of the Law,' would be if we took it for an aggregate compound. But such aggre- gate compounds, in Sanskrit at least, are possible with numerals only; for instance, tribhuvanam, the three worlds ; ^aturyugam, the four ages^. It might therefore be possible in Pali, too, to form such compounds as dai-a- padam, a collection of ten padas, a work consisting often padas, a decamerone, but it would in no wise follow that we could in that language attempt such a compound as Dhammapadam, in order to express a collection of law verses^. Mr. BeaP informs us that the Chinese seem to have taken Dhammapada in the sense of ' stanzas of law,' * law texts,' or ' scripture texts.' It should be remembered, also, that the idea of repre- senting life, and particularly the life of the faithful, as a path of duty or virtue leading to deliverance, (in Sanskrit dharmapatha,) is very familiar to Buddhists. The four great truths of their religion * consist in the recognition of the following principles : i. that there is suffering ; 2. that there is a cause of that suffering ; 3. that such cause can be removed ; 4. that there is a way of deliverance, viz. the doctrine of Buddha. This way is the ash/ahga-marga, the eightfold way ^, taught by Buddha, and leading to Nir- vana •^. The faithful advances on that road, padat padam, * See M. M.'s Sanskrit Grammar, § 519. ^ Mr. D'Alwis' arguments (Buddhist Nirvana, pp. 63-67) in support of this view, viz. the dhammapada may be a collective term, do not seem to me to strengthen my own conjecture. ^ Dhammapada from Chinese, p. 4. * Spence Hardy, Manual, p. 496. ' Bumouf, Lotus, p. 520, ' Ajoutons, pour terminer ce que nous trouvons a dire sur le mot magga, quelque commentaire qu'on en donne d'ailleurs, que suivant une definition rapportee par Turnour, le magga renferme une sous-division que Ton nomme pa/ipada, en Sanscrit pratipad. Le magga, dit Turnour, est la voie qui conduit au>Jibbana, la pa/ipada, litteralement "la marche pas a pas, ou le degre," est la vie de rectitude qu'on doit suivre, quand on marche dans la voie du magga.' * See Spence Hardy, Manual, p. 496. Should not Aratur\'idha-dharmapada, mentioned on p. 497, be translated by ' the fourfold path of the Law?' It can hardly be the fourfold word of the Law. INTRODUCTION. xlix step by step, and it is therefore called pa/ipada, lit. the step by step. If we make allowance for these ambiguities, inherent in the name of D ha mm a pa da, we may well understand how the Buddhists themselves play with the word pada (see V. 45). Thus we read in Mr, Beal's translation of a Chinese version of the Pratimoksha ^ : ' Let all those who desire such birth, Who now are living in the world. Guard and preserve these Precepts, as feet.' Translation. In translating the verses of the Dhammapada, I have followed the edition of the Pali text, published in 1855 by Dr. Fausboll, and I have derived great advantage from his Latin translation, his notes, and his copious extracts from Buddhaghosa's commentary. I have also consulted trans- lations, either of the whole of the Dhammapada, or of portions of it, by Burnouf, Gogerly ^ Upham, Weber, and others. Though it will be seen that in many places my translation differs from those of my predecessors, I can only claim for myself the name of a very humble gleaner in this field of Pali literature. The greatest credit is due to Dr. Fausboll, whose editio princeps of the Dhammapada will mark for ever an important epoch in the history of Pali scholarship ; and though later critics have been able to point out some mistakes, both in his text and in his translation, the value of their labours is not to be compared with that of the work accomplished single- handed by that eminent Danish scholar. In revising my translation, first published in 1870 3, for ^ Catena, p. 207. ^ ' Several of the chapters have been translated by Mr. Gogerly, and have appeared in The Friend, vol. iv, 1840.' (Spence Hardy, Eastern Monachism, p. 169.) ^ Buddhaghosha's Parables, translated from Burmese by Captain T. Rogers, R. E. With an Introduction, containing Buddha's Dhammapada, translated from Pali by F. Max Miiller. London, 1870. [10] d 1 DHAMMAPADA. the Sacred Books of the East, I have been able to avail myself of ' Notes on Dhammapada,' published by Childers in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (May, 1871), and of valuable hints as to the meaning of certain words and verses scattered about in the Pali Dictionary of that much regretted scholar, 1875. I have carefully weighed the remarks of Mr. James D'Alwis in his ' Buddhist Nirvawa, a review of Max Miiller's Dhammapada' (Colombo, 1871), and accepted some of his suggestions. Some very suc- cessful renderings of a number of verses by Mr. Rhys Davids in his ' Buddhism,' and a French translation, too, of the Dhammapada, published by Fernand Hu\ have been consulted with advantage. It was hoped for a time that much assistance for a more accurate understanding of this work might be derived from a Chinese translation of the Dhammapada ^, of which Mr. S. Beal published an English translation in 1878. But this hope has not been entirely fulfilled. It was^ no doubt, a discovery of great interest, when Mr. Beal announced that the text of the Dhammapada was not restricted to the southern Buddhists only, but that similar collections existed in the north, and had been translated into Chinese. It was equally important when Schiefner proved the existence of the same work in the sacred canon of the Tibetans. But as yet neither a Chinese nor a Tibetan translation of the Pali Dhammapada has been rendered accessible to us by translations of these translations into English or German, and what we have received instead, cannot make up for what we had hoped for. The state of the case is this. There are, as Mr, Beal informs us, four principal copies of what may be called Dhammapada in Chinese, the first dating from the Wu dynasty, about the beginning of the third century A.D. This translation, called Fa-kheu-king, is the work of a * Le Dhammapada avec introduction et notes par Fernand Hd, suivi du Sutra en 42 articles, traduit du Tibetain, par Leon Feer. Paris, 1878. * Texts from the Buddhist Canon, commonly known as Dhammapada, trans- lated from the Chinese by Samuel Beal. London, 187S. INTRODUCTION. U Shaman Wei-/^i-lan and others. Its title means ' the Sutra of Law verses,' kheu being explained by gat ha, a verse, a word which we shall meet with again in the Tibetan title, Gathasahgraha. In the preface the Chinese translator states that the Shamans in after ages copied from the canonical scriptures various gathas, some of four lines and some of six, and attached to each set of verses a title, according to the subject therein explained. This work of extracting and collecting is ascribed to Tsun-/^e-Fa-kieou, i. e. Arya-Dharmatrata, the author of the Sawyuktabhi- dharma-i-astra and other works, and the uncle ofVasumitra. If this Vasumitra was the patriarch who took a prominent part in the Council under Kanishka, Dharmatrata's col- lection would belong to the first century B.C. ; but this is, as yet, very doubtful. In the preface to the Fa-kheu-king we are told that the original, which consisted of 500 verses, was brought from India by Wai-/^i-lan in 223 A.D., and that it was translated into Chinese with the help of another Indian called Tsiang- sin. After the translation was finished, thirteen sections were added, making up the whole to 753 verses, I4)5^° words, and 39 chapters ^. If the Chinese translation is compared with the Pali text, it appears that the two agree from the 9th to the 35th chapter (with the exception of the 33rd), so far as their subjects are concerned, though the Chinese has in these chapters 79 verses more than the Pali. But the Chinese translation has eight additional chapters in the beginning (viz. On Intemperance, Inciting to Wisdom, The vSravaka, Simple Faith, Observance of Duty, Re- flection, Loving-kindness, Conversation), and four at the end (viz. 'Nirvana., Birth and Death, Profit of Religion, and Good Fortune), and one between the 24th and 25th chapter of the Pali text (viz. Advantageous Service), all of which are absent in our Pali texts. This, the most ancient ^ Eeal, Dhammapada, p. 30. The real number of verses, however, is 760. In the Pali text, too, there are five verses more than stated in the Index ; see M. M., Buddhaghosha's Parables, p. ix, note; Beal, loc.cit. p. 11, note. d 2 lii DHAMMArADA. Chinese translation of Dharmatrata's work, has not been rendered into English by Mr. Beal, but he assures us that it is a faithful reproduction of the original. The book which he has chosen for translation is the Fa-kheu-pi-ii, i. e. parables connected with the Dhammapada, and translated into Chinese by two Shamans of the western Tsin dynasty (a.d. 265-313). These parables are meant to illustrate the teaching of the verses, like the parables of Buddhaghosa, but they are not the same parables, nor do they illustrate all the verses. A third Chinese version is called TTuh-yan-king, i. e. the Sutra of the Dawn (avadana?), consisting of seven volumes. Its author was Dharmatrata, its translator ATu-fo-nien (Bud- dhasmnti), about 410 A.D. The MS. of the work is said to have been brought from India by a Shaman Sangha- bhadaiiga of Kipin (Cabul), about 345 A.D. It is a much more extensive work in ;^^ chapters, the last being, as in the Pali text, on the Brahma7^a. A fourth translation dates from the Sung dynasty (800 or 900 A. D.), and in it, too, the authorship of the text is ascribed to Arya- Dharmatrata. A Tibetan translation of a Dhammapada was dis- covered by Schiefner in the 28th volume of the Sutras, in the collection called Udanavarga. It contains 33 chapters, and more than 1000 verses, of which about one- fourth only can be traced in the Pali text. The same collection is found also in the Tan^r, vol. 71 of the Sutras, foil. 1-53, followed by a commentary, the Udanavarga- vivara;/a by the AMrya Pra^/7avarman. Unfortunately Schiefner's intention of publishing a translation of it (Me- langes Asiatiques, tom. viii. p. 560) has been frustrated by his death. All that he gives us in his last paper is the Tibetan text with translation of another shorter collection, the Gathasaiigraha by Vasubandhu, equally published in the 72nd volume of the Sutras in the Tan^ur, and accom- panied by a commentary. INTRODUCTION. Spelling of Buddhist Terms. I had on a former occasion ^ pleaded so strongly in favour of retaining, as much as possible, the original San- skrit forms of Pali Buddhist terms, that I feel bound to confess openly that I hold this opinion no longer, or, at all events, that I see it is hopeless to expect that Pali scholars will accept my proposal. My arguments were these : ' Most of the technical terms employed by Buddhist writers come from Sanskrit ; and in the eyes of the philologist the various forms which they have assumed in Pali, in Burmese, in Tibetan, in Chinese, in Mongolian, are only so many corrup- tions of the same original form. Everything, therefore, would seem to be in favour of retaining the Sanskrit forms throughout, and of writing, for instance, Nirvana instead of the Pali Nibbana, the Burmese Niban or Nepbhan, the Siamese Niruphan, the Chinese Nipan. The only hope, in fact, that writers on Buddhism will ever arrive at a uniform and generally intelligible phraseology seems to He in their agreeing to use throughout the Sanskrit terms in their original form, instead of the various local disguises and disfigurements which they present in Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, Tibet, China, and Mongolia.' I fully admitted that many Buddhist words have assumed such a strongly marked local or national character in the different countries and in the different languages in which the religion of Buddha has found a new home, that to trans- late them back into Sanskrit might seem as affected, nay, prove in certain cases as misleading, as if, in speaking of priests and kings, we were to speak of presbyters and cynings. The rule by which I meant mainly to be guided was to use the Sanskrit forms as much as possible ; in fact, everywhere except where it seemed affected to do so. I therefore wrote Buddhaghosha instead of the Pali Bud- dhaghosa, because the name of that famous theologian, 'the Voice of Buddha,' seemed to lose its significance if turned ^ Introduction to Buddhaghosha's Parables, 1870, p. 1. llV DHAMMAPADA. into Buddhaghosa. But I was well aware what may be said on the other side. The name of Buddhaghosa, ' Voice of Buddha,' was given him after he had been converted from Brahmanism to Buddhism, and it was given to him by people to whom the Pali word ghosa conveyed the same meaning as ghosha does to us. On the other hand, I retained the Pali Dhammapada instead of Dharmapada, simply because, as the title of a Pali book, it has become so familiar that to speak of it as Dharmapada seemed like speaking of another work. We are accustomed to speak of Samanas instead of 5rama;/as, for even in the days of Alexander's conquest, the Sanskrit word vSrama;/a had assumed the prakritized or vulgar form which we find in Pali, and which alone could have been rendered by the later Greek writers (first by Alexander Polyhistor, 80-60 B.C.) by (TajxavoLoi^. As a Buddhist term, the Pali form Samana has so entirely supplanted that of vSrama7/a that, even in the Dhammapada (v. 388), we find an etymology of Samana as derived from sam, 'to be quiet,' and not from jram, ' to toil.' But if we speak of Samanas, we ought also to speak of Bahmawas instead of Brahmawas, for this word had been replaced by bahma/za at so early a time, that in the Dhammapada it is derived from a root vah, ' to remove, to separate, to cleanse '^.' I still believe that it would be best if writers on Buddhist literature and religion were to adopt Sanskrit throughout as the lingua franca. For an accurate understanding of the original meaning of most of the technical terms of Buddhism a knowledge of their Sanskrit form is indispen- sable ; and nothing is lost, while much would be gained, if, even in the treating of southern Buddhism, we were to ' See Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde, vol. ii. p. 700, note. That Lassen is right in taking the 'S.apixavai, mentioned by Megasthenes, for Brahmanic, not for Buddhist ascetics, might be proved also by their dress. Dresses made of the bark of trees are not strictly Buddhistic. ^ See Dhammapada, v. 388 ; Bastian, Vdlker des ostlichen Asien, vol. iii. p. 412: 'Ein buddhistischer Monch erklarte mir, dass die Brahmanen ihren Namen fuhrten, als Leute, die ihre Siinden abgespiilt hiitten.' See also Lalita- vistara, p. 551, line i ; p. 553, line 7. INTRODUCTION. Iv speak of the town of .Sravasti instead of Savatthi in Pali, Sevet in Sinhalese ; of Tripi/aka, 'the three baskets,' instead ofTipi/aka in Pali, Tunpitaka in Sinhalese; of Arthakatha, 'commentary,' instead of A////akatha in Pali, Atuwava in Sinhalese ; and therefore also of Dharmapada, ' the path of virtue,^ instead of Dhammapada. But inclinations are stronger than arguments. Pali scholars prefer their Pali terms, and I cannot blame them for it. Mr. D'Alwis (Buddhist Nirvana, p. 68) says : ' It will be seen how very difficult it is to follow the rule rigidly. We are, therefore, inclined to believe that in translating Pali works, at least, much inconvenience may not be felt by the retention of the forms of the language in which the Buddhist doctrines were originally delivered.' For the sake of uni- formity, therefore, I have given up my former plan. I use the Pali forms when I quote from Pali, but I still prefer the Sanskrit forms, not only when I quote from Sanskrit Bud- dhist books, but also when I have to speak of Buddhism in general. I speak of Nirvana, dharma, and bhikshu, rather than of Nibbana, dhamma, and bhikkhu, when discussing the meaning of these words without special reference to southern Buddhism ; but when treating of the literature and religion of the Theravada school I must so far yield to the argu- ments of Pali scholars as to admit that it is but fair to use their language when speaking of their opinions. DHAMMAPADA. DHAM MA PA DA. CHAPTER I. THE TWIN-VERSES. I. All that we are is the result of what we have thought : it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel fol- lows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage. I. Dharma, though clear in its meaning, is difficult to translate. It has different meanings in different systems of philosophy, and its peculiar application in the phraseology of Buddhism has been fully elucidated by Burnouf, Introduction a I'Histoire du Buddhisme, p. 41 seq. He writes: 'Je traduis ordinairement ce terme par condition, d'autres fois par lois, mais aucune de ces traductions n'est parfaitement complete; il faut entendre par dharma ce qui fait qu'une chose est ce qu'elle est, ce qui constitue sa nature propre, comme Fa bien montr^ Lassen, a I'occasion de la celebre formule, " Ye dharma hetuprabhava." ' Etymological ly the Latin for-ma expresses the same general idea which was expressed by dhar-ma. See also Burnouf, Lotus de la bonne Loi, p. 524. Faus- boU translates : ' Naturae a mente principium ducunt,' which shows that he rightly understood dharma in the Buddhist sense. Gogerly (see Spence Hardy, Eastern Monachism, p. 28) translates : ' Mind precedes action,' which, if not wrong, is at all events Avrongly expressed ; while Professor Weber's rendering, ' Die Pflichten aus dem Herz folgern,' is quite inadmissible. D'Alwis (Buddhist Nir- wana, p. 70 seq.), following the commentary, proposes to give a more technical interpretation of this verse, viz. ' Mind is the leader of all its faculties. Mind is the chief (of all its faculties). The very mind is made up of those (faculties). If one speaks or acts with a polluted mind, then affliction follows him as the wheel follows the feet of the bearer (the bullock).' To me this technical acceptation DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. I. 2. All that we are is the result of what we have thought : it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. 3. ' He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me,' — in those who harbour such thoughts hatred will never cease. 4. 'He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me,' — in those who do not harbour such thoughts hatred will cease. seems not applicable here, where we have to deal with the simplest moral precepts, and not with psychological niceties of Buddhist philosophy. It should be stated, however, that Childers, who first (s.v. dhamma) approved of my translation, seems afterwards to have changed his opinion. On p. 120 of his excellent Pali Dictionary he said : ' Three of the five khandhas, viz. vedana, safwla, and sah- khara, are collectively termed dhamma (plur.), " mental faculties," and in the first verse of Dhammapada the commentator takes the word dhamma to mean those three faculties. But this interpretation appears forced and unnatural, and I look upon Dr. Max Miiller's translation, " All that we are is the result of what we have thought," as the best possible rendering of the spirit of the phrase mano pub- bahgama dhamma.' But on p. 57 7 the same scholar writes : 'Of the four mental khandhas the superiority of vii^ila/za is strongly asserted in the first verse of Dhammapada, " The mental faculties (vedana, sa?~w1a, and sahkhara) are dominated by IMind, they are governed by Mind, they are made up of Mind." That this is the true meaning of the passage I am now convinced ; see D'Alwis, Nir- wana, pp. 70-75.' I do not deny that this may have been the tra- ditional interpretation, at all events since the days of Buddhaghosa, but the very legend quoted by Buddhaghosa in illustration of this verse shows that its simpler and purely moral interpretation was likewise supported by tradition, and I therefore adhere to my original translation. 2. See Beal, Dhammapada, p. 169. 3. On akkoM/ii, see KaMayana VI, 4, 1 7. D'Alwis, Pali Grammar, p. 38 note. * When akkoX'X'//i means " he abused," it is derived from kruj, not from krudh.' See Senart, Ka/^Hyana, 1. c. TWIN-VERSES. ,■-=? 5. For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time : hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule. 6. The world does not know that we must all come to an end here ; — but those who know it, their quarrels cease at once. 7. He who lives looking for pleasures only, his senses uncontrolled, immoderate in his food, idle, and weak, Mara (the tempter) will certainly over- throw him, as the wind throws down a weak tree. 8. He who lives without looking for pleasures, his senses well controlled, moderate in his food, faithful and strong, him Mara will certainly not overthrow, any more than the wind throws down a rocky mountain. 9. He who wishes to put on the yellow dress without having cleansed himself from sin, who dis- regards also temperance and truth, is unworthy of the yellow dress, 6. Pare is explained by ' fools,' but it has that meaning by- implication only. It is ol woWoi, of. Vinaya, ed. Oldenberg, vol. i. p. 5, 1. 4. Yamamase, a i pers. plur. imp. Atm., but really a Le/ in Pali. See Fausboll, Five (ratakas, p. 38. 7. Mara must be taken in the Buddhist sense of ' tempter,' or 'evil spirit.' See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 76 : ' Mara est le demon de I'amour, du p6ch6 at de la mort ; c'est le tentateur et I'ennemi de Buddha.' As to the definite meaning of virya, see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 548. In the Buddhistical Sanskrit, kusida, * idle,' is the exact counter- part of the Pali kusita ; see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 548. On the change of Sanskrit d into Pali t, see Kuhn, Beitrage zur Pali Grammatik, p. 40; Weber, Ind. Studien, XIII, p. 135. 9. The dark yellow dress, the Kasava or Kashaya, is the dis- tinctive garment of the Buddhist priests. See Vishwu-sfitra LXIII, 36. The play on the words anikkasavo kasavam, or in Sanskrit anishkashaya// kashayam, cannot be rendered in English. Kashaya means ' impurity,' nish-kashaya, ' free from impurity,' anish-kashaya, ' not free from impurity,' while kashaya is the name of the yellowish DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. I. 10. But he who has cleansed himself from sin, is well grounded in all virtues, and regards also tem- perance and truth, he is indeed worthy of the yellow dress. 11. They who imagine truth in untruth, and see untruth in truth, never arrive at truth, but follow vain desires. 12. They who know truth in truth, and untruth in untruth, arrive at truth, and follow true desires. 13. As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind. 1 4. As rain does not break through a well- thatched house, passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind. 15. The evil-doer mourns in this world, and he Buddhist garment. The pun is evidently a favourite one, for, as FausboU shows, it occurs also in the Mahabharata, XII, 568 : Anishkashaye kashayam ihartham iti viddhi tam, Dharmadhva^ana/w munda,nam vrzltyartham iti me mati^. ' Know that this yellow-coloured garment on a man who is not free from impurity, serves only for the purpose of cupidity ; my opinion is, that it is meant to supply the means of living to those shavelings, who carry their virtue or the dharma like a flag.' (I read vnttyartham, according to the Bombay edition, instead of kr/tartham, the reading of the Calcutta edition.) On the exact colour of the dress, see Bishop Bigandet, The Life or Legend of Gaudama, the Budha of the Burmese, Rangoon, 1866, p. 504. Cf. Gataka, vol. ii. p. 198. 10. With regard to sila, ' virtue,' see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 547. 11, 12. Sara, which I have translated by ' truth,' has many mean- ings in Sanskrit. It means the sap of a thing, then essence or reality ; in a metaphysical sense, the highest reality ; in a moral sense, truth. It is impossible in a translation to do more than indi- cate the meaning of such words, and in order to understand them fully, we must know not only their definition, but their history. See Beal, Dhammapada, p. 64. 13. See Beal, Dhammapada, p. 65. 15. Kili//y^a is klish/a, a participle of klij. It means literally, TWIN-VERSES. mourns in the next ; he mourns in both. He mourns and suffers when he sees the evil of his own work. 1 6. The virtuous man dehghts in this world, and he delights in the next ; he delights in both. He delights and rejoices, when he sees the purity of his own work. 17. The evil-doer suffers in this world, and he suffers in the next; he suffers in both. He suffers when he thinks of the evil he has done ; he suffers more when going on the evil path. t8. The virtuous man is happy in this world, and he is happy in the next ; he is happy in both. He is happy when he thinks of the good he has done ; he is still more happy when going on the good path. 19. The thoughtless man, even if he can recite a large portion (of the law), but is not a doer of it, has no share in the priesthood, but is like a cowherd counting the cows of others. what is spoilt. The abstract noun klei-a, ' evil or sin,' is constantly employed in Buddhist works; see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 443. 16. Like klish/a in the preceding verse, vijuddhi in the present has a technical meaning. One of Buddhaghosa's most famous works is called Visuddhi-magga. See Burnouf, Lotus, p. 844; Beal, Dhammapada, p. 67. 17, 18. 'The evil path and the good path' are technical expres- sions for the descending and ascending scale of worlds through which all beings have to travel upward or downward, according to their deeds; see Bigandet, Life of Gaudama, p. 5, note 4, and p. 449; Burnouf, Introduction, p. 599; Lotus, p. 865, 1. 7 ; 1. 11. Fausboll translates ' heaven and hell,' which comes to the same ; cf. vv. 126, 306. 19. In taking sahitam in the sense of sawzhitam or sa^/^hita, I fol- low the commentator who says, Tepi/akassa Buddhava/^anass' etaw namaffz, but I cannot find another passage where the Tipi/aka, or any portion of it, is called Sahita. Sawhita in vv. 100-102 has a different meaning. The fact that some followers of Buddha were 8 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. I. 20. The follower of the law, even if he can recite only a small portion (of the law), but, having for- saken passion and hatred and foolishness, possesses true knowledge and serenity of mind, he, caring for nothing in this world or that to come, has in- deed a share in the priesthood. allowed to learn short portions only of the sacred writings by heart, and to repeat them, while others had to learn a larger collection, is shown by the story of A'akkhupala, p. 3, of Mahakala, p. 26, &c. See Childers, s. v. sahita. 20. Samai^wa, which I have rendered by ' priesthood,' expresses all that belongs to, or constitutes a real Sama«a or -Srama^^a, this being the Buddhist name corresponding to the Brahmawa, or priest, of the orthodox Hindus. Buddha himself is frequently called the Good Sama«a. FausboU takes the abstract word sama?l?la as corresponding to the Sanskrit samanya, * community,' but Weber has well shown that it ought to be taken as representing jramawya. He might have quoted the Sama?l«a-phala-sutta, of which Burnouf has given such interesting details in his Lotus, p. 449 seq. Faus- boU also, in his notes on v. 332, rightly explains sama?mata by jramawyata. See Childers, s. v. saman?l.a. Anupadiyano, which I have translated by ' caring for nothing,' has a technical meaning. It is the negative of the fourth Nidana, the so-called Upadana, which Koppen has well explained by Anhanglichkeit, ' taking to the world, loving the world.' Koppen, Die Religion des Buddha, p. 610. Cf. Suttanipata, v. 470. EARNESTNESS. CHAPTER II. ON EARNESTNESS^ 21. Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nir- vi/^a), thoughtlessiiess the path of death. Those who are in earnest do not die, those who are thoughtless are as if dead already, 2 2. Those who are advanced in earnestness, having understood this clearly, delight in earnest- ness, and rejoice in the knowledge of the Ariyas (the elect). 23. These wise people, meditative, steady, always possessed of strong powers, attain to Nirva/za, the highest happiness. ^ There is nothing in the tenth section of the Dhammapada, as translated by Beal, corresponding to the verses of this chapter. 21. Apramada, which FausboU translates by 'vigilantia,' Gogerly by ' religion,' Childers by ' diligence,' expresses literally the absence of that giddiness or thoughdessness which characterizes the state of mind of worldly people. It is the first entering into oneself, and hence all virtues are said to have their root in apramada. (Ye ke^i kusala dhamma sabbe te appamadamulaka.) I have translated it by ' earnestness,' sometimes by ' reflection.' ' Immortality,' amr/ta, is explained by Buddhaghosa as Nirvawa. Amn'ta is used, no doubt, as a synonym of Nirva;/a, but this very fact shows how many different conceptions entered from the very first into the Nirvawa of the Buddhists. See Childers, s. v. nibbana, p. 269. This verse, as recited to Ajoka, occurs in the Dipavawisa VI, 53, and in the Mahavaz?2sa, p. 25. See also Sanatsu^atiya, translated by Telang, Sacred Books of the East, vol. viii. p. 138. 22. The Ariyas, the noble or elect, are those who have entered on the path that leads to Nirvawa ; see Koppen, p. 396. Their knowledge and general status is minutely described ; see Koppen, P- 436. 23. Childers, s. v. nibbana, thinks that nibbana here and in many other places means Arhatship. [10] e lO DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. II. 24. If an earnest person has roused himself, if he is not forgetful, if his deeds are pure, if he acts with consideration, if he restrains himself, and lives according to law, — then his glory will increase. 25. By rousing himself, by earnestness, by restraint and control, the wise man may make for himself an island which no flood can overwhelm. 26. Fools follow after vanity, men of evil wis- dom. The wise man keeps earnestness as his best jewel. 27. Follow not after vanity, nor after the enjoy- ment of love and lust ! He who is earnest and meditative, obtains ample joy. 28. When the learned man drives away vanity by earnestness, he, the wise, climbing the terraced heights of wisdom, looks down upon the fools, serene he looks upon the toiling crowd, as one that stands on a mountain looks down upon them that stand upon the plain. 29. Earnest among the thoughtless, awake among the sleepers, the wise man advances like a racer, leaving behind the hack. 30. By earnestness did Maghavan (Indra) rise to the lordship of the gods. People praise earnest- ness ; thoughtlessness is always blamed. 31. A Bhikshu (mendicant) who delights in earnestness, who looks with fear on thoughtless- 25. Childers explains this island again as the state of an Arhat (arahatta-phalam). 28. Cf. Childers, Dictionary, Preface, p. xiv. See Vinaya, ed. Oldenberg, vol. i. p. 5, s. f. 31. Instead of sahaw, which Dr. Fausboll translates by * vin- cens,' Dr. Weber by ' conquering,' I think we ought to read ^essati, to mean in the end the same thing, i.e. sa/^/^/zi-karissati, ' he will perceive.' I have not ventured to take vi^essate for vi^a- nissati, though it should be remembered that the overcoming of the earth and of the worlds below and above, as here alluded to, is meant to be achieved by means of knowledge. Pa/^essati, ' he will gather' (of. vi-/^i, Indische Spriiche, 4560), means also, like 'to gather' in English, 'he will perceive or understand,' and the dham- mapada, or ' path of virtue,' is distinctly explained by Buddha- ghosa as consisting of the thirty-seven states or stations which lead to Bodhi. (See Burnouf, Lotus, p. 430 ; Hardy, Manual, p. 497.) Dhammapada might, no doubt, mean also ' a law-verse,' and sudesita, ' well taught,' and this double meaning may be intentional here as elsewhere. Buddha himself is called Marga-darjaka and Marga-dejika (cf. Lai. Vist. p. 551). There is a curious similarity between these verses and verses 6540-41, and 9939 of the »S'anti- parva : Pushpawiva vi/('invantam anyatragatamanasam, Anavapteshu kameshu mr/tyur abhyeti manavam, 'Death approaches man like one who is gathering flowers, and FLOWERS. 1 7 46. He who knows that this body is Hke froth, and has learnt that it is as unsubstantial as a mirage, will break the flower-pointed arrow of Mara, and never see the king of death. 47. Death carries off a man who is gathering flowers and whose mind is distracted, as a flood carries off a sleeping village. 48. Death subdues a man who is gathering flowers, and whose mind is distracted, before he is satiated in his pleasures. 49. As the bee collects nectar and departs without injuring the flower, or its colour or scent, so let a sage dwell in his village. 50. Not the perversities of others, not their sins whose mind is turned elsewhere, before his desires have been fulfilled.' Supta?;/ vyaghraw mahaugho va mr/tyur adaya gaM/^ati, Saw/^invanakam evainaw kamanam avitr/ptikam. * As a stream (carries off) a sleeping tiger, death carries oif this man who is gathering flowers, and who is not satiated in his pleasures.' This last verse, particularly, seems to me clearly a translation from Pali, and the kam of sa«/('invanakam looks as if put in metri causa. 46. The flower-arrows of Mara, the tempter, are borrowed from Kama, the Hindu god of love. For a similar expression see Lalita-vistara, ed. Calc. p. 40, 1. 20, mayamari/^isadnsa vidyutphe- nopamaj /^apala-^. It is on account of this parallel passage that I prefer to translate mari/^i by ' mirage,' and not by ' sunbeam,' as Fausboll, or by ' solar atom,' as Weber proposes. The expression, ' he will never see the king of death,' is supposed to mean Arhatship by Childers, s.v. nibbana, p. 270. 47. See Thiessen, Die Legende von Kisagotami, p. 9. 48. Antaka, ' death,' is given as an explanation of Mara in the Amarakosha and Abhidhanappadipika (cf. Fausboll, p. 210). 49. See Beal, Catena, p. 159, where vv. 49 and 50 are ascribed to Wessabhu, i. e.Vijvabhia. See also Der Weise und der Thor, p. 134. 1 8 DPIAMMAPADA. CHAP. IV. of commission or omission, but his own misdeeds and negligences should a sage take notice of. 51. Like a beautiful flower, full of colour, but without scent, are the fine but fruitless words of him who does not act accordingly. 52. But, like a beautiful flower, full of colour and full of scent, are the fine and fruitful words of him who acts accordingly. 53. As many kinds of wreaths can be made from a heap of flowers, so many good things may be achieved by a mortal when once he is born. 54. The scent of flowers does not travel against the wind, nor (that of) sandal-wood, or of Tagara and Mallika flowers ; but the odour of good people travels even against the wind ; a good man per- vades every place. 55. Sandal- wood or Tagara, a lotus-flower, or a Vassiki, among these sorts of perfumes, the perfume of virtue is unsurpassed. 56. Mean is the scent that comes from Tagara and sandal-wood ; — the perfume of those who pos- sess virtue rises up to the gods as the highest. 57. Of the people who possess these virtues, who live without thoughtlessness, and who are emanci- 51. St. Matthew xxiii. 3, ' For they say, and do not.' 54. Tagara, a plant from which a scented powder is made. Mallaka or malhka, according to Benfey, is an oil vessel. Hence tagaramallika was supposed to mean a bottle holding aromatic powder, or oil made of the Tagara. Mallika, however, is given by Dr. Eitel (Handbook of Chinese Buddhism) as the name of a flower now called Casturi (musk) on account of its rich odour, and Dr. Morris informs me that he has found mallika in Pali as a name of jasmine. See also Childers, s. v.; Notes, p. 6 ; and Beal, Dhamma- pada, p. 76. FLOWERS. 19 pated through true knowledge, Mara, the tempter, never finds the way. 58, 59. As on a heap of rubbish cast upon the highway the Hly will grow full of sweet perfume and delight, thus the disciple of the truly enlightened Buddha shines forth by his knowledge among those who are like rubbish, among the people that walk in darkness. 58, 59. Cf. Beal, Dhammapada, p. 76. 20 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. V. CHAPTER V. THE FOOL. 60. Long is the night to him who is awake ; long is a mile to him who is tired ; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true la^.'^"'^' ~" 61. If a traveller does not meet with one who is his better, or his equal, let him firmly keep to his solitary journey ; there is no companionship with a fool. 62. ' These sons belong to me, and this w^ealth belongs to me,' with such thoughts a fool is tor- mented. He himself does not belong to himself; how much less sons and wealth ? 63. The fool who knows his foolishness, is wise at least so far. But a fool who thinks himself wise, he is called a fool indeed. 64. If a fool be associated with a wise man even all his life, he will perceive the truth as little as a spoon perceives the taste of soup. 65. If an intelligent man be associated for one minute only with a wise man, he will soon perceive the truth, as the tongue perceives the taste of soup. 66. Fools of little understandingf have themselves 60. * Life,' sa^isara, is the constant revolution of birth and death which goes on for ever until the knowledge of the true law or the true doctrine of Buddha enables a man to free himself from sa;«sara, and to enter into Nirvawa. See Buddhaghosha's Parables, Parable XIX, p. 134. 61. Cf. Suttanipata, v. 46. 63. Cf. Beal, Dhammapada, p. 77. 65, Cf. Beal, Dhammapada, p. 78. THE FOOL. 21 for their greatest enemies, for they do evil deeds which must bear bitter fruits. 6"/. That deed is not well done of which a man must repent, and the reward of which he receives crying and with a tearful face. 68. No, that deed is well done of which a man does not repent, and the reward of which he receives gladly and cheerfully. 69. As long as the evil deed done does not bear fruit, the fool thinks it is like honey ; but when it ripens, then the fool suffers grief. 70. Let a fool month after month eat his food (like an ascetic) with the tip of a blade of Ku^a grass, yet is he not worth the sixteenth particle of those who have well weighed the law. 71. An evil deed, like newly-drawn milk, does not turn (suddenly) ; smouldering, like fire covered by ashes, it follows the fool. 67. See Beal, I.e. p. 78. 69. Taken from the Sawyutta-nikdya, where, however, we read thananhi instead of madhuva; see Feer, Comptes Rendus, 1871, p. 64. 70. The commentator clearly takes sankhata in the sense of sahkhyata, ' reckoned,' for he explains it by watadhamma, tulita- dhamma. The eating with the tip of Kusa. grass has reference to the fastings performed by the Brahmans, but disapproved of, except as a moderate discipline, by the followers of Buddha. This verse seems to interrupt the continuity of the other verses which treat of the reward of evil deeds, or of the slow but sure ripening of every sinful act. See Childers, s. v. sahkhato. 71. I am not at all certain of the simile, unless mu/^/^ati, as applied to milk, can be used in the sense of changing or turning sour. In Manu IV, 172, where a similar sentence occurs, the commentators are equally doubtful : Nadharmaj- /^arito loke sadya^ phalati gaur iva, ' for an evil act committed in the world does not bear fruit at once, like a cow;' or 'like the earth (in due season);' or 'like milk.' See Childers, Notes, p. 6. 2 2 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. V. 72. And when the evil deed, after it has become known, brings sorrow to the fool, then it destroys his bright lot, nay, it cleaves his head. 73. Let the fool wish for a false reputation, for precedence among the Bhikshus, for lordship in the convents, for worship among other people ! 74. ' May both the layman and he who has left the world think that this is done by me ; may they be subject to me in everything which is to be done or is not to be done,' thus is the mind of the fool, and his desire and pride increase. 75. * One is the road that leads to wealth, another the road that leads to Nirva;/a;' if the Bhikshu, the disciple of Buddha, has learnt this, he will not yearn for honour, he will strive after separation from the world. 72. I take i^attam for ^wapitam, the causative of ^?^atam, for which in Sanskrit, too, we have the form without i, ^?iaptam. This ^«aptam, 'made known, revealed,' stands in opposition to the Manna, 'covered, hid,' of the preceding verse. Sukkawsa, which FausboU explains by jukla;«sa, has probably a more technical and special meaning. Childers traces fattam to the Vedic ^jlatram, * knowledge.' Fausboll refers to Gataka, vol. i. p. 445, v. 118. 75. Viveka, which in Sanskrit means chiefly understanding, has with the Buddhists the more technical meaning of separation, whether separation from the world and retirement to the solitude of the forest (kaya-viveka), or separation from idle thoughts (-^itta- viveka), or the highest separation and freedom (Nirvawa). THE WISE MAN. 23 CHAPTER VI. THE WISE MAN (PAiVDITA). 76. If you see an intelligent man who tells you where true treasures are to be found, who shows what is to be avoided, and administers reproofs, follow that wise man ; it will be better, not worse, for those who follow him. 77. Let him admonish, let him teach, let him forbid what is improper ! — he will be beloved of the good, by the bad he will be hated. 78. Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not have low people for friends : have virtuous people for friends, have for friends the best of men. 79. He who drinks in the law lives happily with a serene mind ; the sage rejoices always in the law, as preached by the elect (Ariyas). 80. Well-makers lead the water (wherever they like) ; fletchers bend the arrow ; carpenters bend a log of wood ; wise people fashion themselves. 78. It is hardly possible to take mitte kalyawe in the technical sense of kalya;za-mitra, 'ein geistlicher Rath,' a spiritual guide. Burnouf (Introd. p. 284) shows that in the technical sense kalyawa- mitra was widely spread in the Buddhist world. 79. Ariya, ' elect, venerable,' is explained by the commentator as referring to Buddha and other teachers. 80. See verses 33 and 145, the latter being a mere repetition of our verse. The nettikas, to judge from the commentary and from the general purport of the verse, are not simply water-carriers, but builders of canals and aqueducts, who force the water to go where it would not go by itself. The Chinese translator says, ' the pilot manages his ship.' See Beal, 1. c. p. 79. 24 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. VI. 8 1. As a solid rock Is not shaken by the wind, wise people falter not amidst blame and praise. 82. Wise people, after they have listened to the laws, become serene, like a deep, smooth, and still lake. 83. Good people walk on whatever befall, the good do not prattle, longing for pleasure ; whether touched by happiness or sorrow wise people never appear elated or depressed. 84. If, whether for his own sake, or for the sake of others, a man wishes neither for a son, nor for wealth, nor for lordship, and if he does not wish for his own success by unfair means, then he is good, wise, and virtuous. 85. Few are there among men who arrive at the other shore (become Arhats); the other people here run up and down the shore. 83. The first line is very doubtful. I have adopted, in my trans- lation, a suggestion of Mr. Childers, who writes, ' I think it will be necessary to take sabbattha in the sense of" everywhere," or " under every condition;" pa«/^akhandadibhedesu, sabbadhammesu, says Buddhaghosha. I do not think we need assume that B. means the word vi^ahanti to be a synonym of va^anti. I would rather take the whole sentence together as a gloss upon the word va^anti : — va^antiti arahatta«anena apaka^(37;anta k/ia.nda.raga.7n vi^ahanti; va^anti means that, ridding themselves of lust by the wisdom which Arhatship confers, they cast it away.' I am inclined to think the hne means ' the righteous walk on (unmoved) in all the conditions of life.' Ninda, pasawsa, sukha, dukkha are four of the eight lokadhammas, or earthly conditions ; the remaining lokadhammas are labha, alabha, yasa, ayasa. In v. 245, passata, ' by a man who sees,' means * by a man who sees clearly or truly.' In the same manner vra^ may mean, not simply ' to walk,' but ' to walk properly,' or may be used synony- mously with pravra^. 85. 'The other shore' is meant for Nirvana, 'this shore' for common life. On reaching Nirva-'/a, the dominion of death is THE WISE MAN. 2$ 86. But those who, when the law has been well preached to them, follow the law, will pass across the dominion of death, however difficult to over- come. Sy, 88. A wise man should leave the dark state (of ordinary life), and follow the bright state (of the Bhikshu). After going from his home to a home- less state, he should in his retirement look for enjoyment where there seemed to be no enjoy- ment. Leaving all pleasures behind, and calling nothing his own, the wise man should purge himself from all the troubles of the mind. 89. Those whose mind is well grounded in the (seven) elements of knowledge, who without cling- overcome. The commentator supplies taritva, ' having crossed,' in order to explain the accusative maH'udheyyam. Possibly param essanti should here be taken as one word, in the sense of over- coming. 87, 88. Dark and bright are meant for bad and good ; cf. Sutta- nipata, v. 526, and Dhp. v. 167. Leaving one's home is the same as becoming a mendicant, without a home or family, an anagara, or anchorite. A man in that state of viveka, or retirement (see V. 75, note), sees, that where before there seemed to be no pleasure there real pleasure is to be found, or vice versa. A similar idea is expressed in verse 99. See Burnouf, Lotus, p. 4 7 4, where he speaks of ' Le plaisir de la satisfaction, n^ de la distinction.' The five troubles or evils of the mind are passion, anger, igno- rance, arrogance, pride ; see Burnouf, Lotus, pp. 360, 443. As to pariyodapeyya, see verse 183, and Lotus, pp. 523, 528; as to akifiy^ano, see Mahabh. XII, 6568, 1240. 89. The elements of knowledge are the seven Sambodhyangas, on which see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 796. D'Alwis explains them as the thirty-seven Bodhipakkhiya-dhamma. Khiwasava, which I have translated by ' they whose frailties have been conquered,' may also be taken in a more metaphysical sense, as explained in the note to V. 39. The same applies to the other terms occurring in this verse, such as adana, anupadaya, &c. Dr. Fausboll seems inclined to [10] f 26 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. VI. ing to anything, rejoice in freedom from attachment, whose appetites have been conquered, and who are full of light, are free (even) in this world. take asava in this passage, and in the other passages where it occurs, as the Pah representative of ajraya. But a^raya, in Buddhist phraseology, means rather the five organs of sense with manas, ' the soul,' and these are kept distinct from the asavas, ' the inclina- tions, the appetites, passions, or vices.' The commentary on the Abhidharma, when speaking of the Yoga^aras, says, ' En r^unissant ensemble les receptacles (ajraya), les choses revues (a^rita) et les supports (alambana), qui sont chacun composes de six termes, on a dix-huit termes qu'on appelle " Dhatus " ou contenants. La col- lection des six receptacles, ce sont les organes de la vue, de I'oui'e, de I'odorat, du gout, du toucher, et le " manas " (ou I'organe du coeur), qui est le dernier. La collection des six choses re9ues, c'est la connaissance produite par la vue et par les autres sens jusqu'au "manas" inclusivement. La collection des six supports, ce sont la forme et les autres attributs sensibles jusqu'au " Dharma" (la loi ou I'etre) inclusivement.' See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 449. Parinibbuta is again a technical term, the Sanskrit parinivr/ta meaning ' freed from all worldly fetters,' like vimukta. See Bur- nouf, Introduction, p. 590. See Childers, s. v. nibbana, p. 270, and Notes on Dhammapada, p. 3 ; and D'Alwis, Buddhist Nirvawa, P- 75- THE VENERABLE. 27 CHAPTER VII. THE VENERABLE (aRHAt). 90. There is no suffering for him who has finished his journey, and abandoned grief, wlio has freed him- self on all sides, and thrown off all fetters. 91. They depart with their thoughts well-collected, they are not happy in their abode ; like swans who have left their lake, they leave their house and home. 92. Men who have no riches, who live on recog- nised food, who have perceived void and uncon- ditioned freedom (Nirva/za), their path is difficult to understand, like that of birds in the air. 91. Satimanto, Sanskrit smmimanta/z, ' possessed of memory,' but here used in the technical sense of sati, the first of the Bodhyan- gas. See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 797. Clough translates it by ' intense thought,' and this is the original meaning of smar, even in Sanskrit. See Lectures on the Science of Language, vol. ii. P- 332. Uyyuyi^anti, which Buddhaghosa explains by ' they exert them- selves,' seems to me to signify in this place ' they depart,' i. e. they leave their family, and embrace an ascetic life. See note to verse 235. See also Rhys Davids, Mahaparinibbana-sutta, Sacred Books of the East, vol. xi. p. 22. 92. Smmato and animitto are adjectives belonging to vimokho, one of the many names of Nirvawa, or, according to Childers, s. v. nibbana, p. 270, Arhatship; see Burnouf, Litroducdon, pp. 442, 462, on i'iinya. The Sanskrit expression junyatanimittaprawihitam occurs in L'enfant egar^, 5 a, 1. 4. Nimitta is cause in the most general sense, i. e. what causes existence. The commentator ex- plains it chiefly in a moral sense : Ragadinimittabhavena animitta»2, tehi ka. vimuttan ti animitto vimokho, i. e. owing to the absence of passion and other causes, without causation ; because freed from f 2 28 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. VII. 93. He whose appetites are stilled, who is not absorbed in enjoyment, who has perceived void and unconditioned freedom (Nirva/za), his path is diffi- cult to understand, like that of birds in the air. 94. The gods even envy him whose senses, like horses well broken in by the driver, have been subdued, who is free from pride, and free from appetites. 95. Such a one who does his duty is tolerant like the earth, like Indra's bolt ; he is like a lake without mud ; no new births are in store for him. 96. His thought is quiet, quiet are his word and deed, when he has obtained freedom by true know- ledge, when he has thus become a quiet man. these causes, therefore it is called freedom without causation. See Childers, Pali Dictionary, p. 270, col. 2, line i. The simile is intended to compare the ways of those who have obtained spiritual freedom to the flight of birds, it being difficult to understand how the birds move on without putting their feet on anything. This, at least, is the explanation of the commentator. The same metaphor occurs Mahabh. XII, 6763. Childers translates, ' leaving no more trace of existence than a bird in the air.' 95. Without the hints given by the commentator, we should probably take the three similes of this verse in their natural sense, as illustrating the imperturbable state of an Arahanta, or venerable person. The earth is always represented as an emblem of patience; the bolt of Indra, if taken in its technical sense, as the bolt of a gate, might likewise suggest the idea of firmness ; while the lake is a constant representative of serenity and purity. The commentator, however, suggests that what is meant is, that the earth, though flowers are cast on it, does not feel pleasure, nor the bolt of Indra displeasui-e, although less savoury things are thrown upon it ; and that in like manner a wise person is indiflferent to honour and dis- honour. 96. That this very natural threefold division, thought, word, and deed, the trividha-dvara or the three doors of the Buddhists (Hardy, IManual, p. 494), was not peculiar to the Buddhists or unknown to THE VENERABLE. 29 97. The man who is free from creduHty, but knows the uncreated, who has cut all ties, removed all temptations, renounced all desires, he is the greatest of men. the Brahmans, has been proved against Dr. Weber by Professor Koppen in his 'Religion des Buddha,' I, p. 445. He particularly called attention to Manu XII, 4-8 ; and he might have added Mahabh. XII, 4059, 6512, 6549, 6554; XIII, 5677, &c. Dr. Weber has himself afterwards brought forward a passage from the Atharva- veda, VI, 96, 3 {yzk ^akshusha manasa ya/^ ka. va/^a uparima), which, however, has a different meaning. A better one was quoted by him from the Taitt. Ar. X, i, 12 (yan me manasa, va/ta, karmawa va dusYikn'tam kr/tam). Similar expressions have been shown to exist in the Zend-avesta, and among the Manichseans (Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde, III, p. 414; see also Boehtlingk's Dic- tionary, s. V. kaya, and Childers, s. v. kayo). There was no ground, therefore, for supposing that this formula had found its way into the Christian liturgy from Persia, for, as Professor Cowell remarks (Journal of Philology, vol. vii. p, 215), Greek writers, such as Plato, employ very similar expressions, e.g. Protag. p. 348, 30, npos anav f'pyov KoX Xoyov Koi diavorjiia. In fact, the Opposition between words and deeds occurs in almost every writer, from Homer downwards ; and the further distinction between thoughts and words is clearly implied even in such expressions as, 'they say in their heart.' That the idea of sin committed by thought was not a new idea, even to the Jews, may be seen from Prov. xxiv. 9, ' the thought of foolishness is sin.' In the Apastamba-sutras, lately edited by Professor Biihler, we find the expression, atho yatki'fi/^'a manasa vaX'a X'akshusha va safikalpayan dhyayaty ahabhivipa^yati va tathaiva tad bhavatityu- padi^ranti, ' they say that whatever a Brahman intending with his mind, voice, or eye, thinks, says, or looks, that will be.' This is clearly a very different division, and it is the same which is intended in the passage from the Atharva-veda, quoted above. In the mis- chief done by the eye, we have, perhaps, the first indication of the evil eye. (Mahabh. XII, 3417. See Dhammapada, vv. 231-234.) On the technical meaning of tadi, see Childers, s.v. D'Alwis (p. 78) has evidently received the right interpretation, but has not understood it. Madma also is used very much like tadma, and from it mariso, a venerable person, in Sanskrit marsha. DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. VII. 98. In a hamlet or in a forest, in the deep water or on the dry land, wherever venerable persons (Arahanta) dwell, that place is delightful. 99. Forests are delightful ; where the world finds no delight, there the passionless will find delight, for they look not for pleasures. THE THOUSANDS. 31 CHAPTER VIII. THE THOUSANDS. 100. Even though a speech be a thousand (of words), but made up of senseless words, one word of sense is better, which if a man hears, he becomes quiet. loi. Even though a Gatha (poem) be a thousand (of words), but made up of senseless words, one word of a Gatha is better, which if a man hears, he becomes quiet. 102. Though a man recite a hundred Gathas made up of senseless words, one word of the law is better, which if a man hears, he becomes quiet. 103. If one man conquer in battle a thousand times thousand men, and if another conquer himself, he is the greatest of conquerors. 104. 105. One's own self conquered is better than all other people ; not even a god, a Gandharva, not Mara with Brahman could change into defeat the 100. This Sahasravarga, or Chapter of the Thousands, is quoted by that name in the ]\Iahavastu (Minayeff, Melanges Asiatiques, VI, p. 583): Tesham Bhagavafi ^a/ilanaw Dharmapadeshu sahasra- vargam bhashati : ' Sahasram api va-^anam anarthapadasa;«hitanam, ekarthavati sveya yam jrutva upa^amyati. Sahasram api gathanam anarthapadasawhitanam, ekarthavati jreya yaw^ j'rutva upa^amyati' (MS. R. A. S. Lond.) Here the Pah text seems decidedly more original and perfect. 104. G\ta?n, according to the commentator, stands for_§^ito (lin- gavipallaso, i. e. viparyasa) ; see also Senart in Journal Asiatique, 1880, p. 500. The Devas (gods), Gandharvas (fairies), and other fanciful beings of the Brahmanic religion, such as the Nagas, Sarpas, GaiWas, &c., 32 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. VIII. victory of a man who has vanquished himself, and always lives under restraint. 1 06. If a man for a hundred years sacrifice month after month with a thousand, and if he but for one moment pay homage to a man whose soul is grounded (in true knowledge), better is that homage than a sacrifice for a hundred years. 107. If a man for a hundred years worship Agni (fire) in the forest, and if he but for one moment pay homage to a man whose soul is grounded (in true knowledge), better is that homage than sacrifice for a hundred years. 108. Whatever a man sacrifice in this world as an offering or as an oblation for a whole year in order to gain merit, the whole of it is not worth a quarter (a farthing) ; reverence shown to the righteous is better. were allowed to continue in the traditional language of the people who had embraced Buddhism. See the pertinent remarks of Burnouf, Introduction, pp. 134 seq., 184. On Mara, the tempter, see v. 7. Sastram Aiyar, On the G^aina Religion, p. xx, says : ' Moreover as it is declared in the Gaina Vedas that all the gods worshipped by the various Hindu sects, viz. -S'iva, Brahma, Vish«u, Ga«aj>ati, Subramaniyan, and others, were devoted adherents of the above- mentioned Tirthahkaras, the G^ainas therefore do not consider them as unworthy of their worship ; but as they are servants of Arugan, they consider them to be deities of their system, and accordingly perform certain pii^as in honour of them, and worship them also.' The case is more doubtful with orthodox Buddhists. 'Orthodox Buddhists,' as Mr. D'Alwis writes (Attanagalu-vansa, p. 55), 'do not consider the worship of the Devas as being sanc- tioned by him who disclaimed for himself and all the Devas any power over man's soul. Yet the Buddhists are everywhere idol- worshippers. Buddhism, however, acknowledges the existence of some of the Hindu deities, and from the various friendly offices which those Devas are said to have rendered to Gotama, Buddhists evince a respect for their idols.' See also Buddhaghosha's Parables, p. 162. THE THOUSANDS. 33 109. He who always greets and constantly reveres the aged, four things will increase to him, viz. life, beauty, happiness, power. no. But he who lives a hundred years, vicious and unrestrained, a life of one day is better if a man is virtuous and reflecting. 111. And he who lives a hundred years, ignorant and unrestrained, a life of one day is better if a man is wise and reflecting. 1 1 2. And he who lives a hundred years, idle and weak, a life of one day is better if a man has attained firm strenoth. 113. And he who lives a hundred years, not seeing beginning and end, a life of one day is better if a man sees beginning and end. 114. And he who lives a hundred years, not seeing the immortal place, a life of one day is better if a man sees the immortal place. 115. And he who lives a hundred years, not seeing the highest law, a life of one day is better if a man sees the highest law. 109. Dr. Fausboll, in a most important note, called attention to the fact that the same verse, with slight variations, occurs in INIanu. We there read, II, 121 : Abhivadana^ilasya nitya^« vr/ddhopasevina^, -^atvari sampravardhante ayur vidy^ yajo balam. Here the four things are, life, knowledge, glory, power. In the Apastamba-sutras, I, 2, 5, 15, the reward promised for the same virtue is svargam ayus ^a, 'heaven and long life.' It seems, therefore, as if the original idea of this verse came from the Brahmans, and was afterwards adopted by the Buddhists. How largely it spread is shown by Dr. Fausboll from the Asiatic Re- searches, XX, p. 259, where the same verse of the Dhammapada is mentioned as being in use among the Buddhists of Siam. 112. On kusito, see note to verse 7. 34 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. IX. CHAPTER IX. EVIL. it6. If a man would hasten towards the good, he should keep his thought away from evil ; if a man does what is good slothfully, his mind delights in evil, 117. If a man commits a sin, let him not do it again ; let him not delight in sin : pain is the out- come of evil. 118. If a man does what is good, let him do it again ; let him delight in it : happiness is the out- come of good. 119. Even an evil-doer sees happiness as long as his evil deed has not ripened ; but when his evil deed has ripened, then does the evil-doer see evil. 120. Even a good man sees evil days, as long as his good deed has not ripened ; but when his good deed has ripened, then does the good man see happy days. 121. Let no man think lightly of evil, saying in his heart. It will not come nigh unto me. Even by the falling of water-drops a water-pot is filled ; the fool becomes full of evil, even if he gather it little by little. 122. Let no man think lightly of good, saying in his heart. It w^ill not come nigh unto me. Even by the falling of water-drops a water-pot is filled ; the wise man becomes full of good, even if he gather it little by little. ji<^^_ £n» 123. Let a man avoid evil deeds, as a merchant, if he has few companions and carries much wealth, EVIL. 35 avoids a dangerous road ; as a man who loves life avoids poison. 124. He who has no wound on his hand, may touch poison with his hand ; poison does not affect one who has no wound ; nor is there evil for one who does not commit evil. 125. If a man offend a harmless, pure, and inno- cent person, the evil falls back upon that fool, like light dust thrown up against the wind. 126. Some people are born again; evil-doers go to hell ; righteous people go to heaven ; those who are free from all worldly desires attain Nirva^^a. 127. Not in the sky, not in the midst of the sea, not if we enter into the clefts of the mountains, is there known a spot in the whole world where a man might be freed from an evil deed. 128. Not in the sky, not in the midst of the sea, not if we enter into the clefts of the mountains, is there known a spot in the whole world where death could not overcome (the mortal). 125. Cf. Suttanipata, V. 661 ; Indische Spriiche, 1582; Katha- saritsagara, 49, 222. 126. For a description of hell and its long, yet not endless sufferings, see Buddhaghosha's Parables, p. 132. The pleasures of heaven, too, are frequently described in these Parables and else- where. Buddha himself enjoyed these pleasures of heaven, before he was born for the last time. It is probably when good and evil deeds are equally balanced, that men are born again as human beings ; {his, at least, is the opinion of the G^ainas. Cf. Chintamawi, ed. H. Bower, Introd. p. xv. 127. Cf. St. Luke xii. 2, ' For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed;' and Psalm cxxxix. 8-12. 36 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. X. CHAPTER X. PUNISHMENT. ^ 129. All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death ; remember that you are like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter. I T,o. All men tremble at punishment, all men love life ; remember that thou art like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter. 131. He who seeking his own happiness punishes or kills beings who also long for happiness, will not find happiness after death. 129. One feels tempted, no doubt, to take upama in the sense of ' the nearest (der Nachste), the neighbour,' and to translate, 'having made oneself one's neighbour,' i.e. loving one's neighbour as oneself. But as upamam, with a short a, is the correct accusadve of upama, we must translate, ' having made oneself the likeness, the image of others, having placed oneself in the place of others.' This is an expression which occurs frequently in Sanskrit ; of. Hitopadeja I, 1 1 : Pra;?a yathatmano 'bhish/a bhutanam api te tatha, Atmaupamyena bhuteshu daya/// kurvanti sadhava//. *As life is dear to oneself, it is dear also to other living beings: by comparing oneself with others, good people bestow pity on all beings.' See also Hit. I, 12; Ram. V, 23, 5, atmanam upama;« k/vtva sveshu dareshu ramyatam, ' making oneself a likeness, i. e. putting oneself in the position of other people, it is right to love none but one's own wife.' Dr. FausboU has called attention to similar pas- sages in the Mahabharata, XIII, 5569 seq. 130. Cf St. Luke vi. 31. 131. Dr. FausboU points out the striking similarity between this verse and two verses occurring in Manu and the Mahabharata : — PUNISHMENT. "^132. He who seeking his own happiness does not punish or kill beings who also long for happiness, will find happiness after death. 133. Do not speak harshly to anybody; those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way. Angry speech is painful, blows for blows will touch thee. 134. If, like a shattered metal plate (gong), thou utter not, then thou hast reached Nirva/^a; conten- tion is not known to thee. 135. As a cowherd with his staff drives his cows into the stable, so do Age and Death drive the life of men. 136. A fool does not know when he commits his evil deeds : but the wicked man burns by his own deeds, as if burnt by fire. 137. He who inflicts pain on innocent and harm- less persons, will soon come to one of these ten states : Manu V, 45 : Yo 'hi;;/sakani bhutani hinasty atmasukhe-^'/^/;aya, Sa gi'va.r?is -('a mn'tas /^aiva na kva/^it sukham edhate. Mahabharata XIII, 5568 : Ahi77zsakani bhutani dawa'ena vinihanti ya//, Atmana,^ sukham \Ak/i-3.n sa pretya naiva sukhi bhavet. If it were not for ahi7«sakani, in which Manu and the Mahabharata agree, I should say that the verses in both were Sanskrit modifica- tions of the Pali original. The verse in the Mahabharata presup- poses the verse of the Dhammapada. 133. See Mahabharata XII, 4056. 134. See Childers, s.v. nibbana, p. 270, and s. v. ka;/2S0 ; D'AIwis, Buddhist Nirva^/a, p. 35. 136. The metaphor of 'burning' for 'sutfering' is very common in Buddhist literature. Everything burns, i. e. every- thing suffers, was one of the first experiences of Buddha himself. See V. 146. 38 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. X. 138. He will have cruel suffering, loss, injury of the body, heavy affliction, or loss of mind, 139. Or a misfortune coming from the king, or a fearful accusation, or loss of relations, or destruc- tion of treasures, 140. Or lightning-fire will burn his houses ; and when his body is destroyed, the fool will go to hell. 141. Not nakedness, not platted hair, not dirt, not fasting, or lying on the earth, not rubbing with dust, 138. 'Cruel suffering' is explained by sisaroga, 'headache,' &c. ' Loss' is taken for loss of money. ' Injury of the body ' is held to be the cutting off of the arm, and other limbs. ' Heavy afflictions ' are, again, various kinds of diseases. 139. Upasarga means 'accident, misfortune.' Dr. FausboU translates ra^ato va upassaggam by ' fulgentis (lunae) defectionem ;' Dr. Weber by ' Bestrafung vom Konig;' Beal by ' some govern- mental difficulty.' Abbhakkhanam, Sanskrit abhyakhyanam, is a heavy accusation for high treason, or similar offences. Beal trans- lates, ' some false accusation.' The ' destruction of pleasures or treasures' is explained by gold being changed to coals (see Buddha- ghosha's Parables, p. 98 ; Thiessen, Kisagotami, p. 6), pearls to cotton seed, corn to potsherds, and by men and cattle becoming blind, lame, &c. 141. Cf. Hibbert Lectures, p. 355. Dr. FausboU has pointed out that the same or a very similar verse occurs in a legend taken from the Divyavadana, and translated by Burnouf (Introduction, p. 313 seq.) Burnouf translates the verse : ' Ce n'est ni la coutume de marcher nu, ni les cheveux nattds, ni I'usage d'argile, ni le choix des diverses especes d'aliments, ni I'habitude de coucher sur la terre nue, ni la poussifere, ni la malpropretd, ni I'attention a fuir I'abri d'un toit, qui sont capables de dissiper le trouble dans lequel nous jettent les ddsirs non-satisfaits ; mais qu'un homme, maitre de ses sens, calme, recueilli, chaste, dvitant de faire du mal a aucune creature, accomplisse la Loi, et il sera, quoique pard d'ornements, un Brahmane, un ^ramana, un Religieux.' See also Suttanipata, V. 248. Walking naked and the other things mentioned in our verse are outward signs of a saintly life, and these Buddha rejects because they do not calm the passions. Nakedness he seems to have PUNISHMENT. 39 not sitting motionless, can purify a mortal who has not overcome desires. 142. He who, though dressed in fine apparel, exercises tranquillity, is quiet, subdued, restrained, chaste, and has ceased to find fault with all other beings, he indeed is a Brahma;^a, an ascetic (i"ra- mana), a friar (bhikshu). 143. Is there in this world any man so restrained by humility that he does not mind reproof, as a well-trained horse the whip ? 144. Like a well-trained horse when touched by rejected on other grounds too, if we may judge from the Suma- gadha-avadana : ' A number of naked friars were assembled in the house of the daughter of Anatha-pi«fi?ika. She called her daughter- in-law, Sumagadha, and said, " Go and see those highly respectable persons." Sumagadha, expecting to see some of the saints, like »Sariputra, Maudgalyayana, and others, ran out full of joy. But when she saw these friars with their hair like pigeon wings, covered by nothing but dirt, offensive, and looking like demons, she became sad. " Why are you sad?" said her mother-in-law. Sumagadha replied, "O mother, if these are saints, what must sinners be like?"' Burnouf (Introduction, p. 312) supposed that the (9ainas only, and not the Buddhists, allowed nakedness. But the Gainas, too, do not allow it universally. They are divided into two parties, the -Svetambaras and Digambaras. The -Svetambaras, clad in white, are the followers of Parjvanatha, and wear clothes. The Digam- baras, i. e. sky-clad, disrobed, are followers of Mahavira, resident chiefly in Southern India. At present they, too, wear clothing, but not when eating. See Sastram Aiyar, p. xxi. The ^a/a, or the hair platted and gathered up in a knot, was a sign of a 6'aiva ascetic. The sitting modonless is one of the pos- tures assumed by ascetics. Clough explains ukku/ika as ' the act of sitting on the heels ;' Wilson gives for utka/ukasana, ' sitting on the hams.' See Fausboll, note on verse 140. 142. As to dawf/anidhana, see Mahabh. XII, 6559, and Sutta- nipata, v. 34. 143, 144. I am very doubtful as to the real meaning of these verses. If their object is to show how reproof or punishment 40 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. X. the whip, be ye active and lively, and by faith, by virtue, by energy, by meditation, by discernment of the law you will overcome this great pain (of reproof), perfect in knowledge and in behaviour, and never forgetful. 145. Well-makers lead the water (wherever they like) ; fletchers bend the arrow ; carpenters bend a log of wood ; good people fashion themselves. should be borne, my translation would be right, though alpabodhati in the sense of parvi facere is strange. 145. The same as verse 80. According to Fausboll and Subhuti we ought to render the verses by, ' What man is there found on earth so restrained by shame that he never provokes reproof, as a good horse the whip ? ' See Childers, s. v. appabodhati. OLD AGE. 41 CHAPTER XI. OLD AGE. 146. How is there laughter, how is there joy, as this world is always burning ? Why do you not seek a light, ye who are surrounded by darkness ? 147. Look at this dressed-up lump, covered with wounds, joined together, sickly, full of many thoughts, which has no strength, no hold ! 148. This body is wasted, full of sickness, and frail ; this heap of corruption breaks to pieces, life indeed ends in death. 148. Dr. Fausboll informs me that Childers proposed the emen- dation mara??anta?« hi ^ivitara. The following extract from a letter, addressed by Childers to Dr. Fausboll, will be read with interest : — 'As regards Dhp. v. 148, I have no doubt whatever. I quite agree with you that the idea (mors est vita ejus) is a profound and noble one, but the question is, Is the idea there? I think not. Marawaiw tamhi ^ivita;;z is not Pali, I mean not a Pali construction, and years ago even it grated on my ear as a harsh phrase. The reading of your MSS. of the texts is nothing; your MSS. of Dhammapada are very bad ones, and it is merely the vicious Sinhalese spelling of bad MSS., like kammarataz'z for kammanta/«. But the comment sets the question at rest at once, for it explains marawantaw by mara«a- pariyosana;?;, which is exactly the same. I see there is one serious difficulty left, that all your MSS. seem to have tamhi, and not tarn hi ; but are you sure it is so ? There was a Dhammapada in the India Office Library, and I had a great hunt for it a few days ago, but to my deep disappointment it is missing. I do not agree with you that the sentence " All Life is bounded by Death," is trivial : it is a truism, but half the noblest passages in poetry are truisms, and unless I greatly mistake, this very passage will be found in many other literatures.' Dr. Fausboll adds : — 'I have still the same doubt as before, because of all my [10] g 42 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XT. 149. Those white bones, like gourds thrown away in the autumn, what pleasure is there in looking at them ? 150. After a stronghold has been made of the bones, it is covered with flesh and blood, and there dwell in it old age and death, pride and deceit. 151. The brilliant chariots of kings are destroyed, the body also approaches destruction, but the virtue of good people never approaches destruction, — thus do the good say to the good. 152. A man who has learnt little, grows old like an ox ; his flesh grows, but his knowledge does not grow. 153. 154. Looking for the maker of this taber- nacle, I shall have to run through a course of many births, so long as I do not find (him) ; and painful is birth again and again. But now, maker of the taber- nacle, thou hast been seen ; thou shalt not make up MSS. reading m2.va.n9.fn tamhi. I do not know the readings of the London MSS. The explanation of the commentary does not settle the question, as it may as well be considered an explanation of my reading as of the reading which Childers proposed. — V. Fausboll.' 149. In the Rudraya«avadana of the Divyavadana this verse appears as, Yanimany apariddhani vikshiptani diso disa./i, Kapctavarwany asthini tani dr/sh/vaiha ka rati-^. See Schiefner, M^l. Asiat. VIII, p. 589 ; Gataka, vol. i. p. 322. 150. The expression ma»/salohitalepanam is curiously like the expression used in Manu VI, 76, maz'/sa^owitalepanam, and in several passages of the Mahabharata, XII, 12462, 12053, ^s pointed out by Dr. Fausboll. 153, 154. These two verses are famous among Buddhists, for they are the words which the founder of Buddhism is supposed to have uttered at the moment he attained to Buddhahood. (See Spence Hardy, Manual, p. 180.) According to the Lalita-vistara, however, the words uttered on that solemn occasion were those OLD AGE. 43 this tabernacle again. All thy rafters are broken, thy ridge-pole is sundered ; the mind, approaching the Eternal (visankhara, nirvana), has attained to the extinction of all desires. quoted in the note to verse 39. In the commentary on the Brahma^ala this verse is called the first speech of Buddha, his last speech being the words in the Mahaparinibbana-sutta, ' Life is subject to age ; strive in earnest.' The words used in the Maha- parinibbana-sutta, Chap. IV, 2, ^atunnawz dhammanam ananubodha appa/ivedha evam idaw digham addhanaw sandhavitaw sa7«saritaw mamaw k' eva tumhakail- ka., answer to the anticipation expressed in our verse. The exact rendering of this verse has been much discussed, chiefly by Mr. D'Alwis in the Attanugaluvansa, p. cxxviii, and again in his Buddhist Nirvawa, p. 78 ; also by Childers, Notes on Dhammapada, p. 4, and in his Dictionary. Gogerly translated : ' Through various transmigrations I must travel, if I do not discover the builder whom I seek.' Spence Hardy : ' Through many different births I have run (to me not having found), seeking the architect of the desire-re- sembHng house.' Fausboll : ' Multiplices generationis revolutiones percurreram,non inveniens,domus (corporis) fabricatorem quaerens.' And again (p. 322): 'Multarum generationum revolutio mihi sub- eunda esset, nisi invenissem domus fabricatorem.' Childers: ' I have run through the revolution of countless births, seeking the architect of this dwelling and finding him not.' D'Alwis : ' Through transmi- grations of numerous births have I run, not discovering, (though) seeking the house-builder.' All depends on how we take sandha- vissam, which Fausboll takes as a conditional, Childers, following Trenckner, as an aorist, because the sense imperatively requires an aorist. In either case, the dropping of the augment and the doubling of the s are, however, irregular. Sandhavissam is the regular form of the future, and as such I translate it, qualifying, however, the future, by the participle present anibbisan, i, e. not finding, and taking it in the sense of, if or so long as I do not find the true cause of existence. I had formerly translated anibbisan, as not resting (anirvii-an), but the commentator seems to authorise the meaning of not finding (avindanto, alabhanto), and in that case all the material difficulties of the verse seem to me to disappear. ' The maker of the tabernacle ' is explained as a poetical expres- sion for the cause of new births, at least according to the views of g2 44 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XI. 155. Men who have not observed proper disci- pline, and have not gained treasure in their youth, perish Hke old herons in a lake without fish. 156. Men who have not observed proper disci- pline, and have not gained treasure in their youth, lie, like broken bows, sighing after the past. Buddha's followers, whatever his own views may have been. Bud- dha had conquered Mara, the representative of worldly temptations, the father of worldly desires, and as desires (taw^ha) are, by means of upadana and bhava, the cause of ^ati, or 'birth,' the destruction of desires and the conquest of Mara are nearly the same thing, though expressed differently in the philosophical and legendary language of the Buddhists. Tawha, ' thirst' or ' desire,' is mentioned as serving in the army of Mara. (Lotus, p. 443.) 1 55. On ^/^ayanti, i. e. kshayanti, see Dr. Bollensen's learned remarks, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenl. Gesellschaft, XVIII, 834, and Boehtlingk-Roth, s.v. ksha. SELF. 45 CHAPTER XII. SELF. 157. If a man hold himself dear, let him watch himself carefully ; during one at least out of the three watches a wise man should be watchful. 158. Let each man direct himself first to what is proper, then let him teach others ; thus a wise man will not suffer. 159. If a man make himself as he teaches others to be, then, being himself well subdued, he may sub- due (others) ; one's own self is indeed difficult to subdue. 160. Self is the lord of self, w^ho else could be the lord ? With self well subdued, a man finds a lord such as few can find. 161. The evil done by oneself, self-begotten, self- bred, crushes the foolish, as a diamond breaks a precious stone. 162. He whose wickedness is very great brings himself down to that state where his enemy wishes him to be, as a creeper does with the tree which it surrounds. 163. Bad deeds, and deeds hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do ; what is beneficial and good, that is very difficult to do. 157. The three watches of the night are meant for the three stages of hfe. Cf. St. Mark xiii. 37, 'And what I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.' 158. Cf. G^ataka, vol. ii. p. 441. 161. The Chinese translation renders va^iram by ' steel drill.' 46 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XII. 164. The foolish man who scorns the rule of the venerable (Arahat), of the elect (Ariya), of the vir- tuous, and follows false doctrine, he bears fruit to his own destruction, like the fruits of the Ka///^aka reed. 165. By oneself the evil is done, by oneself one suffers ; by oneself evil is left undone, by oneself one is purified. Purity and impurity belong to one- self, no one can purify another, 166. Let no one forget his own duty for the sake of another's, however great ; let a man, after he has discerned his own duty, be always attentive to his duty. 164. The reed either dies after it has borne fruit, or is cut down for the sake of its fruit. 'D\ilh\, Hterally ' view,' is used even by itself, Uke the Greek 'hairesis,' in the sense of heresy (see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 444). In other places a distinction is made between xmkkh^dxtthx (vv. 167, 316) and sammadi/Mi (v. 319). If arahatawz ariyanara are used in their technical sense, we should translate ' the reverend Arhats,' — Arhat being the highest degree of the four orders of Ariyas, viz. Srotaapanna, Sakadagamin, Anagamin, and Arhat. See note to verse 178. 166, Attha, lit. 'object,' must here be taken in a moral sense, as ' duty ' rather than as ' advantage.' Childers rendered it by ' spiritual good.' The story which Buddhaghosa tells of the Thera Attadattha gives a clue to the origin of some of his parables, which seem to have been invented to suit the text of the Dhammapada rather than vice versa. A similar case occurs in the commentary to verse 227. THE WORLD. 47 CHAPTER XIII. THE WORLD. 167. Do not follow the evil law! Do not live on in thoughtlessness ! Do not follow false doctrine ! Be not a friend of the world. 168. Rouse thyself! do not be idle! Follow the law of virtue! The virtuous rests in bliss in this world and in the next. 169. Follow the law of virtue ; do not follow that of sin. The virtuous rests in bliss in this world and in the next. 1 70. Look upon the world as a bubble, look upon it as a mirage : the king of death does not see him who thus looks down upon the world. 171. Come, look at this glittering world, like unto a royal chariot ; the foolish are immersed in it, but the wise do not touch it. 172. He who formerly was reckless and after- wards became sober, brightens up this world, like the moon when freed from clouds. 173. He whose evil deeds are covered by good deeds, brightens up this world, like the moon when freed from clouds. 1 74. This world is dark, few only can see here ; a few only go to heaven, like birds escaped from the net. 175. The swans go on the path of the sun, they go through the ether by means of their miraculous 168, 169. See Rhys Davids, Buddhism, p. 65. 170. See Suttanipata, v. 11 18. 175. Hawsa may be meant for the bird, whether flamingo, or swan, or ibis (see Hardy, Manual, p. 17), but it may also, I believe. 48 DHAMMAPADA- CHAP. XIII. power ; the wise are led out of this world, when they have conquered Mdra and his train. 176. If a man has transgressed one law, and speaks lies, and scoffs at another world, there is no evil he will not do. 177. The uncharitable do not go to the world of the gods ; fools only do not praise liberality ; a wise man rejoices in liberality, and through it becomes blessed in the other world. 1 78. Better than sovereignty over the earth, better than going to heaven, better than lordship over all worlds, is the reward of the first step in holiness. be taken in the sense of saint. As to iddhi, 'magical power,' i.e. r/ddhi, see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 310; Spence Hardy, Manual, pp. 498, 504 ; Legends, pp. 55, 177 ; and note to verse 254. 178. Sotapatti, the technical term for the first step in the path that leads to Nirvana. There are four such steps, or stages, and on entering each, a man receives a new title : — (i) The 6'rotaapanna, lit. he who has got into the stream. A man may have seven more births before he reaches the other shore, i. e. Nirvawa. (2) Sakn'dagamin, lit. he who comes back once, so called be- cause, after having entered this stage, a man is born only once more among men or gods. Childers shows that this involves really two more births, one in the deva world, the other in the world of men. Burnouf says the same, Introduction, p. 293. (3) Anagamin, lit. he who does not come back, so called be- cause, after this stage, a man cannot be born again in a lower world, but can only be born into a Brahman worlds before he reaches Nirvawa. (4) Arhat, the venerable, the perfect, who has reached the highest stage that can be reached, and from which Nirvawa is perceived (sukkhavipassana, Lotus, p. 849). See Hardy, Eastern Monachism, p. 280; Burnouf, Introduction, p. 209; Koppen, p. 398; D'Alwis, Attanugaluvansa, p. cxxiv; Feer, Sutra en 42 articles, p. 6. THE BUDDHA. 49 CHAPTER XIV. THE BUDDHA (tHE AWAKENEd). 179. He whose conquest is not conquered again, into whose conquest no one in this world enters, by what track can you lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, the trackless ? 180. He whom no desire with its snares and poisons can lead astray, by what track can you lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, the trackless ? 181. Even the gods envy those who are awakened and not forgetful, who are given to meditation, who are wise, and who delight in the repose of retire- ment (from the world). 182. Difficult (to obtain) is the conception of men, difficult is the life of mortals, difficult is the hearing of the True Law, difficult is the birth of the Awak- ened (the attainment of Buddhahood). 179, 180. Buddha, the Awakened, is to be taken as an appella- tive rather than as the proper name of the Buddha (see v. 183). It means, anybody who has arrived at complete knowledge. Anan- tago>^aram I take in the sense of, possessed of unlimited knowledge. Apadam, which Dr. Fausboll takes as an epithet of Buddha and translates by ' non investigabilis,' is translated ' trackless,' in order to show the play on the word pada ; see Childers, s. v. The com- mentator says : ' The man who is possessed of even a single one of such conditions as raga, &c., him ye may lead forward ; but the Buddha has not even one condition or basis of renewed existence, and therefore by what track will you lead this unconditioned Buddha?' Cf. Dhp. vv. 92, 420; and G^ataka, vol. i. pp. 79, 313. 182. Mr. Beal (Dhammapada, p. 1 10) states that this verse occurs in the Sutra of the Forty-two Sections. 50 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 Nirva;?a ; for he is not an anchorite (pravra^ita) who strikes others, he is not an ascetic (^rama^^a) 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 Korosi, it ought to follow the famous Arya stanza, 'Ye dhamm^' (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 Pratimoksha (Beal, J. R. A. S. XIX, p. 473; Catena, p. 159); in the Tibetan translation of the Gathasahgraha, v. 14 (Schiefner, M^l. Asiat. VIII, pp. 568, 586 ; and Csoma Korosi, 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 sa/?'ittaparidamanam, which Csoma translated by ' the mind must be brought under entire sub- jection' (sva-^ittaparidamanam), and the late Dr. Mill by 'proprii intellectus subjugatio.' But his own MS. of the Mahapadhana-sutta gave likewise sa/^ittapariyodapanam, and this is no doubt the cor- rect 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 dpla-reia, afterwards a sacred story, and possibly a story the hearing of which purifies the mind. See BoehtHngk- Roth, 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. Suttanipata, v. 337. Patimokkhe, 'under the law,' i.e. according to the law, the law which leads to Moksha, or ' freedom.' Pratimoksha is the title of the oldest collection of the moral laws THE BUDDHA. 51 186. There is no satisfying lusts, even by a shower of gold pieces ; he who knows that lusts have a short taste and cause pain, he is wise ; 187. Even in heavenly pleasures he finds no satis- faction, the disciple who is fully awakened delights only in the destruction of all desires. 188. Men, driven by fear, go to many a refuge, to mountains and forests, to groves and sacred trees. 189. But that is not a safe refuge, that is not the best refuge ; a man is not delivered from all pains after having gone to that refuge. 190. He who takes refuge with Buddha, the Law, of the Buddhists (Burnouf, Introduction, p. 300 ; Bigandet, The Life of Gaudama, p. 439; Rhys Davids, Buddhism, p. 162), and as it was common both to the Southern and the Northern Buddhists, patimokkhe in our passage may possibly be meant, as Professor Weber suggests, as the tide of that very collection. The commen- tator explains it by ^e///;akasila and patimokkhasila. Sayanasam might stand for i'ayanajanam, see Mahabh. XII, 6684 ; but in Bud- dhist literature it is intended for j-ayanasanam; see also Mahabh. XII, 9978, j'ayyasane. Fausboll now reads panta instead of patthan. 187. There is a curious similarity between this verse and verse 6503 (9919) of the ^'antiparva : Ya/^ k2i kamasukha?^ loke, ya-^ k-A. divyam mahat sukham, Tnsh^akshayasukhasyaite narhata/z shoa'axi/^ kalam. ' And whatever delight of love there is on earth, and whatever is the great delight in heaven, they are not worth the sixteenth part of the pleasure which springs from the destruction of all desires.' The two verses 186, 187 are ascribed to king Mandhatrz", shortly before his death (Mdl. Asiat.VIII, p. 471; see also Gataka, vol. ii. P-II3)- 188-192. These verses occur in Sanskrit in the Pratiharyasutra, translated by Burnouf, Introduction, pp. 162-189; see p. 186. Burnouf translates rukkha>^'etyani by ' arbres consacr^s ; ' properly, sacred shrines under or near a tree. See also Gataka, vol. i. p. 97. 190. Buddha, Dharma, and Safigha are called the Tri^arawa (cf. Burnouf, Introd. p. 630). The four holy truths are the four statements that there is pain in this world, that the source of 52 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XIV. and the Church ; he who, with clear understanding, sees the four holy truths : — 191. Viz. pain, the origin of pain, the destruction of pain, and the eightfold holy way that leads to the quieting of pain ; — 192. That is the safe refuge, that is the best refuge ; having gone to that refuge, a man is deli- vered from all pain. 193. A supernatural person (a Buddha) is not easily found, he is not born everywhere. Wherever such a sage is born, that race prospers. 194. Happy is the arising of the awakened, happy is the teaching of the True Law, happy is peace in the church, happy is the devotion of those who are at peace. 195. 196. He who pays homage to those who deserve homage, whether the awakened (Buddha) or their disciples, those who have overcome the host (of evils), and crossed the flood of sorrow, he who pays homage to such as have found deliverance and know no fear, his merit can never be measured by anybody. pain is desire, that desire can be annihilated, that there is a way (shown by Buddha) by which the annihilation of all desires can be achieved, and freedom be obtained. That way consists of eight parts. (See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 630.) The eightfold way forms the subject of Chapter XVIII. (See also Feer, Journal As. 1870, p. 418, and Chips from a German Workshop, 2nd ed. vol. i, p. 251 seq.) HAPPINESS. 53 CHAPTER XV. HAPPINESS. 197. Let us live happily then, not hating those who hate us ! amongf men who hate us let us dwell free from hatred ! 198. Let us live happily then, free from ailments among the ailing ! among men who are ailing let us dwell free from ailments ! 199. Let us live happily then, free from greed among the greedy ! among men who are greedy let us dwell free from greed ! 200. Let us live happily then, though we call nothing our own ! We shall be like the bright gods, feeding on happiness ! 201. Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered is unhappy. He who has given up both victory and defeat, he, the contented, is happy. 198. The ailment here meant is moral rather than physical. Cf. Mahabh. XII, 9924, s3.mprzsa.nto niramaya-^; 9925, yo 'sau prawantiko rogas tkm tn'shnam tyagatzh sukham. 200. The words placed in the mouth of the king of Videha, while his residence Mithila was in flames, are curiously like our verse; cf. Mahabh. XII, 9917, Susukha»^ vata ^ivami yasya me nasti kijl^ana, Mithilayam pradiptaya/w na me dahyati kinka.nz. ' I live happily, indeed, for I have nothing ; while Mithila is in flames, nothing of mine is burning.' Cf. Muir, Religious Senti- ments, p. 106. The abhassara, i. e. abhasvara, ' the bright gods,' are frequently mentioned. Cf. Burnouf, Introd. p. 611. 201. This verse is ascribed to Buddha, when he heard of the defeat of A^atajatru by Prasena^it. It exists in the Northern or 54 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XV. 202. There is no fire like passion ; there is no losing throw like hatred ; there is no pain like this body ; there is no happiness higher than rest. 203. Hunger is the worst of diseases, the body the greatest of pains ; if one knows this truly, that is Nirva;2a, the highest happiness. Sanskrit and in the Southern or Pali texts, i. e. in the Avadana- jataka, in the Sawyutta-nikaya. See Feer, Comptes Rendus, 1871, p. 44, and Journal As. 1880, p. 509. In the Avadana-,rataka, the Sanskrit version is — Gayo vairam prasavati, du/zkha/;; sete para^-ita-^ Upa^-anta/^ sukha;« sete hitva _§-ayapara^ayam. 202. I take kali in the sense of an unlucky die which makes a player lose his game. A real simile seems wanted here, as in verse 251, where, for the same reason, I translate graha by 'shark,' not by ' captivitas,' as Dr. FausboU proposes. The same scholar translates kali in our verse by ' peccatum.' If there is any ob- jection to translating kali in Pali by ' unlucky die,' I should still prefer to take it in the sense of the age of depravity, or the demon of depravity. To judge from Abhidhanappadipika, 1106, kali was used for para§-aya, i. e. loss at game, a losing throw, and occurs in that sense again in verse 252. The Chinese translation has, ' there is no distress (poison) worse than hate.' A similar verse occurs Mahabh. ^Santip. 175, v. 35. ' Body ' for khandha is a free translation, but it is difficult to find any other rendering. The Chinese translation also has ' body.' According to the Buddhists each sentient being consists of five khandhas (skandha), or aggregates, the organized body (rupa- khandha) with its four internal capacities of sensation (vedana), perception {ssingna.), conception (sa?;^skara), knowledge (vi^wana). See Burnouf, Introd. pp. 589, 634; Lotus, p. 335. 203. Sa7«skara is the fourth of the five khandhas, but the com- mentator takes it here, as well as in verse 255, for the five khandhas together, in which case we can only translate it by ' body.' See also verse 278. Childers proposes 'organic fife' (Notes on Dham- mapada, p. i). There is, however, another saw^skara, that which follows immediately upon avidya, ' ignorance,' as the second of the nidanas, or ' causes of existence,' and this too might be called the greatest pain, considering that it is the cause of birth, which is the cause of all pain. Sawskara seems sometimes to have a different HAPPINESS. 55 204. Health is the greatest of gifts, contented- ness the best riches ; trust is the best of relation- ships, Nirva;2a the highest happiness. 205. He who has tasted the sweetness of solitude and tranquillity, is free from fear and free from sin, while he tastes the sweetness of drinking in the law. 206. The sight of the elect (Arya) is good, to live with them is always happiness ; if a man does not see fools, he will be truly happy. 207. He who walks in the company of fools suf- fers a long way ; company with fools, as with an enemy, is always painful ; ^^ompany with th£_wise is pleasure, like meeting with kinsfolk.'" 208. Therefore, one ought to follow the wise, the intelligent, the learned, the much enduring, the du- tiful, the elect ; one ought to follow a good and wise man, as the moon follows the path of the stars. and less technical meaning, being used in the sense of conceptions, plans, desires, as, for instance, in verse 368, where sankharana/;z khayam is used much like ta/?ihakhaya. Again, in his comment on verse 75, Buddhaghosa says, upadhiviveko sankharasahga«ika/?? vinodeti ; and again, upadhiviveko >^a nirupadhinaw puggalanara visafikharagatanam. For a similar sentiment, see Stanislas Julien, Les Avadanas, vol. i. p. 40, ' Le corps est la plus grande source de souffrance,' &c. I should say that the khandhas in verse 202 and the sahkharas in verse 203 are nearly, if not quite, synonymous. I should prefer to read giga.MM-pzram^ as a compound. Gigakkka, or as it is written in one MS., diga/^/^/za (Sk. ^ghatsa), means not only ' hunger,' but ' appetite, desire.' 204. Childers translates, ' the best kinsman is a man you can trust.' 205. Cf. Suttanipata, v. 256. 208. I should like to read sukho ka. dhirasa/^ivaso. 56 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XVI. CHAPTER XVI. PLEASURE. 209. He who gives himself to vanity, and does not give himself to meditation, forgetting the real aim (of life) and grasping at pleasure, will in time envy him who has exerted himself in meditation. 210. Let no man ever look for what is pleasant, or what is unpleasant. Not to see what is pleasant is pain, and it is pain to see what is unpleasant. 211. Let, therefore, no man love anything ; loss of the beloved is evil. Those who love nothing, and hate nothing, have no fetters. 2 1 2. From pleasure comes grief, from pleasure comes fear ; he who is free from pleasure knows neither grief nor fear. 213. From affection comes grief, from affection comes fear ; he who is free from affection knows neither grief nor fear. 214. From lust comes grief, from lust comes fear ; he who is free from lust knows neither grief nor fear. 215. From love comes grief, from love comes fear ; he who is free from love knows neither grief nor fear. 216. From greed comes grief, from greed comes fear ; he who is free from greed knows neither grief nor fear. 217. He who possesses virtue and intelligence, 214. See Beal, Catena, p. 200. PLEASURE. 57 who is just, speaks the truth, and does what is his own business, him the world will hold dear. 218. He in whom a desire for the Ineffable (Nir- va;2a) has sprung up, who is satisfied in his mind, and whose thoughts are not bewildered by love, he is called tirdhva;;/srotas (carried upwards by the stream). 219. Kinsmen, friends, and lovers salute a man who has been long away, and returns safe from afar. 220. In like manner his good works receive him who has done good, and has grone from this world to the other ; — as kinsmen receive a friend on his return. 218. IJrdhva/?isrotas or uddhawsoto is the technical name for one who has reached the world of the Av/Vhas (Aviha), and is pro- ceeding to that of the AkanishMas (Akani///^a). This is the last stage before he reaches the formless world, the Arupadhatu. (See Buddhaghosha's Parables, p. 123; Burnouf, Introduction, p. 599.) Originally urdhvawsrotas may have been used in a less technical sense, meaning one who swims against the stream, and is not carried away by the vulgar passions of the world. [10] h 58 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XVII. CHAPTER XVII. ANGER. 221. Let a man leave anger, let him forsake pride, let him overcome all bondage ! No sufferings befall the man who is not attached to name and form, and who calls nothing his own. 222. He who holds back rising anger like a rolling chariot, him I call a real driver ; other people are but holding the reins. 223. Let a man overcome anger by love, let him overcome evil by good ; let him overcome the greedy by liberality, the liar by truth ! 224. Speak the truth, do not yield to anger ; give, if thou art asked for little ; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods. 225. The sages who injure nobody, and who always control their body, they will go to the un- changeable place (Nirva;za), where, if they have gone, they will suffer no more. 226. Those who are ever watchful, who study day and night, and who strive after Nirva/^a, their pas- sions will come to an end. 227. This is an old saying, O Atula, this is not only of to-day : ' They blame him who sits silent, 221. 'Name and form' or 'mind and body' is the translation of nama-rupa, the ninth of the Buddhist Nidanas. Cf. Burnouf, Introduction, p. 501; see also Gogerly, Lecture on Buddhism, and Bigandet, The Life of Gaudama, p. 454. 223. Mahabh. XII, 3550, asadhu/?i sadhuna ^ayet. Cf. Ten Gatakas, ed. Fausboll, p. 5. 227. It appears from the commentary that porawam and a^^ata- nain are neuters, referring to what happened formerly and what ANGER. 59 they blame him who speaks much, they also blame him who says little ; there is no one on earth who is not blamed. 228. There never was, there never will be, nor is there now, a man who is always blamed, or a man who is always praised. 229. 230. But he whom those who discriminate praise continually day after day, as without blemish, wise, rich in knowledge and virtue, who would dare to blame him, like a coin made of gold from the 6^ambu river ? Even the gods praise him, he is praised even by Brahman. 231. Beware of bodily anger, and control thy body ! Leave the sins of the body, and with thy body practise virtue ! 232. Beware of the anger of the tongue, and con- trol thy tongue ! Leave the sins of the tongue, and practise virtue with thy tongue! 233. Beware of the anger of the mind, and con- trol thy mind ! Leave the sins of the mind, and practise virtue with thy mind ! 234. The wise who control their body, who con- trol their tongue, the wise who control their mind, are indeed well controlled. happens to-day, and that they are not to be taken as adjectives referring to asinam, &c. The commentator must have read atula instead of atulani, and he explains it as the name of a pupil whom Gautama addressed by that name. This may be so (see note to verse 166); but atula may also be taken in the sense of incom- parable (INIahabh, XIII, 1937), and in that case we ought to supply, with Professor Weber, some such word as ' saw ' or ' saying,' 230. The Brahman worlds are higher that the Deva worlds as the Brahman is higher than a Deva; see Hardy, Manual, p. 25; Burnouf, Introduction, pp. 134, 184. h 2 6o DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XVIII. CHAPTER XVIII. IMPURITY. 235. Thou art now like a sear leaf, the messen- gers of death (Yama) have come near to thee ; thou standest at the door of thy departure, and thou hast no provision for thy journey. 236. Make thyself an island, work hard, be wise! When thy impurities are blown away, and thou art free from guilt, thou wilt enter into the heavenly world of the elect (Ariya). 237. Thy life has come to an end, thou art come near to death (Yama), there is no resting-place for thee on the road, and thou hast no provision for thy journey. 238. Make thyself an island, work hard, be wise 1 When thy impurities are blown away, and thou art free from guilt, thou wilt not enter again into birth and decay. 239. Let a wise man blow off the impurities of his self, as a smith blows off the impurities of silver, one by one, little by little, and from time to time. 240. As the impurity which springs from the iron, 235. Uyyoga seems to mean departure. See Buddhaghosa's commentary on verse 152, p. 319, 1. i; Fausboll, Five Gatakas, P- 35- 236. ' An island,' for a drowning man to save himself; (see verse 25.) Dipahkara is the name of one of the former Buddhas, and it is also used as an appellative of the Buddha, but is always derived from dipo, ' a lamp.' 239. This verse is the foundation of the thirty-fourth section of the Sutra of the forty-two sections; see Beal, Catena, p. 201; Sutta- nipata, v. 962. IMPURITY. 6 1 when it springs from it, destroys it ; thus do a trans- gressor's own works lead him to the evil path. 241. The taint of prayers is non-repetition; the taint of houses, non-repair ; the taint of the body is sloth ; the taint of a watchman, thoughtlessness. 242. Bad conduct is the taint of woman, greedi- ness the taint of a benefactor ; tainted are all evil ways, in this world and in the next. 243. But there is a taint worse than all taints, — ignorance is the greatest taint. O mendicants ! throw off that taint, and become taintless ! 244. Life is easy to live for a man who is without shame, a crow hero, a mischief-maker, an insulting, bold, and wretched fellow. 245. But life is hard to live for a modest man, who always looks for what is pure, who is disinter- ested, quiet, spotless, and intelligent. 246. He who destroys life, who speaks untruth, who in this world takes what is not given him, who goes to another man's wife ; 247. And the man who gives himself to drinking intoxicating liquors, he, even in this world, digs up his own root. 248. O man, know this, that the unrestrained are in a bad state ; take care that greediness and vice do not bring thee to grief for a long time ! 244. Pakkhandin is identified by Dr. FausboU with praskandin, one who jumps forward, insults, or, as Buddhaghosa explains it, one who meddles with other people's business, an interloper. At all events, it is a term of reproach, and, as it would seem, of theo- logical reproach. 246. On the five principal commandments which are recapitu- lated in verses 246 and 247, see Buddhaghosha's Parables, p. 153. 248. Cf. Mahabharata XII, 4055, yesham vriUis k,x sa;;zyata. See also verse 307. 62 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XVIII. 249. The world gives according to their faith or according to their pleasure : if a man frets about the food and the drink given to others, he will find no rest either by day or by night. 250. He in whom that feeling is destroyed, and taken out with the very root, finds rest by day and by night. 251. There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed. 252. The fault of others is easily perceived, but that of oneself is difficult to perceive ; a man win- nows his neighbour's faults like chaff, but his own fault he hides, as a cheat hides the bad die from the gambler. 253. If a man looks after the faults of others, and is always inclined to be offended, his own passions will grow, and he is far from the destruction of passions. 254. There is no path through the air, a man is not a Sama/^a by outward acts. The world 249. This verse has evidently regard to the feelings of the Bhik- shus or mendicants who receive either much or little, and who are exhorted not to be envious if others receive more than they them- selves. Several of the Parables illustrate this feeling. 251. Dr. Fausboll translates gaho by ' captivitas,' Dr. Weber by ' fetter.' I take it in the same sense as graha in Manu VI, 78 ; and Buddhaghosa does the same, though he assigns to graha a more general meaning, viz. anything that seizes, whether an evil spirit (yakkha), a serpent (a^agara), or a crocodile (kumbhila). Greed or thirst is represented as a river in Lalita-vistara, ed. Calc. p. 482, trish?ia-nadi tivega prajoshita me ^ilanasuryewa, ' the wild river of thirst is dried up by the sun of my knowledge.' 252. See Childers, Notes, p. 7; St. Matthew vii. 3. 253. As to asava, 'appetite, passion,' see note to verse 39. 254. I have translated this verse very freely, and not in accord- IMPURITY. 63 delights in vanity, the Tathagatas (the Buddhas) are free from vanity, 255. There is no path through the air, a man is not a Sama;^a by outward acts. No creatures are eternal ; but the awakened (Buddha) are never shaken. ance with Buddhaghosa's commentary. Dr. Fausboll proposed to translate, ' No one who is outside t e Buddhist community can walk through the air, but only a Samawa;' and the same view is taken by Professor Weber, though he arrives at it by a different construction. Now it is perfectly true that the idea of magical powers (r/ddhi) which enable saints to walk through the air, &c., occurs in the Dhammapada, see v. 175, note. But the Dhammapada may contain earlier and later verses, and in that case our verse might be an early protest on the part of Buddha against the belief in such miraculous powers. We know how Buddha himself protested against his disciples being called upon to perform vulgar miracles. ' I command my disciples not to work miracles,' he said, ' but to hide their good deeds, and to show their sins' (Burnouf, Introd. p. 170). It would be in harmony with this sentiment if we trans- lated our verse as I have done. As to bahira, I should take it in the sense of 'external,' as opposed to adhyatmika, or 'internal;' and the meaning would be, ' a Samawa is not a Sama?/a by out- ward acts, but by his heart.' D'Alwis translates (p. 85) : ' There is no footprint in the air ; there is not a Sama^za out of the pale of the Buddhist community.' Prapa?l/^a, which I have here translated by ' vanity,' seems to include the whole host of human weaknesses ; cf. v. 196, where it is explained by ta/;/hadi/Mimanapapa«vC'a ; in our verse by ta/^zhadisu papaw/^esu: cf. Lalita-vistara, p. 564, analayawz nishprapaw-^am anutpadam asambhavam (dharma/('akram). As to Tathagata, a name of Buddha, cf. Burnouf, Introd. p. 75. 255. Sahkhara for saw/skara; cf. note to verse 203. Creature does not, as Mr. D'Alwis (p. 69) supposes, involve the Christian conception of creation. 64 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XIX. CHAPTER XIX. THE JUST. 256, 257. A man is not just if he carries a matter by violence ; no, he who distinguishes both right and wrong, who is learned and leads others, not by violence, but by law and equity, and who is guarded by the law and intelligent, he is called just. 258. A man is not learned because he talks much ; he who is patient, free from hatred and fear, he is called learned. 259. A man is not a supporter of the law because he talks much ; even if a man has learnt little, but sees the law bodily, he is a supporter of the law, a man who never neglects the law. 260. A man is not an elder because his head is grey ; his age may be ripe, but he is called ' Old- in-vain.' 261. He in whom there is truth, virtue, love, restraint, moderation, he who is free from impurity and is wise, he is called an elder. 262. An envious, greedy, dishonest man does not become respectable by means of much talking only, or by the beauty of his complexion. 263. He in whom all this is destroyed, and taken out with the very root, he, when freed from hatred and wise, is called respectable. 259. Buddhaghosa here takes law (dhamma) in the sense of the four great truths, see note to verse 190. Could dhamma»z kayena passati mean, 'he observes the law in his acts?' Hardly, if we compare expressions like dhamma^ vipassato, v. 373. THE JUST. 65 264. Not by tonsure does an undisciplined man who speaks falsehood become a Sama?^a ; can a man be a Sama/^a who is still held captive by desire and greediness ? 265. He who always quiets the evil, whether small or large, he is called a Sama;2a (a quiet man), because he has quieted all evil. 266. A man is not a mendicant (Bhikshu) simply because he asks others for alms ; he who adopts the whole law is a Bhikshu, not he who only begs. 267. He who is above good and evil, who is chaste, who with knowledge passes through the world, he indeed is called a Bhikshu. 268. 269. A man is not a Muni because he ob- serves silence (mona, i. e. mauna), if he is foolish 265. This is a curious etymology, because it shows that at the time when this verse was written, the original meaning of jrama«a had been forgotten. 6'ramawa meant originally, in the language of the Brahmans, a man who performed hard penances, from jram, ' to work hard,' &c. When it became the name of the Buddhist ascetics, the language had changed, and jrama^a was pronounced sama«a. Now there is another Sanskrit root, jam, ' to quiet,' which in Pali becomes likewise sam, and from this root sam, ' to quiet,' and not from sram, ' to tire,' did the popular etymology of the day and the writer of our verse derive the title of the Buddhist priests. The original form jramawa became known to the Greeks as Sap- fjLai/ni, that of sama«a as Sa/iamlot ; the former through Megasthenes, the latter through Bardesanes, 80-60 b.c. (See Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde, II, 700.) The Chinese Shamen and the Tun- gusian Shamen come from the same source, though the latter has sometimes been doubted. See Schott, Uber die doppelte Bedeutung des Wortes Schamane, in the Philosophical Transactions of the Berlin Academy, 1842, p. 463 seq. 266-270. The etymologies here given of the ordinary titles of the followers of Buddha are entirely fanciful, and are curious only as showing how the people who spoke Pali had lost the etymo- logical consciousness of their language. A Bhikshu is a beggar, 66 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XIX. and ignorant ; but the wise who, taking the balance, chooses the good and avoids evil, he is a Muni, and is a Muni thereby ; he who in this world weiofhs both sides is called a Muni, 270. A man is not an elect (Ariya) because he injures living creatures ; because he has pity on all living creatures, therefore is a man called Ariya. 271. 272, Not only by discipline and vows, not only by much learning, not by entering into a trance, not by sleeping alone, do I earn the happiness of release which no worldling can know. Bhikshu, be not confident as long as thou hast not attained the extinction of desires. i. e. a Buddhist friar who has left his family and lives entirely on alms. Muni is a sage, hence ^akya-muni, a name of Gautama. Muni comes from man, ' to think,' and from muni comes mauna, ' silence.' Ariya, again, is the general name of those who embrace a religious life. It meant originally ' respectable, noble.' In verse 270 it seems as if the writer wished to guard against deriving ariya from ari, ' enemy.' See note to verse 22. 272. See Childers, Notes, p. 7. THE WAY, 6"] CHAPTER XX. THE WAY. 273. The best of ways is the eightfold ; the best of truths the four words ; the best of virtues passionlessness ; the best of men he who has eyes to see. 274. This is the way, there is no other that leads to the purifying of intelligence. Go on this way ! Everything else is the deceit of Mara (the tempter). 275. If you go on this way, you will make an end of pain ! The way was preached by me, when I had understood the removal of the thorns (in the flesh). 276. You yourself must make an effort. The Tathagatas (Buddhas) are only preachers. The thoughtful who enter the way are freed from the bondage of Mara. 277. 'All created things perish,' he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain ; this is the way to purity. 273. The eightfold or eight-mem bered way is the technical term for the way by which Nirva«a is attained. (See Burnouf, Lotus, p. 519) This very way constitutes the fourth of the Four Truths, or the four words of truth, viz. Du//kha, ' pain ;' Samudaya, ' origin ;' Nirodha, 'destruction;' Marga, ' road.' (Lotus, p. 517.) See note to verse 178. For another explanation of the Marga, or ' way,' see Hardy, Eastern Monachism, p. 280. 274. The last line may mean, 'this way is the confusion of Mara,' i. e. the discomfiture of Mara. 275. The jalyas, ' arrows or thorns,' are the joka^-alya, ' the arrows of grief.' Buddha himself is called mahajalya-harta, ' the great remover of thorns.' (Lalita-vistara, p. 550 ; Mahabh. XII, 5616.) 277. See v. 255. 68 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XX. 278. 'All created things are grief and pain,' he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain ; this is the way that leads to purity. 279. 'All forms are unreal,' he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain ; this is the way that leads to purity. 280. He who does not rouse himself when it is time to rise, who, though young and strong, is full of sloth, whose will and thought are weak, that lazy and idle man will never find the way to knowledge. _ 281. Watching his speech, well restrained in mind, "let a man never commit any wrong with his body! Let a man but keep these three roads of action clear, and he will achieve the way which is taught by the wise. 282. Through zeal knowledge is gotten, through lack of zeal knowledge is lost ; let a man who knows this double path of gain and loss thus place himself that knowledge may grow. '=r 283. Cut down the whole forest (of lust), not a tree only ! Danger comes out of the forest (of lust). When you have cut down both the forest (of lust) and its undergrowth, then, Bhikshus, you will be rid of the forest and free ! 278. See V. 203. 279. Dhamma is here explained, like safikhara, as the five khandha, i. e. as what constitutes a living body. 281. Cf. Beal, Catena, p. 159. 282. Bhuri was rightly translated ' intelligentia' by Dr. Fausboll. Dr. Weber renders it by ' Gedeihen,' but the commentator distinctly explains it as 'vast knowledge,' and in the technical sense the word occurs after vidya and before medha, in the Lalita-vistara, p. 541. 283. A pun, vana meaning both 'lust' and 'forest.' See some mistaken remarks on this verse in D'Alwis, Nirvawa, p. 86, and some good remarks in Childers, Notes, p. 7. THE WAY. 69 284. So long as the love of man towards women, even the smallest, is not destroyed, so long is his mind in bondage, as the calf that drinks milk is to its mother. 285. Cut out the love of self, like an autumn lotus, with thy hand! Cherish the road of peace. Nir- va;2a has been shown by Sugata (Buddha). 286. ' Here I shall dwell in the rain, here in winter and summer,' thus the fool meditates, and does not think of his death. 287. Death comes and carries off that man, praised for his children and flocks, his mind distracted, as a flood carries off a sleeping village. 288. Sons are no help, nor a father, nor relations ; there is no help from kinsfolk for one whom death has seized. 289. A wise and good man who knows the mean- ing of this, should quickly clear the way that leads to Nirva;2a. 285. Cf. G^ataka, vol. i. p. 183. 286. Antaraya, according to the commentator, ^ivitantaraya, i. e. interitus, death. In Sanskrit, antarita is used in the sense of ' vanished' or ' perished.' 287. See notes to verse 47, Thiessen, Kisagotami, p. 11, and Mahabh. XII, 9944, 6540. 70 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXI. CHAPTER XXI. MISCELLANEOUS. 290. If by leaving a small pleasure one sees a great pleasure, let a wise man leave the small plea- sure, and look to the great. 291. He who, by causing pain to others, wishes to obtain pleasure for himself, he, entangled in the bonds of hatred, will never be free from hatred. 292. What ought to be done is neglected, what ought not to be done is done ; the desires of unruly, thoughtless people are always increasing. 293. But they whose whole watchfulness is always directed to their body, who do not follow what ought not to be done, and who steadfastly do what ought to be done, the desires of such watchful and wise people will come to an end. 294. A true Brahma?^a goes scatheless, though he have killed father and mother, and two valiant kings, though he has destroyed a kingdom with all its subjects. 295. A true Brahma7^a 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 guilt- less, 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. 7 1 296. 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. 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 alwa}s 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 Brahmawa, to whom he accorded reverence, along with his own Sangha,was blame- less?' D'Ahvis, Nirvana, p. 88. Though something might be said in reply, considering the antecedents of king A^ata^atru, the patron of Buddha, and stories such as that quoted by the commentator on the Dhammapada (Beal, I.e. p. i5o),or inDerWeise und derThor, p.306, still these two verses are startKng, 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 Hke 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 commen- tators 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 de- lights in compassion. 301. The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their mind day and night always de- lights 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, cele- brated, and wealthy man chooses, there he is re- spected. 304. Good people shine from afar, like the snowy plied by a passage in the tl:iird book of the Lahkavatara-sutra, as quoted by Mr. Beal in his translation of the Dhammapada, Intro- duction, p. 5. Here a stanza is quoted as having been recited by Buddha, in expkination of a similar startling utterance which he had made to Mahamati : 'Lust, or carnal desire, this is the Mother, Ignorance, this is the Father, The highest point of knowledge, this is Buddha, All the kle^as, 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 Lahkavatara-sutra was translated into Chinese by Bodhiru^i (508-511)5 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, sub- duing himself, will rejoice in the destruction of all desires alone, as if living in a forest. 305. I have translated this verse so as to bring it into something like harmony with the preceding verses. Vanante, according to a pun pointed out before (v. 283), means both 'in the end of a forest,' and ' in the end of desires.' [10] 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, 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 wreckless 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 Vinaya- pi/aka I, 4, i; D'Alwis, Nirvawa, 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, apu7w~ialabha, 'bad fame,' is the same in both : gati papika must be niraya ; daw^a must be ninda, and rati thokika explains the anikamaseyyawz. 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 neigrhbour'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 de- fences within and without, so let a man guard him- self. 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 anikamase)7a, i. e. yatha ikkh^Xx GV2im seyyam alabhitva. diV\\kkh\i2im parittakam eva kala»z seyyaw 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 ra^a meaning 'dust' and 'passion,' see Buddha- ghosha's Parables, pp. 65, 66. i 2 76 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXII. 318. They who forbid when there is nothing to be forbidden, and forbid not when there is some- thing to be forbidden, such men, embracing false doctrines, enter the evil path. 319. They who know what is forbidden as for- bidden, and what is not forbidden as not forbidden, such men, embracing the true doctrine, enter the good path. THE ELEPHANT. "]"] CHAPTER XXIII. THE ELEPHANT. 320. Silently shall I endure abuse as the elephant in battle endures the arrow sent from the bow : for the world is ill-natured. 321. They lead a tamed elephant to battle, the king mounts a tamed elephant ; the tamed is the best among men, he who silently endures abuse. 322. Mules are good, if tamed, and noble Sindhu horses, and elephants with large tusks ; but he w^ho tames himself is better still. 323. For with these animals does no man reach the untrodden country (Nirva;^a), where a tamed man goes on a tamed animal, viz. on his own well- tamed self. 324. The elephant called Dhanapalaka, his tem- ples running with sap, and difficult to hold, does not eat a morsel when bound ; the elephant longs for the elephant grove. 320. The elephant is with the Buddhists the emblem of endurance and self-restraint. Thus Buddha himself is called Naga, ' the Ele- phant' (Lal.Vist. p. 553), or Mahanaga, 'the great Elephant' (Lai. Vist. p. 553), and in one passage (Lal.Vist. p. 554) the reason of this name is given, by stating that Buddha was sudanta, ' well- tamed,' like an elephant. He descended from heaven in the form of an elephant to be born on earth. Cf Manu VI, 47, ativadaz^^s titiksheta. 323. I read, as suggested by Dr. Fausboll, yath' attana sudan- tena danto dantena ga^^/^ati' (cf verse 160). The India Office MS. reads na hi etehi ///anehi gaK'//eya agata?;i disam, yath' attanaw sudantena danto dantena ga^/^/mti. As to //^anehi instead of yanehi, see verse 224, 78 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXIII. 325. If a man becomes fat and a great eater, if he is sleepy and rolls himself about, that fool, like a hog fed on wash, is born again and again. 326. This mind of mine went formerly wandering about as it liked, as it listed, as it pleased ; but I shall now hold it in thoroughly, as the rider who holds the hook holds in the furious elephant. 327. Be not thoughtless, watch your thoughts ! Draw yourself out of the evil way, like an elephant sunk in mud. 328. If a man find a prudent companion who walks with him, is wise, and lives soberly, he may walk with him, overcoming all dangers, happy, but considerate. 329. If a man find no prudent companion who walks with him, is wise, and lives soberly, let him walk alone, like a king who has left his conquered country behind, — like an elephant in the forest. 330. It is better to live alone, there is no com- panionship with a fool ; let a man walk alone, let him commit no sin, with few wishes, like an ele- phant in the forest. 326. Yoniso, i.e. yonua//, is rendered by Dr. Fausboll ' sapientia,' and this is the meaning ascribed to yoni by many Buddhist authori- ties. But the reference to HemaX'andra (ed. BoehtHngk and Rieu, p. 281) shows clearly that it meant 'origin,' or 'cause.' Yoniso occurs frequently as a mere adverb, meaning ' thoroughly, radically' (Dham- mapada, p. 359), and yoniso manasikara (Dhammapada, p. no) means ' taking to heart' or 'minding thoroughly,' or, what is nearly the same, 'wisely.' In the Lalita-vistara, p. 41, the commentator has clearly mistaken yoni^a/z, changing it to ye 'ni^^'O, and explaining it by yamanij-am, whereas M. Foucaux has rightly translated it by 'depuis I'origine.' Professor Weber suspected in yoni-s-a^ a double entendre, but even grammar would show that our author is innocent of it. In Lalita-vistara, p. 544, 1. 4, ayonija occurs in the sense of error. 328, 329. Cf. Suttanipata, vv. 44, 45. THE ELEPHANT. 79 331. If an occasion arises, friends are pleasant; enjoyment is pleasant, whatever be the cause ; a good work is pleasant in the hour of death ; the giving up of all grief is pleasant. 332. Pleasant in the world is the state of a mother, pleasant the state of a father, pleasant the state of a Sama?^a, pleasant the state of a Brahma^^a. 2,3^. Pleasant is virtue lasting to old age, pleasant is a faith firmly rooted ; pleasant is attainment of intelligence, pleasant is avoiding of sins. 332. The commentator throughout takes these words, like mat- teyyata, &c., to signify, not the status of a mother, or maternity, but reverence shown to a mother. 80' DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXIV. A . CHAPTER XXIV. THIRST. 334. The thirst of a thoughtless man grows like a creeper ; he runs from life to life, like a monkey seeking fruit in the forest. 335. Whomsoever this fierce thirst overcomes, full of poison, in this world, his sufferings increase like the abounding Birana. grass. 336. He who overcomes this fierce thirst, difficult to be conquered in this world, sufferings fall off from him, like water-drops from a lotus leaf. 337. This salutary word I tell you, ' Do ye, as many as are here assembled, dig up the root of thirst, as he who wants the sweet-scented U^ira root must dig up the Birana. grass, that Mara (the tempter) may not crush you again and again, as the stream crushes the reeds.' 338. As a tree, even though it has been cut down, is firm so long as its root is safe, and grows again, thus, unless the feeders of thirst are destroyed, this pain (of life) will return again and again. 339. He whose thirst running towards pleasure is exceeding strong in the thirty-six channels, the 334. This is explained by a story in the Chinese translation. Beal, Dhammapada, p. 148. 335. Birawa grass is the Andropogon muricatum, and the scented root of it is called U^ira (cf. verse 337). 338. On Anusaya, i. e. Anu^aya (Anlage), see Wassiljew, Der Buddhismus, p. 240 seq. 339. The thirty-six channels, or passions, which are divided by the commentator into eighteen external and eighteen internal, are THIRST. 8 1 waves will carry away that misguided man, viz. his desires which are set on passion. 340. The channels run everywhere, the creeper (of passion) stands sprouting ; if you see the creeper springing up, cut its root by means of knowledge. 341. A creature's pleasures are extravagant and luxurious ; sunk in lust and looking for pleasure, men undergo (again and again) birth and decay. 342. Men, driven on by thirst, run about like a snared hare ; held in fetters and bonds, they undergo pain for a long time, again and again. 343. Men, driven on by thirst, run about like a snared hare ; let therefore the mendicant drive out thirst, by striving after passionlessness for himself. 344. He who having got rid of the forest (of lust) (i.e. after having reached Nirva;^a) gives him- self over to forest-life (i.e. to lust), and who, when removed from the forest (i. e. from lust), runs to the forest (i. e. to lust), look at that man ! though free, he runs into bondage. explained by Burnouf (Lotus, p. 649), from a gloss of the G^ina- alafikara : ' Vindication precise des affections dont un Buddha acte independant, affections qui sont au nombre de dix-huit, nous est fourni par la glose d'un livre appartenant aux Buddhistes de Ceylan,' &c. Subhilti gives the right reading as manapassavana ; cf. Childers, Notes, p. 12. Vaha, which Dr. FausboU translates by ' equi,' may be vaha, 'undae.' Cf. Suttanipata, v. 1034. 344. This verse seems again full of puns, all connected with the twofold meaning of vana, ' forest and lust/ By replacing ' forest ' by ' lust,' we may translate : ' He who, when free from lust, gives himself up to lust, who, when removed from lust runs into lust, look at that man,' &c. Nibbana, though with a short a, may be intended to remind the hearer of Nibbana. The right reading is nibbanatho ; see Childers, Notes, p. 8. 82 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXIV. 345. Wise people do not call that a strong fetter which is made of iron, wood, or hemp ; far stronger is the care for precious stones and rings, for sons and a wife. 346. That fetter wise people call strong which drags down, yields, but is difficult to undo ; after having cut this at last, people leave the world, free from cares, and leaving desires and pleasures behind. 347. Those who are slaves to passions, run down with the stream (of desires), as a spider runs down the web which he has made himself; when they have cut this, at last, wise people leave the world, free from cares, leaving;- all affection behind. 348. Give up what is before, give up what is behind, give up what is in the middle, when thou goest to the other shore of existence ; if thy mind is altogether free, thou wilt not again enter into birth and decay. 349. If a man is tossed about by doubts, full of strong passions, and yearning only for what is de- lightful, his thirst will grow more and more, and he will indeed make his fetters strong. 350. If a man delights in quieting doubts, and, always reflecting, dwells on what is not delightful 345. Apekha, apeksha, 'care;' see Manu VI, 41, 49 ; Suttani- pata, V. 37; and (rataka, vol. ii. p. 140. 346. Paribba^, i.e. parivra^; see Manu VI, 41. 347. The commentator explains the simile of the spider as follows : ' As a spider, after having made its thread-web, sits in the middle, and after killing with a violent rush a butterfly or a fly which has fallen in its circle, drinks its juice, returns, and sits again in the same place, in the same manner creatures who are given to passions, depraved by hatred, and maddened by wrath, run along the stream of thirst which they have made themselves, and cannot cross it,' Sec. TPIIRST. 83 (the impurity of the body, &c.), he certainly will remove, nay, he will cut the fetter of Mara. 351. He who has reached the consummation, who does not tremble, who is without thirst and without sin, he has broken all the thorns of life : this will be his last body. 352. He who is without thirst and without affec- tion, who understands the words and their interpre- tation, who knows the order of letters (those which are before and which are after), he has received his last body, he is called the great sage, the great man. 353. ' I have conquered all, I know all, in all con- ditions of life I am free from taint ; I have left all, and through the destruction of thirst I am free ; having learnt myself, whom shall I teach ?' 354. The gift of the law exceeds all gifts ; the sweetness of the law exceeds all sweetness ; the delight in the law exceeds all delights ; the extinc- tion of thirst overcomes all pain. 355. Pleasures destroy the foolish, if they look not for the other shore ; the foolish by his thirst for pleasures destroys himself, as if he were his own enemy. 352. As to nirutti, and its technical meaning among the Bud- dliists, see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 841. FausboU translates ' niruttis vocabulorum peritus,' which may be right, if we take nirutti in the sense of the language of the Scriptures. See note to verse 363. Could not sannipata mean sawhita or sannikarsha ? Sannipata occurs in the 6'akala-pratii-akhya, but with a different meaning. 353. Cf. Suttanipata, V. 210. 354. The dhammadana, or 'gift of the law,' is the technical term for instruction in the Buddhist religion. See Buddhaghosha's Parables, p. 160, where the story of the Sakkadevara^a is told, and where a free rendering of our verse is given. 84 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXIV. 356. The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind is damaged by passion : therefore a gift bestowed on the passionless brings great reward. 357. The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind is damaged by hatred : therefore a gift bestowed on those who do not hate brings great reward. 358. The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind is damaged by vanity : therefore a gift bestowed on those who are free from vanity brings great reward. 359. The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind is damaged by lust : therefore a gift bestowed on those who are free from lust bring^s crreat reward. THE BHIKSHU. 85 CHAPTER XXV. THE BHIKSHU (mENDICANt). 360. Restraint in the eye is good, good is restraint in the ear, in the nose restraint is good, good is re- straint in the tongue. 361. In the body restraint is good, good is re- straint in speech, in thought restraint is good, good is restraint in all things. A Bhikshu, restrained in all things, is freed from all pain. 362. He who controls his hand, he who controls his feet, he who controls his speech, he who is well controlled, he who delights inwardly, who is collected, who is solitary and content, him they call Bhikshu. 363. The Bhikshu who controls his mouth, who speaks wisely and calmly, who teaches the meaning and the law, his word is sweet. 364. He who dwells in the law, delights in the law, meditates on the law, follows the law, that Bhikshu will never fall away from the true law. 365. Let him not despise what he has received, 363. On artha and dharma, see Stanislas Julien, Les Avadanas, I, 217, note; 'Les quatre connaissances sont; i^ la connaissance du sens (artha) ; 20 la connaissance de la Loi (dharma) ; 3° la con- naissance des explications (niroukti) ; 40 la connaissance de I'intel- ligence (pratibhana).' 364. The expression dhammaramo, 'having his garden or de- light (Lustgarten) in the law,' is well matched by the Brahmanic expression ekarama, i.e. nirdvandva (Mahabh. XIII, 1930). Cf. Suttanipata, v. 326 ; Dhammapada, v. 32, 86 DIIAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXV. nor ever envy others : a mendicant who envies others does not obtain peace of mind. 366. A Bhikshu who, though he receives Httle, does not despise what he has received, even the gods will praise him, if his life is pure, and if he is not slothful. 367. He who never identifies himself with name and form, and does not grieve over what is no more, he indeed is called a Bhikshu. 368. The Bhikshu who acts with kindness, who is calm in the doctrine of Buddha, will reach the quiet place (Nirva;2a), cessation of natural desires, and happiness. 369. O Bhikshu, empty this boat ! if emptied, it will go quickly ; having cut off passion and hatred, thou wilt go to Nirva;^a. 370. Cut off the five (senses), leave the five, rise above the five. A Bhikshu, who has escaped from the five fetters, he is called Oghati;^;m, * saved from the flood.' 371. Meditate, O Bhikshu, and be not heedless ! Do not direct thy thought to what gives pleasure, that thou mayest not for thy heedlessness have to swallow the iron ball (in hell), and that thou mayest not cry out when burning, ' This is pain.' 367. Namariipa is here used again in its technical sense of mind and body, neither of which, however, is with the Buddhists atman, or * self.' Asat, ' what is not,' may therefore mean the same as namarupa, or we may take it in the sense of what is no more, as, for instance, the beauty or youth of the body, the vigour of the mind, &c. 368. See Childers, Notes, p. 11. 371. The swallowing of hot iron balls is considered as a punish- ment in hell; see verse 308. Professor Weber has perceived the THE BHIKSHU. Sy 372. Without knowledge there Is no meditation, without meditation there is no knowledge : he who has knowledge and meditation is near unto Nirva^^a. 373. A Bhikshu who has entered his empty house, and whose mind is tranquil, feels a more than human delight when he sees the law clearly. 374. As soon as he has considered the origin and destruction of the elements (khandha) of the body, he finds happiness and joy which belong to those who know the immortal (Nirva;2a). 375. And this is the beginning here for a wise Bhikshu : watchfulness over the senses, contented- ness, restraint under the law ; keep noble friends whose life is pure, and who are not slothful. 376. Let him live in charity, let him be perfect in his duties ; then in the fulness of delight he will make an end of suffering. 377. As the Vassika plant sheds its withered flowers, men should shed passion and hatred, O ye Bhikshus ! 378. The Bhikshu whose body and tongue and mind are quieted, who is collected, and has rejected the baits of the world, he is called quiet. 379. Rouse thyself by thyself, examine thyself by thyself, thus self-protected and attentive wilt thou live happily, O Bhikshu ! 380. For self is the lord of self, self is the refuge of self ; therefore curb thyself as the merchant curbs a good horse. right meaning of bhavassu, which can only be bhavayasva, but I doubt whether the rest of his rendering is right, for who would swallow an iron ball by accident ? 372. Cf. Beal, Catena, p. 247. 375. Cf. Suttanipata, v. 337. DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXV. 381. The Bhikshu, full of delight, who is calm in the doctrine of Buddha will reach the quiet place (Nir- va;2a), cessation of natural desires, and happiness. 382. He who, even as a young Bhikshu, applies himself to the doctrine of Buddha, brightens up this world, like the moon when free from clouds. 381. See verse 368. D'Alwis translates, 'dissolution of the sahkharas (elements of existence).' THE BRAHMAiVA. 89 CHAPTER XXVI. THE BRAHMAiVA (aRHAT). T,S^. Stop the stream valiantly, drive away the desires, O Brahma/^a! When you have understood the destruction of all that was made, you will under- stand that which was not made. 384. If the Brahma;za has reached the other shore in both laws (in restraint and contemplation), all bonds vanish from him who has obtained knowledge. 385. He for whom there is neither this nor that shore, nor both, him, the fearless and unshackled, I call indeed a Brahma^m. 386. He who is thoughtful, blameless, settled, dutiful, without passions, and who has attained the highest end, him I call indeed a Brahma/^a. 387. The sun is bright by day, the moon shines by night, the warrior is bright in his armour, the Brahma;?a is bright in his meditation ; but Buddha, the Awakened, is bright with splendour day and night. 388. Because a man is rid of evil, therefore he is called Brahma^^a ; because he walks quietly, there- fore he is called Sama;^a ; because he has sent away his own impurities, therefore he is called Pravra^ita (Pabba^ita, a pilgrim). 385. The exact meaning of the two shores is not quite clear, and the commentator who takes them in the sense of internal and external organs of sense, can hardly be right. See verse 86. 388. These would-be etymologies are again interesting as show- ing the decline of the etymological life of the spoken language of [10] k 90 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXVI. 389. No one should attack a Brahma;2a, but no Brahnia;/a (if attacked) should let himself fly at his aggressor! Woe to him who strikes a Brahma/^a, more woe to him who flies at his aggressor ! 390. It advantages a Brdhma^a not a little if he holds his mind back from the pleasures of life ; when all wish to injure has vanished, pain will cease. 391. Him I call indeed a Brahma^za who does not offend by body, word, or thought, and is con- trolled on these three points. 392. After a man has once understood the law as taught by the Well-awakened (Buddha), let him worship it carefully, as the Brahma/za worships the sacrificial fire. 393. A man does not become a Brahma;^a by his platted hair, by his family, or by birth ; in whom there is truth and righteousness, he is blessed, he is a Brahmawa. 394. What is the use of platted hair, O fool ! what of the raiment of goat-skins ? Within thee there is ravening, but the outside thou makest clean. 395. The man who wears dirty raiments, who is India at the time when such etymologies became possible. In order to derive Brahmawa from vah, it must have been pronounced bahma;^o ; vah, ' to remove,' occurs frequently in the Buddhistical Sanskrit. Cf. Lal.Vist. p. 551,1.1; 553, 1. 7. See note to verse 265. 390. I am afraid I have taken too much liberty with this verse. Dr. Fausboll translates, ' Non Brahmawae hoc paulo melius, quando retentio fit mentis a jucundis.' 393. Fausboll proposes to read^a^/^a (^atya). 'Both' in the first edition of my translation was a misprint for ' birth.' 394. I have not copied the language of the Bible more than I was justified in. The words are abbhantaran te ga.ha.mm, bahiraw parima^^asi, ' interna est abyssus, externum mundas.' Cf. G'ataka, vol. i. p. 481. 395. The expression Kisan dhamanisanthatam is the Sanskrit THE BRAHMAiVA. 9 1 emaciated and covered with veins, who lives alone in the forest, and meditates, him I call indeed a Brahma;^a. 396. I do not call a man a Brahma;2a because of his origin or of his mother. He is indeed arrogant, and he is wealthy : but the poor, who is free from all attachments, him I call indeed a Brdhma/^a. 397. Him I call indeed a Brahma;^a who has cut all fetters, who never trembles, is independent and unshackled. 398. Him I call indeed a Brihma;2a who has cut the strap and the thong, the chain with all that per- tains to it, who has burst the bar, and is awakened. 399. Him I call indeed a Brahma;^a who, though he has committed no offence, endures reproach, bonds, and stripes, who has endurance for his force, and strength for his army. 400. Him I call indeed a Brahma/^a who is free from anger, dutiful, virtuous, without appetite, who is subdued, and has received his last body. kn'szm dhamantsantatam, the frequent occurrence of which in the Mahabharata has been pointed out by Boehtlingk, s. v. dhamani. It looks more Hke a Brahmanic than like a Buddhist phrase. 396. From verse 396 to the first half of verse 423, the text of the Dhammapada agrees with the text of the VasisliMa-Bharadva^a- sutra. These verses are translated by D'Alwis in his Nirvawa, pp. 113-118, and again by Fausboll, Suttanipata, v. 620 seq. The text contains puns on k\nka.ndi, which means ' wealth,' but also 'attachment;' cf Childers, s. v. 398. D'Alwis points out a double entendre in these words. Nandhi may be either the strap that goes round a drum, or en- mity; varatta may be either a thong or attachment; sandana either chain or scepticism; sahanakkamam either due order or all its concomitants ; paligha either bar or ignorance. 399. The exact meaning of balanika is difficult to find. Does it mean, possessed of a strong army, or facing a force, or leading a force ? k 2 92 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXVI. 401. Him I call indeed a Brahma;za who does not cling to pleasures, like water on a lotus leaf, like a mustard seed on the point of a needle. 402. Him I call indeed a Brahma;^a who, even here, knows the end of his suffering, has put down his burden, and is unshackled. 403. Him I call indeed a Brahma;/a whose know- ledge is deep, who possesses wisdom, who knows the right way and the wrong, and has attained the highest end. 404. Him I call indeed a Brahma/za who keeps aloof both from laymen and from mendicants, who frequents no houses, and has but few desires. 405. Him I call indeed a Brahma/2a who finds no fault with other beings, whether feeble or strong, and does not kill nor cause slaughter. 406. Him I call indeed a Brahma/^a who is tole- rant with the intolerant, mild with fault-finders, and free from passion among the passionate. 407. Him I call indeed a Brahma;^a from whom anger and hatred, pride and envy have dropt like a mustard seed from the point of a needle. 408. Him I call indeed a Brahma;/a who utters true speech, instructive and free from harshness, so that he offend no one. 409. Him I call indeed a Brahma;2a who takes nothing in the world that is not given him, be it long or short, small or large, good or bad. 410. Him I call indeed a Brahma;^a who fosters no desires for this world or for the next, has no incli- nations, and is unshackled. 405. On tasa and thavara, see Childers, s. v., and D'Alwis, Nir- vawa, p. 115. On da«