10. Heedlessness (T210.10)

The ethical life is the way to immortality;
Heedlessness is the Path to death.
Those without craving never die;
To lose the Way is to lose one’s life.

The wise excels in guarding the Way
And never becomes heedless.
Not craving, one attains to happiness;
Whence the bliss of attainment is obtained.

One should constantly devote to meditation,
Be firm, and persevere in the proper course.
The strong ones thereby transcend existence,
And [attain Nirvāṇa], the Supremely Auspicious.

One who always gives rise to right mindfulness,
And whose actions are pure;
His evil will be easily eradicated,
Self-restrained, living by Dharma,
Not transgressing, skillful, his name spreads afar.

Bringing forth effort and being heedful,
Restraining himself and taming his mind,
The wise makes an illuminator [for himself],
And does not return to the sea of darkness.

It is difficult to understand the fools’ mind;
It is greedy, scattered and delights in disputes
The intelligent man values caution,
And protects it as his precious wealth.

Do not crave or delight in disputes,
And do not indulge in sensual pleasure.
He who practices meditation and heedfulness,
Can gain great happiness.

To be heedless is like to be self-imprisoned.
He who realizes this is a noble one,
Who has ascended to wisdom’s mansion,
Free from danger, truly safe.
Such a wise man looks down upon the foolish,
Like [one] on the mountain and [the other] on the ground.

Reigning upright amidst the chaotic,
One is uniquely awakened.
Such a man’s power surpasses a lion’s.
Leaving evil, he becomes the Greatly Wise.

By drowsiness, heavy as a mountain;
The deluded one is covered.
Lying down comfortably, he acknowledges no suffering,
And hence enters the womb again and again.

There can be no occasion for self-indulgence;
He who is well-restrained can exhaust the cankers.
The moment when one indulges, Mara gets his chance,
Like a lion [waiting] to catch the deer.

He who has no self-indulgence,
Is a disciplined bhikṣu.
He, whose thoughts are well calmed
Should constantly guard his mind.

A bhikshu finds happiness in caution;
Heedlessness gives him much worry.
Changing disputes from small to big,
And accumulating evil, he gets himself into fire.

Precept observance is meritorious and brings happiness;
Transgressing the precepts produces fear in the heart.
Destroying the cankers of the three spheres.
One comes close to Nirvāṇa.

If one was heedless earlier,
But regains self-control later
—Such a one illuminates the world.
*Being mindful, he is focused on proper [actions].

If one made mistakes in doing evil,
But later covers over it by doing good
—Such a one illumines the world.
*Being mindful, he becomes skillful in proper [actions].

If one abandons the home-life when young and strong
To vigorously practice the Buddha’s teachings
—Such a one illumines the world,
Like the moon freed from clouds.

If one previously had committed evil
But later stops and commits no more;
—Such a one illumines the world,
Like the moon freed from clouds.

He who when living does naught to cause pain,
And at death does not grieve;
Has seen the Truth, and is fearless.
He feels no sorrow where [others] do.

He who can eliminate the black dharmas,
And trains only in the pure white ones;
Will cross over deep water, never to return.
He moves about with no attachment,
Unsullied by [sensual] pleasure,
With no craving, and no sorrow.

Translated from the Chinese by Bhikkhu Kuala Lumpur Dhammajoti

From his book The Chinese Version of Dharmapada, Translated with introduction and annotations.

Published here with the kind permission of the author.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Ayya Vimala.