4. Purity (UV-KG4)

The pure man knows not death ; he who is impure dwells with death; he who is pure will not die; he who is impure dies repeatedly.

The wise who know this difference delight in modesty and purity; their pleasure is that of the elect.

With this (idea) incessantly present to their minds, and always firm in their resolution to gain the other side, they (finally) enjoy nirvāṇa, that unsurpassable felicity.

When the wise men through earnestness have overcome heedlessness, then, steadfast through wisdom, they ascend to above the abode of the gods, and, free from sorrow and pain, they look down as from the summit of a mountain at the fools on the face of the earth.

The wise man through earnestness, virtue, and purity makes himself an island which no flood can submerge.

'Tis the earnest that become far-famed by their diligence, reflection, the purity of their lives, their judgment, their perfect observance (of the commandments), by their whole life which is according to the law.

One must apply oneself to acquire superior insight and the foundation of the condition of the Muni. He who is wrapped up in his uninterrupted thoughts of peace knows no sorrow (ṇibbuta).

Have nothing to do with false doctrines, have nothing to do with the heedless; he who delights not in false theories shall not continue (in) the world.

He who has correct ideas of the world shall acquire such greatness, that though he goes through a thousand regenerations, he shall not fall into the evil way.

The (mind of the) fool who is given up to carelessness is perverted; the wise man must be careful, as is the head of a caravan watching his treasures.

He who is not given up to carelessness, who finds no delight in pleasures, whose mind is always attentive, will put an end to sorrow.

He who has put an end to sorrow, and is not given to carelessness in this world, can no more be hurt by the careless than can the lion by the antelope.

The shameless man who covets his neighbour's wife will experience these four conditions: he acquires (bad) reputation, troubled sleep, thirdly scorn, and fourthly he goes to hell.

He who, acting not virtuously, doeth evil, indulges but for a moment, amidst fear and trembling, his burning passion, and then he has to bear the heavy punishment of the king, and he is burnt in hell.

He who seeks after happiness, let him act vigorously; the steadfast makes no slothful exertions like those of the foolish waggoners.

When the fools with their waggons have given up the highroad and have entered a bad road, they deeply grieve over their mistake.

In like manner, the fool who gives up the law and follows that which is not the law falls into the power of the lord of death; he also is destroyed by reason of his want of sight.

They who do not what ought to be done, and who do that which ought not to be done, who glory in their carelessness, increase the extent of their troubles, and he who adds to his misery finds its cessation a long way off.

He who comprehends the nature of the body, who reflects, and whose exertions are unceasing, does not what ought not to be done, and does what ought to be done.

He, therefore, with memory and understanding will put an end to his misery, and when he has put an end to his misery (asrava), he will find the untroubled state.

As many as you be, I declare unto you that those who, though they have heard but little of the law, have followed its commandments, have understood the law; they who follow the law have understood the law.

Even if the careless man can recite a large portion (of the law), he follows it not; he is like a cowherd counting the cattle of others; he has no share in the priesthood.

He who, though he can only recite a few lines (of the law), walks in the path of the law, and has forsaken passion, anger, and ignorance, he has a share in the priesthood.

He whose speech exalts earnestness and who always despises heedlessness will be greater among the gods than he who has made a hundred sacrifices.

The sage who praises earnestness in his speech knows what is right and what is wrong; the sage holds fast to earnestness for two reasons: for the blessings it brings this life, and also on account of the future; the steadfast who have understood this are called sages.

The Bhixu who delights in purity and who looks with dread on impurity will pull himself from out the evil way as the elephant pulls himself from out the mire.

The Bhixu who delights in purity and who looks with dread on impurity shakes off sin as does the wind the leaves of a tree.

The Bhixu who delights in purity and who looks with dread on impurity puts an end to all attachments and gradually arrives at felicity.

The Bhixu who delights in purity and who looks with dread on impurity arrives at perfect comprehension of rest from the sanskāra, the perfection of peace.

The Bhixu who delights in purity and who looks with dread on impurity is so near nirvāṇa that he cannot fail (to reach it).

The diligent and virtuous man, who lives according to the law, finds by following the law happiness in this world and in the other.

Ye who are earnest in learning for the sake of rest (nirvāṇa), exerting yourselves and filled with application, consider well the lives of those unreflecting, careless, negligent, uncontrolled, and lazy men who have turned away from learning, and hearken not to the unreflecting.

The Bhixu who is truly moral and who delights in earnestness brings thus all his thoughts well under control, and his mind is in safety.

Arise, commence a new life, turn towards the doctrine of the Buddha; trample down the hosts of the lord of death as an elephant does a house of mud.

Whoever has lived according to this law of discipline, in gentleness and purity, will, having cast off transmigration, put an end to his misery.

Chapter on Purity, the Fourth.

Translated by Woodville Rockhill.

1975, Udânavarga: a collection of verses from the Buddhist canon compiled by Dharmatrâta, Oriental Press, Amsterdam (reprint of original from 1883).

Translated (into Tibetan) by the Indian Pandit Vidyaprabhakara and the Lotsāva Bande-rin-tchen-mtchog; revised and arranged by the corrector, the Lotsāva Bande-dpal-brtsegs.

Original taken from University of Oslo, faculty of humanities.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Yasoj and Ayya Vimala.