The Chapter about the Thousands (DHP100-115)

Though there are a thousand sayings consisting of useless words,
better is one useful word hearing which one is brought to peace.

Though there are a thousand verses consisting of useless words,
better is one word of a verse hearing which one is brought to peace.

One may speak a thousand verses consisting of useless words,
better is one verse of Dhamma, hearing which one is brought to peace.

One may conquer a thousand men a thousand times in a battle,
but having conquered one’s own self, one would surely be supreme in battle.

Conquest over self is better than that over other people,
for the person who conquers himself, who lives constantly well-restrained,
neither gods, nor gandhabbas, nor Māra together with Brahmās,
can turn conquest into defeat for a person who is like this.

One might give alms impartially with a thousand coins of money month by month for a hundred years;
and one might worship someone with developed self for a second –
that worship is surely better than the hundred-year sacrifice.

One person might care for the fire in the woods for a hundred years;
and one might worship someone with developed self for a second –
that worship is surely better than the hundred-year sacrifice.

Whatever the alms or the sacrifice in the world
the one seeking merit may give for a year,
all that comes not to a quarter of the merit –
better is the worship of the upright.

For the one who is constantly worshipping honourable elders,
four things increase: the length of life, beauty, happiness, and strength.

One might live for a hundred years, unvirtuous and uncomposed,
but a life of one day is better, for one with virtue and meditation.

One might live for a hundred years, lacking in wisdom, uncomposed,
but a life of one day is better, for one endowed with wisdom and meditation.

One might live for a hundred years, indolent, with less energy,
but a life of one day is better, for one with energy set up and firm.

One might live for a hundred years without seeing rise and fall,
but a life of one day is better for the one seeing rise and fall.

One might live for a hundred years without seeing the deathless state,
but a life of one day is better for one seeing the deathless state.

One might live for a hundred years without seeing the supreme state,
but a life of one day is better for one seeing the supreme state.

Translated by Ānandajoti Bhikkhu.

2nd edition, November 2017.

The text and translation, together with detailed notes and discussions, may be found in multiple formats on the translator’s website, Ancient Buddhist Texts.

Used by kind permission of Bhikkhu Ānandajoti.

The original translation was released under the following licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Aminah Borg-Luck.