The Chapter about the Self (DHP157-166)

If one regards oneself as dear one should guard oneself right well,
during one of the three watches of the night the wise one should stay alert.

First one should establish oneself in what is suitable,
then one can advise another, the wise one should not have any defilement.

He should do himself as he would advise another to do,
being well-trained, he could surely train another, for it is said the self is difficult to train.

For the self is the friend of self, for what other friend would there be?
When the self is well-trained, one finds a friend that is hard to find.

That wickedness done by oneself, born in oneself, arising in oneself,
crushes the one who is stupid, as a diamond crushes a rock-jewel.

The one who has an exceeding lack of virtue, like a deadly creeper covering a Sal tree,
makes himself the same as his enemy wishes him to be.

Easily done are things not good, and unbeneficial for oneself,
but that which is beneficial and good is supremely hard to do.

Whoever reviles the worthy teaching of the Noble Ones who live by Dhamma,
that stupid one, depending on wicked views,
like the bamboo when it bears fruit, brings about his own destruction.

By oneself alone is a wicked deed done, by oneself is one defiled,
by oneself is a wicked deed left undone, by oneself is one purified,
purity and impurity come from oneself, for no one can purify another.

One should not neglect one’s own good for another’s, however great;
knowing what is good for oneself one should be intent on that good.

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.