Established In The Dhamma (DHP256-272)

One who hastily assesses what is good
Is not established in Dhamma.
The wise one investigates both good and bad,

And judges others thoughtfully, justly, and
impartially.
This intelligent one, this protector of the Dhamma,
Is called established in the Dhamma.

One is not wise in virtue of speaking much.
One who is called wise is peaceful, friendly, and
fearless.

One does not uphold the Dhamma simply by many
words.
One upholds the Dhamma when it is not neglected;
When, having heard but a little, observes it with
one’s own body.

One is not an elder just by a gray head.
Ripe only in years, he is called grown old in vain.

But one in whom there is truth and Dhamma,
Non-violence, restraint, and moderation,
With impurities discarded,
This wise one is truly called elder.

Not by eloquence or lotus-like beauty,
does one who is envious, selfish, and deceitful,
become exemplary.

The wise one who has cut off, destroyed at the root,
and removed these;
Who has discarded ill will altogether;
This one is called exemplary.

Not by a bald head is one a renunciant—
One who does not observe the precepts, who lies.
What renunciant is possessed by longing and greed!

But one who subdues evil thoroughly, whether big
or small,
Is by so doing truly called renunciant.

One is not a monk just by begging from another.
Having undertaken a foul tradition, one is not then
a monk.

But the one who sets aside both merit and demerit,
who leads a holy life,
Who lives in the world perceptively,
This one is truly is called monk.

One deluded and ignorant is not a sage by silence.
But one who takes up the best as if holding a scale is
wise.

One who avoids evils thereby is a sage.
One who knows both best and worst in the world is
thereby called sage.

One is not a noble by hurting living beings.
One who is gentle to all beings is thereby called
noble.

Neither by precept and virtue, nor by great
learning;
Neither by attaining samādhi, nor inhabiting a
solitary dwelling;

Nor by thinking, “I touch the happiness of
renunciation, unknown to the ordinary,” Do you, O monk, find contentment,
If you have not attained the dissolution of the
toxins.

© Peter Feldmeier, 2013.

First published in Dhammapada — The Way of Truth : A Fresh Translation and Commentary on Buddhism’s Most Beloved Text by Buddhist Publication Society.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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