The Path (DHP273-289)

Of paths, the eightfold is supreme;
Of truths, the four proclamations;
Of mental states, dispassion;
Of people, the truly perceptive.

Only this is the path;
There is no other for purity of vision.
Follow this, the path that bewilders Māra.

Following this path,
You will truly put an end to suffering.
This is the path I have proclaimed,
Having known the arrow’s removal.

The effort must be done by you.
The tathāgatas are only proclaimers.
Following the path, those absorbed in meditation
Will be freed from Māra’s bonds.

When one perceives with wisdom
That all conditioned things are impermanent,
Then one wearies of suffering.
This is the path to purity.

When one perceives with wisdom
That all conditioned things are suffering,
Then one wearies of suffering.
This is the path to purity.

When one perceives with wisdom
That all things are without self,
Then one wearies of suffering.
This is the path to purity.

The one who is inactive at a time for exertion,
Who though young and strong is slothful,
Who is lazy, lethargic,
Whose mind’s resolves are exhausted;
Such a one will not find the path of wisdom.

Guarded in speech, restrained in mind and body,
Do nothing unwholesome.
Purify these three ways of action,
And complete the path proclaimed by the wise.

From practice wisdom arises;
From lack of practice wisdom is lost.
Having recognized this twofold path of
development and decline,
Establish yourself so that wisdom grows.

Cut down the entire forest (of passion), not just one
tree.
From the forest, fear is born.
Having cut down the forest and underbrush,
O monks, be deforested.

As long as the underbrush (of passion) is not cut
down,
And even the smallest amount of sexual passion
remains,
One’s mind remains tethered,
Like a calf sucking milk from its mother.

Cut off affection for self,
As you would an autumn lotus with your hand.
Cultivate the path of tranquility,
To Nibbāna, taught by the Well-Gone One.

“Here I will stay during the rains,
Here for winter and summer,” so thinks the fool.
He does not recognize the danger.

Death takes that man with mind attached,
Intoxicated by sons and cattle,
Like a great flood takes a sleeping village.

There are no sons for protection, or father or even
kin,
There is no protection in relatives for one seized by
death.

Knowing this, governed by virtue,
The wise should quickly clear the path leading to
Nibbāna.

© 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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