The Chapter about the Elephant (DHP320-333)

Like an elephant in battle endures an arrow shot from bow
so will I endure abuse, for many people are unvirtuous.

They lead one trained into a crowd, a king mounts one who has been trained,
amongst humans one trained is best, the one who can endure abuse.

Noble are the well-trained horses, the well-bred horses from Sindh,
and the great tusker elephants, and even more noble than that is the one who has trained himself.

Not by these vehicles can one go to the place beyond destinations,
as one through training himself well, being trained by the training, goes.

The tusker named Dhanapālaka
musty in rut, difficult to restrain,
bound, he doesn’t eat even a morsel,
the tusker remembers the elephant forest.

When one is torpid and overeats,
sleepy and rolling on the bed,
like a great pig fed on fodder,
that fool comes to the womb again.

Formerly this wandering mind wandered
through desire, pleasure and happiness,
but today I will control it wisely,
like one with goad an elephant in rut.

You should delight in heedfulness, you should always protect your mind,
you should raise yourself from this pit like the tusker sunk in the mud.

If you should find a prudent friend
or companion, one who lives well, a wise one,
overcoming all your troubles
you should live with that one, glad and mindful.

If you do not find a prudent friend
or companion, one who lives well, a wise one,
like a king who abandons his conquered kingdom
one should live alone like a solitary elephant in the forest.

It is better to live alone, there can be no friendship with a fool,
one should live alone and not do anything bad,
unconcerned like a solitary elephant in the forest.

Friends are good whenever need arises,
being content with everything is good,
at the break-up of life merit is good,
the abandoning of all suffering is good.

Respecting one’s mother is good in the world, also respecting one’s father is good,
respecting ascetics is good in the world, also respecting true brahmins is good.

Virtuous conduct till old age is good, the establishing of faith is good,
the acquisition of wisdom is good, doing nothing wicked is 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.