Craving (DHP334-359)

The craving of the careless one grows like a creeper.
The craver jumps from existence to existence,
Like a monkey seeking fruit in the forest.

One who is conquered by this miserable craving,
This clinging in the world:
His sorrows grow like bīraṇa grass after rain.

But one who conquers this miserable craving,
So difficult to overcome in the world:
His sorrows fall away, like drops of water from a
lotus.

I say to you: Good fortune to all assembled here!
Uproot the root of craving,
As one would who desires the fragrant root of the
bīraṇa grass.
Let not Māra crush you, as a torrent crushes a reed,
Again and again and again.

Just as a tree cut down will grow again
When the root remains healthy and strong,
So this suffering arises again and again
When dormant craving is not destroyed.

The wrong-viewed person,
The one in whom the thirty-six streams of craving
flow mightily,
Is carried away by these currents,
These thoughts dependent on passion.

Streams flow everywhere.
The creeper, having sprung up, establishes itself.
Seeing that the creeper has emerged,
Use wisdom to cut it off at the root.

Delights, flowing along and filled with lust, arise in
people.
Surely, those intent on enjoyment, seeking pleasure,
Undergo birth and old age.

Encircled by craving,
People run around like ensnared hares.
Bound by the fetters of attachment.
They undergo long suffering again and again.

Encircled by craving,
People run around like ensnared hares.
Therefore, one who desires dispassion
Should dispel craving.

Who, for the sake of being free from the forest (of
craving), Is resolved upon the forest (of solitude), And then runs back to the forest (of craving); Come and see one freed who runs back into
bondage!

The fetter made of iron, of wood, or of babbaja grass,
Is not so strong, say the wise.
But infatuation with jewels and ornaments,
Or longing for sons and wives,

That is a strong bond, say the wise,
Loose, yet difficult to be freed from.
When the bond is cut, they go about,
Free from longing,
Having abandoned sensual pleasure.

Those excited by passion fall into the current,
As a spider caught in its self-made web.
Having cut off this passion, the wise set forth,
Free from longing,
Having abandoned all suffering.

Let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of the
present.
Gone to the other shore of existence,
With mind everywhere emancipated,
You will not again come to birth and old age.

For the one with disturbed thoughts and intense
passion,
Who is focused on pleasant things,
Craving only grows stronger.
Indeed, craving fortifies the fetter.

For the one devoted to calming thoughts, always
mindful,
Who meditates on what is foul:
That one will make an end and cut off Māra’s bond.

One who has attained perfection,
Who is pure, without craving or fear:
This one has destroyed the arrows of becoming;
His present body, the last.

One who is without craving, free of grasping,
Skilled in the scriptures, who would know their
arrangement;
Such a one is truly called great person;
Such a one possesses great wisdom;
Such a one is living his final life.

I know all; I overcome all.
Free of stain in all conditions,
Abandoning everything,
Emancipated by the dissolution of craving,
I have understood everything on my own.

The gift of Dhamma overwhelms all gifts.
The taste of Dhamma overwhelms all tastes.
The delight of Dhamma overwhelms all delights.
The dissolution of craving overwhelms all suffering.

Wealth wounds those lacking wisdom,
Not those seeking the other shore.
Craving wealth, those who lack wisdom
Destroy others, even as themselves.

Fields are ruined by weeds;
Humanity is ruined by passions.
But indeed what is given to those whose passions are
gone
Bears great fruit.

Fields are ruined by weeds;
Humanity is ruined by ill will.
But indeed what is given to those whose ill will is
gone
Bears great fruit.

Fields are ruined by weeds;
Humanity is ruined by delusion.
But indeed what is given to those whose delusion is
gone
Bears great fruit.

Fields are ruined by weeds;
Humanity is ruined by longing.
Truly, what is given to those whose longing is gone
Bears great fruit.

© 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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