The Chapter about the Wise (DHP76-89)

One should regard someone who shows your faults just like one who points out hidden treasure,
one should keep company with such a sagacious, learned person who reproves you;
keeping company with such is surely better for you, not worse.

One should advise and instruct, and forbid whatever is vile,
for he is dear to the good, but he is not dear to the bad.

One should not keep company with wicked friends, one should not keep company with the ignoble,
you should keep company with spiritual friends, you should keep company with superior people.

The one who drinks Dhamma lives well, with a clear mind,
the wise one will always delight in the Dhamma that is made known by the Noble.

Course-makers lead water,
fletchers straighten arrows,
carpenters straighten wood,
the wise master themselves.

Just as solid rock is not shaken by the wind,
so the wise are not moved by blame or praise.

Like a lake that is deep, clear and unruffled,
just so the wise are confident after listening to Dhamma.

True people surely everywhere renounce,
the good do not talk of desiring sense-pleasures;
when touched by pleasure or by suffering,
the wise show neither elation or depression.

Not for one’s own sake and not for another’s sake,
not desiring a child, riches, or a kingdom –
he should not desire his success through corruption;
he should be both virtuous and wise and righteous.

Amongst humans few people go beyond,
the rest of the people run down the bank,
but those who live righteously, conforming with this well-taught Dhamma,
those folk will go beyond the realm of death, which is very hard to cross.

Having abandoned the dark state, the wise one should develop the bright,
having gone forth to homelessness from home; in solitude, where it is hard to delight.

One should desire to delight in that place, having given up sense pleasures, and having no possessions,
the wise one should purify the self of defilements of mind.

For those who have well developed with right mind the factors of complete awakening,
having given up grasping, those who delight in being unattached,
pollutant-free, shining forth, are emancipated in the world.

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.