Dhamma for your daily life from Dhammapada .

Happy is virtue until old age.

Happy is faith that firmly stands.

Happy is it to gain insight.

Happy is it to commit no sin.




Of what is not shameful they are ashamed,
But of the shameful they are not ashamed.
Embracing false views as such,
Those beings go to a woeful realm.



What is not to be feared they fear,
What is fearsome they fear not.
Embracing false views as such.
Those beings go to a woeful fealm.



They think there is harm where there is none,
And they do not see where harm exists.
Embracing false views as such,
Those beings go to a woeful realm.



Perceiving wrong as wrong.
Perceiving right as right,
Beings of such right views
In a blissful realm arise.

Misconduct is defilement of a woman.
Stinginess is defilement of a donor.
Tainted indeed are all evil things,
Both in this world and the world to come.



A greater taint than these is ignorance,
The worst taint of all.
Rid yourselves of ignorance, monks,
And be without taint.



............




Easy is the life of a shameless one
Who is as bold as a crow,
A back-biting, a forward,
An arrogant and a corrupted one.



Hard is the life of a modest one
Who ever seeks after purity,
Who is strenous, humble,
Cleanly of life, and discerning.



.........



Whoso destroys life,
Tells lies,
Takes what is not given,
Commits sexual misconduct,
And is addicted to intoxicating drinks-
Such a one roots out oneself in this very world.
_________________

He who ever reverences and respects elders
Four qualities for him increase:
Long life, fame, happiness and strength.



As an elephant in the battle field
Withstands the arrows shot from a bow.
Even so will I endure abuse,
For people's conduct is mostly low.



Whosover wishes his own happiness
Yet inflicts suffering on others -
He is not free from hatred,
Entangled in the tangle of anger.



Make a refuge unto yourself
Quickly strive and become wise.
Purged of taint and free from stain,
To heavenly state of the Noble will you attain.



Whoso, as rolling chariot, checks
His anger which has risen up -
Him I call charioteer.
Others merely hold the reins.




One should give up anger and pride,
One should overcome all fetters.
Ill never befalls him who is passionless,
Who clings not to Name and Form.



Therefore hold nothing dear,
For separation from the beloved is painful.
There are no bonds for those
To whom nothing is dear or not dear.

Be not attached to the beloved
And never with the unbeloved.
Not to meet the beloved is painful
As also to meet with the unbeloved.



Hedlth is the highest gain,
Contentment is the greatest wealth,
Trustful are the best kinsmen,
Nibbana is the highest bliss.



Abstention from all evil,
Cultivation of the wholesome,
Purification of the heart;
This is the Message of the Buddhas.

Hard is it to be born as a man,
Hard is the life of immortals,
Hard is it to hear the Truth Sublime,
Hard as well is the Buddha's rise.



Who by his wholesome deeds
Remove the evil done-
He illumines the world here and now
Like the moon emerging from the cloud.



Whoso was previously negligent
But afterwards practises vigilance-
He illumines the world here and now
Like the moon emerging from the cloud.



By oneself is evil done,
By oneself does one get defiled.
By oneself is evil left undone,
By oneself is one purified.
Purity or impurity depends on oneself,
No one can purify another.



Oneself indeed is master of oneself,
Who else could other master be?
With oneself perfectly trained,
One obtains a refuge hard to gain.



As he instructs others,
He should himself act.
Himself fully controlled,
He should control others.
Difficult indeed is to control oneself.



One should first establish oneself
In what is proper,
And then instruct others.
A wise man who acts in this way
Shall never get defiled.

Despise not evil,
Saying 'it will not come to me'
Drop by drop, is the water pot filled,
Likewise the fool, gathering little by little,
Fills himself with evil.


Despise not merit,
Saying 'it will not come to me'
Drop by drop, is the water pot filled,
Likewise the man, gathering little by little,
Fills himself with merit.

Mind foreruns all mental conditions,
Mind is chief, mind-made are they;
If one speaks or acts with a wiked mind,
Then suffering will follows him
Even as the wheel, the hoof of the ox.



Mind foreruns all mental conditions,
Mind is chief, mind-made are they;
If one speaks or acts with a pure mind,
Then happiness follows him
Even as the shadow that never leaves.



Heedful among the deedless,
Wide awake among those asleep,
The wise man advances
As a swift horse leaving a weak nag behind.



The flickering, fickle mind,
Difficult to guard, diffucult to control,
The wise man straightens,
As a fletcher, an arrow.



What neither mother, nor father,
Nor any other relative can do,
A well-directed mind does
And thereby elevates one.



Pay not attention to the faults of others,
Things done or left undone by others.
Consider only what by oneself
is done or left undone.

If, as he fares, he finds no companion
Who is better or equal,
Let him firmly pursue his solitary career;
There is no fellowship with the fool.



An evil deed committed
Does not immediately bare fruit,
Just as milk curdles not at once;
Smouldering like fire covered by ashes,
It follows the fool.



Should one see a wise man,
Who, like a revealer of treasures,
Points out faults and reproves,
Let one associate with such a one,
Well is it, not ill, to associate with such a one.



......



Soon, alas! will this body lie
Upon the ground, unheeded,
Devoid of consciousness,
Even as useless log.

'I have sons, I have wealth';
So thinks the fool and is troubled.
He himself is not his own.
How then are sons, how wealth?


A fool aware of this stupidity
Is in so far wise,
But the fool thinking himself wise
Is called a fool indeed.



That deed is not well done,
After doing which one feels remorse
And the fruit whereof is received
With tears and lamentations.



Well done is that deed
Which, done, brings no regret;
The fruit whereof is received
With delight and satisfaction.



An evil deed seems sweet to the fool
So long as it does not bear fruit;
But when it ripens,
The fool comes to grief.


The fool gains knowledge
Only for his ruin;
It destroys his good actions
And cleaves his head.



'Let both layman and monks think,
By me only was this done;
In every work, great or small,
Let them refer to me.'
Such is the ambition of the fool;
His desire and pride increase.

Even as a solid rock
Is not shaken by the wind.
So do the wise remain unmoved
By praise or blame.


Whose minds are well perfected
In the Factors of Enlightenment,
Who without clinging, delight in detachment -
They, the corruption-free, radient ones,
Have attained Nibbana in the Here-and-Now.


......


Should one recite a hundred verses,
Comprising useless words,
Better is one single word of the Dharma,
Hearing which one is pacified.


Though one should live a hundred years,
Without conduct and concentration,
Yet, better is a single day's life
Of one who is moral and meditative.



Though one should live a hundred years,
Without wisdom and concentration,
Yet, better is a single day's life
Of one who is wise and meditative.


Though one should live a hundred years,
Sluggish and inactive
Yet, better is a single day's life
Of one who is intensely exerts himself


Better is a single day's life of one
Who discerns the rise and fall of things
Than a hundred years' life of one
Who is not comprehending



Better is a single day's life of one
Who see the Deathless
Than a hundred years' life of one
Who see not that state.



Better is a single day's life of one
Who understands the truth sublime
Than a hundred years' life of one
Who knows not that truth, so high.

If no wound there be in the hand,
One may handle poison;
Poison does not affect one who has no wound;
There is no ill for him who does no wrong.



Whosoever offends a harmless person,
One pure and guiltless,
Upon that very fool the evil recoils
Even as fine dust thrown against the wind.



Some are born in the womb again;
The evil-doers are born in hell;
The good go to heaven;
The Undefiled Ones attain Nibbana.



Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean,
Nor in the clefts of the rocks,
Nowhere in the world is a place to be found
Where abiding one may escape from
(the consequences of) an evil deed.


Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean,
Nor in the clefts of the rocks,
Nowhere in the world is found that place
Where abiding one will not be overcome by death.

All tremble at punishment;
All fear death;
Comparing others with oneself,
One should neither kill nor cause to kill.



Speak not harshly to anyone.
Those thus addressed will retort.
Painful, indeed, is vindictive speech.
Blows in exchange may bruise you.



If you silence yourself
As a broken gong,
You have already attained Nibbana.
No contention will be found in you.



When a fool does wicked deeds,
He does not know their future fruit.
The witless one is tormented by his own deeds
As if being burnt by fire.



He who inflicts punishment on those
Who are harmless and who offend no one
Speedily comes to one of these ten states:
To grievous bodily pain,
To disaster,
To bodily injury,
To serious illness,
To loss of mind,
Will he come.
To oppression by the king,
To grave accusation,
To loss of relatives,
To destruction of wealth,
(will he come).
Or his house will be burnt up with fire,
And that unwise one will pass to hell
In the world to come.
_________________

What this laughter, what this joy
When the world is ever on fire?
Shrounded all about by darkness,
Will you not then look for light?



Behold this beautiful body,
A mass of sores, a bone-gathering,
Diseased and full of hankerings,
With no lasting, no persisting.



Thoroughly worn out is this body,
A net of deseases and very frail.
This heap of corruption breaks to pieces.
For life indeed ends in death.


As gourds are cast away in autumn,
So are these dove-hued bones.
What pleasure is there found
For one who looks at them?



Of bones is this city made,
Plastered with flesh and blood.
Herein dwell decay and death,
Pride and detraction.


Having led neither a good life,
Nor acquired riches while young,
They lie about like broken bows,
Sighing about the past.

Oneself indeed is master of oneself,
Who else could other master be?
With oneself perfectly trained,
One obtains a refuge hard to gain.



An exceedingly corrupted man is like
A creeper strangling a tree.
Surely, he does unto himself
What his enemy would wish for him.


Whoso would look upon the world
Just as one would see a bubble,
And as one would view a mirage -
Him the King of Death finds not.

From love springs grief,
From love springs fear;
For him who is free from love
Thire is neither grief nor fear.



From lust springs grief,
From lust springs fear;
For him who is free from lust
Thire is neither grief nor fear.



From craving springs grief,
From craving springs fear;
For him who is free from craving
Thire is neither grief nor fear.



He who is perfect in virtue and insight,
Is established in the Dharma;
Who speaks the truth and fullfills his own duty -
Him do people hold dear.



Conquer anger by love,
Conquer evil by good,
Conquer the miser by liberality,
Conquer the liar by truth


One should speak the truth.
One should not give way to anger.
If asked for little one should give.
One may go, by these three means,
To the presence of celestials.



Not only today, O Atula,
From days of old has this been so:
Sitting silent - him they blame,
Speaking too much - him they blame,
Talking little - him they blame,
There is no one in the world who is not blamed.

There never was, and never will be,
Nor is there now to be found
A person who is wholly blamed
Or wholly praised,


.....

By gradual practice,
From moment to moment,
And little by little,
Let the wise man blow out
His own impurities
Just as a smith removes
The dross of ore.

.....


Whoso destroys life,
Tells lies,
Takes what is not given,
Commits sexual misconduct,
And is addicted to intoxicating drinks -
Such a one roots out oneself in this very world.



Easy to perceive are others' faults,
One's own, however, are hard to see.
Like chaff one winnows others' faults,
But conceals one's own
Just as a cheating gambler hides
An ill-thrown dice.



He who sees others' faults
And is ever censorious -
Defilements of such a one grow
Far is he from destroying them.



No track is there in the sky.
No samanas are there outside.
No eternal compounded thing.
No instability is there in the Buddhas.

A man is not called wise
Merely because he speaks much.
Secure, hateless and fearless -
Such a man is called wise.



A man is not an elder
Merely because his head is grey.
Ripe is his age,
And old-in-vain is he called.

In whom there are truth, virtue, harmlessness,
Self-mastery, and self-restraint
Who is free from defilements and is wise -
He, indeed, is called an elder.


'Impermanent are all conditioned things',
When thus one sees with wisdom,
Then is one disgusted with Ill.
This is the path to purity.

'Full of Ill are all conditioned things',
When thus one sees with wisdom,
Then is one disgusted with Ill.
This is the path to purity.

'Lacking permanent entity are all events',
When thus one sees with wisdom,
Then is one disgusted with Ill.
This is the path to purity.
_________________

As long as the brushwood of lust, however small,
Of a man towards a woman is not destroyed,
So long is his mind attached (to existence)
As a sucking calf to its mother-cow.


No sons are there for protection,
Neither father nor even kinsmen.
For one who is assailed by death
No protection is there found among kinsmen.

Thoroughly knowing this fact,
The wise man, restrained in the rules,
Delays not to clear the way
That leads to Nibbana.

The good shine from far away
Just as the Himalayan peaks.
The wicked are not seen, though near,
Just as an arrow shot at night.


...


A sluggard, or glutton, too,
Rolling himself about in gross sleep
Like a big hog nursed on pig-wash -
That foolish one endlessly comes to birth.

...


Happy is it to honour mother.

Happy is it to honour father.

Happy is it to honour ascetics.

Happy is it to honour the Noble Ones.