English
Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One. Dhammanīti 1. Having venerated the excellent jewel, And relying on former teachers, I shall speak of the Law of Conduct, Bringing happiness to all the world. 2. Teacher, skill, Wisdom, learning, story, wealth, Country, refuge, friend, Wicked person, good person, strength, 3. Woman, child, servant, Household, undertaking, Relative, ornament, Royal duty, attendant; 4. What is the use of washing the feet Of those who have no teacher here? Those who are covered with the dust of the feet, They are the wise, the discerning. 5. Without a teacher's instruction, A fool wishes to adorn himself; He does not attain wisdom, How can he not become an object of laughter? 6. Rising up, attending, Listening, serving, Respectfully learning skills, A wise man should please his teacher. 7. The preceptor and the teacher, And mother and father, He who does not respectfully attend to them, His learning is fruitless. 8. The preceptor and the teacher, And mother and father, He who respectfully attends to them, His learning is fruitful. 9. Having thoroughly examined, In letters and instructions, A thief, a murderer, a deceitful student, A teacher, a thief, a kingdom-destroyer. 10. A learned and accomplished scholar, Where he is, it is said, With great effort to that place, One seeking wealth should go. 11. Happiness is like the shade of a tree, Then relatives, mother and father, Then the teacher, then the king, Then the Buddha's teaching. 12. A stone umbrella is heavy, Then the instruction of the gods, Then the advice of the elders, Then the Buddha's teaching. 13. Cotton is light in the world, Then a fickle person, Then the advice of the elders, For one negligent of the Dhamma. 14. Hearing, understanding, counting, Yoga, ethics, special knowledge, Music, mathematics, Archery and completion. 15. Medicine and history, Astrology, magic, prosody, Omens and sounds, These are the eighteen skills. 16. What skill is there for the lazy? What wealth is there for the unskilled? What friends are there for the poor? What happiness is there for the friendless? What merit is there for the unhappy? What Nibbana is there for the unmeritorious? 17. There is no wealth equal to skill, Skill Thieves do not seize it; Skill is a friend in this world, bringing happiness in the next. 18. Always honor the wise, respect the teacher without regret; A king is honored in his own country, but the wise are honored everywhere. 19. What is the use of a lazy wise man? The ignorant is a burden bearer; The wise man is honored in the world, the wise man day by day. 20. Endowed with beauty and youth, born in a great family; Lacking in skill, they do not shine, like erythrina flowers without fragrance. 21. A mother is an enemy, and a father too, if not trained in childhood; He does not shine in the assembly, like a heron among swans. 22. Virtue goes to the highest place, not sleeping on a high bed; Living on the peak of a palace, is a crow like a garuda? 23. He should study all that is heard, low, excellent, and middling; He should know the meaning of all, but not apply all. 24. A fool does not shine in the world, Praising only himself; Even if covered in a well, He proclaims his learnedness. 25. A weapon to tame pride, to make the wicked humble; The light that blinds the eye, like darkness to owls. 26. Food, sex, and sleep, Are found in cows and men; Skill is the distinction of man, Lacking that, he is like a cow. 27. He who, through greed for skill, learns much and much; Like a dumb man seeing a dream, cannot tell it to another. 28. Listening increases learning, learning increases wisdom; Through wisdom, they understand the meaning, the meaning understood brings happiness. 29. Seeing the danger that is to come, he avoids it from afar; Seeing the danger that has come, he is alert on all sides, that is the wise man. 30. Greed, anger, intoxication, pride, sloth, envy, carelessness; Stubbornness, sleepiness, laziness, hypocrisy, stinginess, the wise man should abandon. 31. Faith, shame, fear of wrongdoing, great learning, energy, mindfulness; Endowed with these seven qualities, he is considered wise. 32. The benefit in this life, And the benefit in the life to come; He who is wise in understanding benefits, Is called a wise man. 33. Speech similar to his nature, affection similar to his nature; Anger similar to his nature, he who knows this is wise. 34. A king and a wise man are never equal; A king is honored in his own country, but the wise man Honored by the wise. 35. For the praise of the wise, A fool wields the stick; The wise are praised by the wise, Like a gem praised by a gem expert. 36. By one who is disciplined, Many people are led; All follow discipline, The wise abandon anger. 37. Between the body and its virtues, There is a vast difference; The body is quickly destroyed, But virtues last for ages. 38. Having attained great wealth, Knowledge, and prosperity, One who behaves humbly, Is called a wise person. 39. They do not crave the unattainable, Nor grieve for what is lost; They are not confused by misfortune, The wise are like the night. 40. In a place of unity, The wise should not be arrogant; What is a bamboo shoot, Compared to the sun illuminating great islands? 41. Is there anyone devoid Of both virtues and faults? The lotus is soft, But the reed is rough. 42. Holding great scriptures, And being very learned, They toil to resolve doubts, Bewildered by greed and delusion. 43. Seeing faults as virtues, And arguing for virtues, The world does not see, Even the mark on the moon. 44. The wise and intelligent, Should associate with the brave; Attaining their own benefit, The benefit of others, and the bliss of Nibbana. 45. "There is no water in the riverbank well, Nor in the dry palm tree"; Such words are like, "There is no truth in his mouth." 46. The wise are like a drum when not asked, But like rain when asked; The fool, asked or unasked, Always boasts much. 47. Adorned with virtues, Beneficial to all beings; If one does not seek the benefit of others, How can one be wise? 48. The wise should seek the benefit of others, If unable, seek their own; If unable to do even that, Separate themselves from evil. 49. One hears everything with the ear, One sees everything with the eye; The wise should not desire, To investigate everything seen and heard. 50. Like a blind man with eyes, Like a deaf man with ears, Like a mute man with wisdom, Like a weak man with strength; When matters arise, One should remain silent, as if dead. 51. The wise desire a son, Who is superior or equal; They do not desire one who is inferior, Who destroys the family lineage. 52. In the assembly of scholars, I alone am the debater; I alone am the speaker, They cannot stand against me; 53. They are not tranquil in the assembly hall, They do not delight in the Dhamma of the wise; Having abandoned lust, hatred, and delusion, Those who speak the Dhamma are truly tranquil. 54. One should not be angry with fools, madmen, or kings, Nor with teachers, mothers, or fathers; Nor with elder brothers in the Sangha, The wise do not engage in such anger. 55. One's own mental anguish, And evil deeds done at home; Deceit and disrespect, The wise do not reveal. 56. Like looking at another's wife, Or a clod of earth as another's property; One who sees all beings As equal to oneself is wise. 57. Friendship through deceit, Dhamma through impurity, Prosperity through harming others; Knowledge through ease, a woman through harshness, The wise do not desire these. 58. One should examine carefully, And then partake of fine food; A pot that is cracked or unripe, Will be the same with the vessel. 59. They gather wealth from afar, Like gems found on mountains; But not those near the border regions, So are fools with much learning. 60. Like gold for animals, Or good conduct for the immoral; What use is much learning To the unrighteous through unrighteousness? 61. A man with little learning, Lives like an ox; His muscles grow, But his wisdom does not grow. 62. One with little learning, thinks his learning is much, He is conceited; Not having seen the ocean, He is like a frog in a well. 63. Know this also by this, In the shallows and along the banks; The small streams make noise, The great ocean is silent. 64. The good say that well-spoken words are best, Secondly, speaking the Dhamma, not the Adhamma; Thirdly, speaking what is pleasing, not unpleasing, Fourthly, speaking the truth, not falsehood. 65. Like gold does not remain mixed with copper, The words of the wise do not remain with the wicked. 66. Great is the power of fire, But clay is soft and easy to mold; Water softens the hard, Gentle speech softens the harsh. 67. One conquers an enemy with gentleness, One conquers the cruel with gentleness; There is nothing that gentleness cannot achieve, For one conquers through gentleness. 68. Sandalwood is cool in the world, The moon is cooler than that; But the calmed one is cooler Than sandalwood and the moon. A well-spoken word is a good saying. 69. One with cool speech has many friends, One with harsh speech has no friends; An analogy here should be understood, Like the moon, the sun, and a king. 70. A little speech, well-spoken, Becomes a good saying; Even a small piece of broken rice, When eaten, has a pleasant taste. 71. Many words are meaningless, Many speakers are without respect; Even kindness is ignored, Like water in a river, unseen. 72. One should not speak excessively, Nor be silent at all times; Measured, concise speech, Utter at the right time. 73. In desired, skillful actions, Speech is the root of skill; Through skillful speech, Desired goals are achieved. 74. Hands, feet, head, back, Belly—these five parts of a person; Only the mouth is served, Always by those who are instructed.