The Gospel of BuddhaBuddhismScripture SelectionEnglish (compiled from Pali and Sanskrit sources)ShareThe Gospel of Buddha 48Paul Carus (1894) - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availablePaul Carus (1894)LanguageEnglishEspañol‹The Gospel of Buddha 1The Gospel of Buddha 2The Gospel of Buddha 3The Gospel of Buddha 4The Gospel of Buddha 5The Gospel of Buddha 6The Gospel of Buddha 7The Gospel of Buddha 8The Gospel of Buddha 9The Gospel of Buddha 10The Gospel of Buddha 11The Gospel of Buddha 12The Gospel of Buddha 13The Gospel of Buddha 14The Gospel of Buddha 15The Gospel of Buddha 16The Gospel of Buddha 17The Gospel of Buddha 18The Gospel of Buddha 19The Gospel of Buddha 20The Gospel of Buddha 21The Gospel of Buddha 22The Gospel of Buddha 23The Gospel of Buddha 24The Gospel of Buddha 25The Gospel of Buddha 26The Gospel of Buddha 27The Gospel of Buddha 28The Gospel of Buddha 29The Gospel of Buddha 30The Gospel of Buddha 31The Gospel of Buddha 32The Gospel of Buddha 33The Gospel of Buddha 34The Gospel of Buddha 35The Gospel of Buddha 36The Gospel of Buddha 37The Gospel of Buddha 38The Gospel of Buddha 39The Gospel of Buddha 40The Gospel of Buddha 41The Gospel of Buddha 42The Gospel of Buddha 43The Gospel of Buddha 44The Gospel of Buddha 45The Gospel of Buddha 46The Gospel of Buddha 47The Gospel of Buddha 48The Gospel of Buddha 49The Gospel of Buddha 50The Gospel of Buddha 51The Gospel of Buddha 52The Gospel of Buddha 53The Gospel of Buddha 54The Gospel of Buddha 55The Gospel of Buddha 56The Gospel of Buddha 57The Gospel of Buddha 58The Gospel of Buddha 59The Gospel of Buddha 60The Gospel of Buddha 61The Gospel of Buddha 62The Gospel of Buddha 63The Gospel of Buddha 64The Gospel of Buddha 65The Gospel of Buddha 66The Gospel of Buddha 67The Gospel of Buddha 68The Gospel of Buddha 69The Gospel of Buddha 70The Gospel of Buddha 71The Gospel of Buddha 72The Gospel of Buddha 73The Gospel of Buddha 74The Gospel of Buddha 75The Gospel of Buddha 76The Gospel of Buddha 77The Gospel of Buddha 78The Gospel of Buddha 79The Gospel of Buddha 80The Gospel of Buddha 81The Gospel of Buddha 82The Gospel of Buddha 83The Gospel of Buddha 84The Gospel of Buddha 85The Gospel of Buddha 86The Gospel of Buddha 87The Gospel of Buddha 88The Gospel of Buddha 89The Gospel of Buddha 90The Gospel of Buddha 91The Gospel of Buddha 92The Gospel of Buddha 93The Gospel of Buddha 94The Gospel of Buddha 95The Gospel of Buddha 96The Gospel of Buddha 97The Gospel of Buddha 98The Gospel of Buddha 99The Gospel of Buddha 100›Chapter XLVIII: The DhammapadaThe Gospel of Buddha 48ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1This is the Dhammapada, the path of religion pursued by those who are followers of the Buddha: 2Creatures from mind their character derive; mind-marshalled are they, mind-made. Mind is the source either of bliss or of corruption. 4By oneself evil is done; by oneself one suffers; by oneself evil is left undone; by oneself one is purified. Purity and impurity belong to oneself, no one can purify another. 3 You yourself must make an effort. The Tathāgatas are only preachers. The thoughtful who enter the way are freed from the bondage of Māra. 5He who does not rouse himself when it is time to rise; who, though young and strong, is full of sloth; whose will and thoughts are weak; that lazy and idle man will never find the way to enlightenment. 6If a man hold himself dear, let him watch himself carefully; the truth guards him who guards himself. 7If a man makes himself as he teaches others to be, then, being himself subdued, he may subdue others; one's own self is indeed difficult to subdue. 8If some men conquer in battle a thousand times a thousand men, and if another conquer himself, he is the greatest of conquerors. 9It is the habit of fools, be they laymen or members of the clergy, to think, "this is done by me. May others be subject to me. In this or that transaction a prominent part should be played by me." Fools do not care for the duty to be performed or the aim to be reached, but think of their self alone. Everything is but a pedestal of their vanity. 10Bad deeds, and deeds hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do; what is beneficial and good, that is very difficult. 11If anything is to be done, let a man do it, let him attack it vigorously! 12Before long, alas! this body will lie on the earth, despised, without understanding, like a useless log; yet our thoughts will endure. They will be thought again, and will produce action. Good thoughts will produce good actions, and bad thoughts will produce bad actions. 13Earnestness is the path of immortality, thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who are in earnest do not die; those who are thoughtless are as if dead already. 14Those who imagine they find truth in untruth, and see untruth in truth, will never arrive at truth, but follow vain desires. They who know truth in truth, and untruth in untruth, arrive at truth, and follow true desires. 15As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind. As rain does not break through a well-thatched house, passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind. 16Well-makers lead the water wherever they like; fletchets bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion themselves; wise people falter not amidst blame and praise. Having listened to the law, they become serene, like a deep, smooth, and still lake. 17If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage. 18An evil deed is better left undone, for a man will repent of it afterwards; a good deed is better done, for having done it one will not repent. 19If a man commits a wrong let him not do it again; let him not delight in wrongdoing; pain is the outcome of evil. If a man does what is good, let him do it again; let him delight in it; happiness is the outcome of good. 20Let no man think lightly of evil, saying in his heart, "It will not come nigh unto me." As by the falling of water-drops a water-pot is filled, so the fool becomes full of evil, though he gather it little by little. 21Let no man think lightly of good, saying in his heart, "It will not come nigh unto me." As by the falling of water-drops a water-pot is filled, so the wise man becomes full of good, though he gather it little by little. 22He who lives for pleasure only, his senses uncontrolled, immoderate in his food, idle, and weak, him Māra, the tempter, will certainly overthrow, as the wind throws down a weak tree. He who lives without looking for pleasures, his senses well-controlled, moderate in his food, faithful and strong, him Māra will certainly not overthrow, any more than the wind throws down a rocky mountain. 23The fool who knows his foolishness, is wise at least so far. But a fool who thinks himself wise, he is a fool indeed. 24To the evil-doer wrong appears sweet as honey; he looks upon it as pleasant so long as it bears no fruit; but when its fruit ripens, then he looks upon it as wrong. And so the good man looks upon the goodness of the Dharma as a burden and an evil so long as it bears no fruit; but when its fruit ripens, then he sees its goodness. 25A hater may do great harm to a hater, or an enemy to an enemy; but a wrongly-directed mind will do greater mischief unto itself. A mother, a father, or any other relative will do much good; but a well-directed mind will do greater service unto itself. 26He whose wickedness is very great brings himself down to that state where his enemy wishes him to be. He himself is his greatest enemy. Thus a creeper destroys the life of a tree on which it finds support. 27Do not direct thy thought to what gives pleasure, that thou mayest not cry out when burning, "This is pain." The wicked man burns by his own deeds, as if burnt by fire. 28Pleasures destroy the foolish; the foolish man by his thirst for pleasures destroys himself as if he were his own enemy. The fields are damaged by hurricanes and weeds; mankind is damaged by passion, by hatred, by vanity, and by lust. 29Let no man ever take into consideration whether a thing is pleasant or unpleasant. The love of pleasure begets grief and the dread of pain causes fear; he who is free from the love of pleasure and the dread of pain knows neither grief nor fear. 30He who gives himself to vanity, and does not give himself to meditation, forgetting the real aim of life and grasping at pleasure, will in time envy him who has exerted himself in meditation. 31The fault of others is easily noticed, but that of oneself is difficult to perceive. A man winnows his neighbor's faults like chaff, but his own fault he hides, as a cheat hides the false die from the gambler. 32If a man looks after the faults of others, and is always inclined to take offence, his own passions will grow, and he is far from the destruction of passions. 33Not about the perversities of others, not about their sins of commission or omission, but about his own misdeeds and negligences alone should a sage be worried. 34Good people shine from afar, like the snowy mountains; had people are concealed, like arrows shot by night. 35If a man by causing pain to others, wishes to obtain pleasure for himself, he, entangled in the bonds of selfishness, will never be free from hatred. 36Let a man overcome anger by love, let him overcome evil by good; let him overcome the greedy by liberality, the liar by truth! 37For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by not-hatred, this is an old rule. 38Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked; by these three steps thou wilt become divine. 39Let a wise man blow off the impurities of his self, as a smith blows off the impurities of silver, one by one, little by little, and from time to time. 40Lead others, not by violence, but by righteousness and equity. 41He who possesses virtue and intelligence, who is just, speaks the truth, and does what is his own business, him the world will hold dear. 42As the bee collects nectar and departs without injuring the flower, or its color or scent, so let a sage dwell in the community. 43If a traveller does not meet with one who is his better, or his equal, let him firmly keep to his solitary journey; there is no companionship with fools. 44Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true religion. 45Better than living a hundred years, not seeing the highest truth, is one day in the life of a man who sees the highest truth. 46Some form their Dharma arbitrarily and fabricate it artificially; they advance complex speculations and imagine that good results are attainable only by the acceptance of their theories; yet the truth is but one; there are not different truths in the world. Having reflected on the various theories, we have gone into the yoke with him who has shaken off all sin. But shall we be able to proceed together with him? 47The best of ways is the eightfold path. This is the path. There is no other that leads to the purifying of intelligence. Go on this path! Everything else is the deceit of Māra, the tempter. If you go on this path, you will make an end of pain! Says the Tathāgata, The path was preached by me, when I had understood the removal of the thorn in the flesh. 48Not only by discipline and vows, not only by much learning, do I earn the happiness of release which no worldling can know. Bhikkhu, be not confident as long as thou hast not attained the extinction of thirst. The extinction of evil desire is the highest religion. 49The gift of religion exceeds all gifts; the sweetness of religion exceeds all sweetness; the delight in religion exceeds all delights; the extinction of thirst overcomes all pain. 50Few are there among men who cross the river and reach the goal. The great multitudes are running up and down the shore; but there is no suffering for him who has finished his journey. 51As the lily will grow full of sweet perfume and delight upon a heap of rubbish, thus the disciple of the truly enlightened Buddha shines forth by his wisdom among those who are like rubbish, among the people that walk in darkness. 52Let us live happily then, not hating those who hate us! Among men who hate us let us dwell free from hatred! 53Let us live happily then, free from all ailments among the ailing! Among men who are ailing let us dwell free from ailments! 54Let us live happily, then, free from greed among the greedy! Among men who are greedy let us dwell free from greed! 55The sun is bright by day, the moon shines by night, the warrior is bright in his armor, thinkers are bright in their meditation; but among all the brightest with splendor day and night is the Buddha, the Awakened, the Holy, Blessed. ‹Previous chapterThe Gospel of Buddha 47Next chapterThe Gospel of Buddha 49›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain