Minor Collection

Sayings of the Dhamma 129–145

10. The Rod

dhp129:1 All tremble at the rod,

dhp129:2 all fear death.

dhp129:3 Treating others like oneself,

dhp129:4 neither kill nor incite to kill.

dhp130:1 All tremble at the rod,

dhp130:2 all love life.

dhp130:3 Treating others like oneself,

dhp130:4 neither kill nor incite to kill.

dhp131:1 Creatures love happiness,

dhp131:2 so if you harm them with a stick

dhp131:3 in search of your own happiness,

dhp131:4 after death you won’t find happiness.

dhp132:1 Creatures love happiness,

dhp132:2 so if you don’t harm them with a stick

dhp132:3 in search of your own happiness,

dhp132:4 after death you will find happiness.

dhp133:1 Don’t speak harshly,

dhp133:2 they may speak harshly back.

dhp133:3 For aggressive speech is painful,

dhp133:4 and the rod may spring back on you.

dhp134:1 If you still yourself

dhp134:2 like a broken gong,

dhp134:3 you reach extinguishment

dhp134:4 and know no conflict.

dhp135:1 As a cowherd drives the cows

dhp135:2 to pasture with the rod,

dhp135:3 so too old age and death

dhp135:4 drive life from living beings.

dhp136:1 The fool does not understand

dhp136:2 the evil that they do.

dhp136:3 But because of those deeds, that simpleton

dhp136:4 is tormented as if burnt by fire.

dhp137:1 One who violently attacks

dhp137:2 the peaceful and the innocent

dhp137:3 swiftly falls

dhp137:4 to one of ten bad states:

dhp138:1 harsh pain; loss;

dhp138:2 the breakup of the body;

dhp138:3 serious illness;

dhp138:4 mental distress;

dhp139:1 hazards from rulers;

dhp139:2 vicious slander;

dhp139:3 loss of kin;

dhp139:4 destruction of wealth;

dhp140:1 or else their home

dhp140:2 is consumed by fire.

dhp140:3 When their body breaks up, that witless person

dhp140:4 is cast into hell.

dhp141:1 Not nudity, nor matted hair, nor mud,

dhp141:2 nor fasting, nor lying on bare ground,

dhp141:3 nor wearing dust and dirt, or squatting on the heels,

dhp141:4 will cleanse a mortal not free of doubt.

dhp142:1 Dressed up they may be, but if they live well—

dhp142:2 peaceful, tamed, committed to the spiritual path,

dhp142:3 having laid aside violence toward all creatures—

dhp142:4 they are a brahmin, an ascetic, a mendicant.

dhp143:1 Can a person constrained by conscience

dhp143:2 be found in the world?

dhp143:3 Who shies away from blame,

dhp143:4 like a fine horse from the whip?

dhp144:1 Like a fine horse under the whip,

dhp144:2 be keen and full of urgency.

dhp144:3 With faith, ethics, and energy,

dhp144:4 immersion, and investigation of principles,

dhp144:5 accomplished in knowledge and conduct, mindful,

dhp144:6 give up this vast suffering.

dhp145:1 While irrigators guide water,

dhp145:2 fletchers bend arrows straight,

dhp145:3 and carpenters bend timber straight,

dhp145:4 those true to their vows tame themselves.