Minor Collection

Sayings of the Dhamma 179–196

14. The Buddhas

dhp179:1 He whose victory may not be undone,

dhp179:2 a victory unrivaled in all the world;

dhp179:3 by what track would you trace that Buddha,

dhp179:4 who leaves no track in his infinite range?

dhp180:1 Of craving, the weaver, the clinger, he has none:

dhp180:2 so where can he be traced?

dhp180:3 By what track would you trace that Buddha,

dhp180:4 who leaves no track in his infinite range?

dhp181:1 The attentive intent on absorption,

dhp181:2 who love the peace of renunciation,

dhp181:3 the awakened ones, ever mindful,

dhp181:4 are envied by even the angels.

dhp182:1 It’s hard to gain a human birth;

dhp182:2 the life of mortals is hard;

dhp182:3 it’s hard to hear the true teaching;

dhp182:4 the arising of Buddhas is hard.

dhp183:1 Not to do any evil;

dhp183:2 to embrace the good;

dhp183:3 to purify one’s mind:

dhp183:4 this is the instruction of the Buddhas.

dhp184:1 Patient acceptance is the ultimate fervor.

dhp184:2 Extinguishment is the ultimate, say the Buddhas.

dhp184:3 No true renunciate injures another,

dhp184:4 nor does an ascetic hurt another.

dhp185:1 Not speaking ill nor doing harm;

dhp185:2 restraint in the monastic code;

dhp185:3 moderation in eating;

dhp185:4 staying in remote lodgings;

dhp185:5 commitment to the higher mind—

dhp185:6 this is the instruction of the Buddhas.

dhp186:1 Even if it were raining money,

dhp186:2 you’d not be sated in sensual pleasures.

dhp186:3 An astute person understands that sensual pleasures

dhp186:4 offer little gratification and much suffering.

dhp187:1 Thus they find no delight

dhp187:2 even in celestial pleasures.

dhp187:3 A disciple of the fully awakened Buddha

dhp187:4 delights in the ending of craving.

dhp188:1 So many go for refuge

dhp188:2 to mountains and forest groves,

dhp188:3 to shrines in tended parks;

dhp188:4 those people are driven by fear.

dhp189:1 But such refuge is no sanctuary,

dhp189:2 it is no supreme refuge.

dhp189:3 By going to that refuge,

dhp189:4 you’re not released from all suffering.

dhp190:1 One gone for refuge to the Buddha,

dhp190:2 to his teaching and to the Saṅgha,

dhp190:3 sees the four noble truths

dhp190:4 with right understanding:

dhp191:1 suffering, suffering’s origin,

dhp191:2 suffering’s transcendence,

dhp191:3 and the noble eightfold path

dhp191:4 that leads to the stilling of suffering.

dhp192:1 Such refuge is a sanctuary,

dhp192:2 it is the supreme refuge.

dhp192:3 By going to that refuge,

dhp192:4 you’re released from all suffering.

dhp193:1 It’s hard to find a thoroughbred man:

dhp193:2 they’re not born just anywhere.

dhp193:3 A family where that attentive one is born

dhp193:4 prospers in happiness.

dhp194:1 Happy, the arising of Buddhas!

dhp194:2 Happy, the teaching of Dhamma!

dhp194:3 Happy is the harmony of the Saṅgha,

dhp194:4 and the striving of the harmonious is happy.

dhp195:1 When a person venerates the worthy—

dhp195:2 the Buddha or his disciple,

dhp195:3 who have transcended proliferation,

dhp195:4 and have left behind grief and lamentation,

dhp196:1 quenched, fearing nothing from any quarter—

dhp196:2 the merit of one venerating such as these,

dhp196:3 cannot be calculated by anyone,

dhp196:4 saying it is just this much.