Minor Collection

Sayings of the Dhamma 256–272

19. The Just

dhp256:1 You don’t become just

dhp256:2 by passing hasty judgment.

dhp256:3 An astute person evaluates both

dhp256:4 what is pertinent and what is irrelevant.

dhp257:1 A wise one judges others without haste,

dhp257:2 justly and impartially;

dhp257:3 that guardian of the law

dhp257:4 is said to be just.

dhp258:1 You’re not an astute scholar

dhp258:2 just because you speak a lot.

dhp258:3 One who is secure, free of enmity and fear,

dhp258:4 is said to be astute.

dhp259:1 You’re not one who has memorized the teaching

dhp259:2 just because you recite a lot.

dhp259:3 Someone who directly sees the teaching

dhp259:4 after hearing only a little

dhp259:5 is truly one who has memorized the teaching,

dhp259:6 for they can never forget it.

dhp260:1 You don’t become a senior

dhp260:2 by getting some grey hairs;

dhp260:3 for one ripe only in age,

dhp260:4 is said to have aged in vain.

dhp261:1 One who is truthful and principled,

dhp261:2 harmless, restrained, and self-controlled,

dhp261:3 attentive, purged of stains,

dhp261:4 is said to be a senior.

dhp262:1 Not by mere enunciation,

dhp262:2 or a beautiful complexion

dhp262:3 does a person become holy,

dhp262:4 if they’re jealous, stingy, and devious.

dhp263:1 But if they’ve cut that out,

dhp263:2 dug it up at the root, eradicated it,

dhp263:3 that intelligent one, purged of vice,

dhp263:4 is said to be holy.

dhp264:1 A liar and breaker of vows is no ascetic

dhp264:2 just because they shave their head.

dhp264:3 How on earth can one be an ascetic

dhp264:4 who’s full of desire and greed?

dhp265:1 One who stops all wicked deeds,

dhp265:2 great and small,

dhp265:3 because of stopping wicked deeds

dhp265:4 is said to be an ascetic.

dhp266:1 You don’t become a mendicant

dhp266:2 just by begging from others.

dhp266:3 One who has undertaken domestic duties

dhp266:4 has not yet become a mendicant.

dhp267:1 But one living a spiritual life,

dhp267:2 who has banished both merit and evil,

dhp267:3 who wanders having appraised the world,

dhp267:4 is said to be a mendicant.

dhp268:1 You don’t become a sage by being sagelike,

dhp268:2 while still confused and ignorant.

dhp268:3 The astute one who holds the scales,

dhp268:4 taking only the best,

dhp269:1 and shunning the bad—

dhp269:2 that is a sage, <j>and that is how one becomes a sage.

dhp269:3 One who sagely weighs both in the world,

dhp269:4 is thereby said to be a sage.

dhp270:1 You don’t become a noble one

dhp270:2 by harming living beings.

dhp270:3 One harmless toward all living beings

dhp270:4 is said to be a noble one.

dhp271:1 Not by precepts and observances,

dhp271:2 nor by much learning,

dhp271:3 nor by meditative immersion,

dhp271:4 nor by living in seclusion,

dhp272:1 do I experience the bliss of renunciation

dhp272:2 not frequented by ordinary people.

dhp272:3 A mendicant cannot rest confident

dhp272:4 without attaining the end of defilements.