Minor Collection

Sayings of the Dhamma 320–333

23. Elephants

dhp320:1 Like an elephant struck

dhp320:2 with arrows in battle,

dhp320:3 I shall endure abuse,

dhp320:4 for so many folk are badly behaved.

dhp321:1 The well-tamed beast is the one led to the crowd;

dhp321:2 the tamed elephant’s the one the king mounts;

dhp321:3 the tamed person who endures abuse

dhp321:4 is the best of human beings.

dhp322:1 Those who have tamed themselves are better

dhp322:2 than fine tamed mules,

dhp322:3 thoroughbreds from Sindh,

dhp322:4 or giant tuskers.

dhp323:1 For not on those mounts

dhp323:2 would you go to the untrodden place,

dhp323:3 whereas, with the help of one <j>whose self is well tamed,

dhp323:4 you go there, tamed by the tamed.

dhp324:1 The tusker named Dhanapāla

dhp324:2 is musky in rut, hard to control.

dhp324:3 Bound, he eats not a morsel,

dhp324:4 for he misses the elephant forest.

dhp325:1 One who gets drowsy from overeating,

dhp325:2 fond of sleep, rolling round the bed

dhp325:3 like a great hog stuffed with grain:

dhp325:4 that dullard returns to the womb again and again.

dhp326:1 In the past my mind wandered

dhp326:2 how it wished, where it liked, as it pleased.

dhp326:3 Now I’ll carefully guide it,

dhp326:4 as a trainer with a hook guides a rutting elephant.

dhp327:1 Delight in diligence!

dhp327:2 Take good care of your mind!

dhp327:3 Pull yourself out of this pit,

dhp327:4 like an elephant sunk in a bog.

dhp328:1 If you find an alert companion,

dhp328:2 an attentive friend to live happily together,

dhp328:3 then, overcoming all adversities,

dhp328:4 wander with them, joyful and mindful.

dhp329:1 If you find no alert companion,

dhp329:2 no attentive friend to live happily together,

dhp329:3 then, like a king who flees his conquered realm,

dhp329:4 wander alone like a tusker in the wilds.

dhp330:1 It’s better to wander alone,

dhp330:2 there’s no fellowship with fools.

dhp330:3 Wander alone and do no wrong,

dhp330:4 at ease like a tusker in the wilds.

dhp331:1 A friend in need is a blessing;

dhp331:2 it’s a blessing to be content with whatever;

dhp331:3 good deeds are a blessing at the end of life,

dhp331:4 and giving up all suffering is a blessing.

dhp332:1 In this world it’s a blessing to serve

dhp332:2 one’s mother and one’s father.

dhp332:3 And it’s a blessing also to serve

dhp332:4 ascetics and brahmins.

dhp333:1 It’s a blessing to keep precepts until you grow old;

dhp333:2 a blessing to be grounded in faith;

dhp333:3 the getting of wisdom’s a blessing;

dhp333:4 and it’s a blessing to avoid doing wrong.