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THE WISE MAN (PANDITA).
76. If you see an intelligent man who tells you where true treasures are to be found, who shows what is to be avoided, and administers reproofs, follow that wise man; it will be better, not worse, for those who follow him.
77. Let him admonish, let him teach, let him forbid what is improper!--he will be beloved of the good, by the bad he will be hated.
78. Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not have low people for friends: have virtuous people for friends, have for friends the best of men.
79. He who drinks in the law lives happily with a serene mind: the sage rejoices always in the law, as preached by the elect (Ariyas).
80. Well-makers lead the water (wherever they like); fletchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion themselves.
[78. It is hardly possible to take mitte kalyâne in the technical sense of kalyâna-mitra, 'ein geistlicher Rath,' a spiritual guide. Burnouf (Introd. p. 284) shows that in the technical sense kalyâna-mitra was widely spread in the Buddhist world.
79. Ariya, 'elect, venerable,' is explained by the commentator as referring to Buddha and other teachers.
80. See verses 33 and 145, the latter being a mere repetition of our verse. The nettikâs, to judge from the commentary and from the general purport of the verse, are not simply water-carriers, but builders of canals and aqueducts, who force the water to go where it would not go by itself. The Chinese translator says, 'the pilot manages his ship.' See Beal, l.c. p. 79.]
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81. As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, wise people falter not amidst blame and praise.
82. Wise people, after they have listened to the laws, become serene, like a deep, smooth, and still lake.
83. Good people walk on whatever befall, the good do not prattle, longing for pleasure; whether touched by happiness or sorrow wise people never appear elated or depressed.
84. If, whether for his own sake, or for the sake of others, a man wishes neither for a son, nor for wealth, nor for lordship, and if he does not wish for his own success by unfair means, then he is good, wise, and virtuous.
85. Few are there among men who arrive at the other shore (become Arhats); the other people here run up and down the shore.
[83. The first line is very doubtful. I have adopted, in my translation, a suggestion of Mr. Childers, who writes, 'I think it will be necessary to take sabbattha in the sense of "everywhere," or "under every condition;" pañkakhandâdibhedesu, sabbadhammesu, says Buddhaghosha. I do not think we need assume that B. means the word vigahanti to be a synonym of vaganti. I would rather take the whole sentence together as a gloss upon the word vaganti:--vagantîti arahattañânena apakaddhantâ khandarâgam vigahanti; vaganti means that, ridding themselves of lust by the wisdom which Arhatship confers, they cast it away.' I am inclined to think the line means 'the righteous walk on (unmoved) in all the conditions of life.' Nindâ, pasamsâ, sukha, dukkha are four of the eight lokadhammas, or earthly conditions; the remaining lokadhammas are lâbba, alâbha, yasa, ayasa.
In v. 245, passatâ, 'by a man who sees,' means 'by a man who sees clearly or truly.' ln the same manner vrag may mean, not simply 'to walk,' but 'to walk properly,' or may be used synonymously with pravrag.
85. 'The other shore' is meant for Nirvâna, 'this shore' for common life. On reaching Nirvâna, the dominion of death is overcome. The commentator supplies târitvâ, 'having crossed,' in order to explain the accusative makkudheyyam. Possibly pâram essanti should here be taken as one word, in the sense of overcoming.]
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86. But those who, when the law has been well preached to them, follow the law, will pass across the dominion of death, however difficult to overcome.
87., 88. A wise man should leave the dark state (of ordinary life), and follow the bright state (of the Bhikshu). After going from his home to a homeless state, he should in his retirement look for enjoyment where there seemed to be no enjoyment. Leaving all pleasures behind, and calling nothing his own, the wise man should purge himself from all the troubles of the mind.
89. Those whose mind is well grounded in the (seven) elements of knowledge, who without clinging
[87, 88. Dark and bright are meant for bad and good; cf. Sutta-nipâta, v. 526, and Dhp. v. 167. Leaving one's home is the same as becoming a mendicant, without a home or family, an anâgâra, or anchorite. A man in that state of viveka, or retirement (see v. 75, note), sees, that where before there seemed to be no pleasure there real pleasure is to be found, or vice versâ. A similar idea is expressed in verse 99. See Burnouf, Lotus, p. 474, where he speaks of 'Le plaisir de la satisfaction, né de la distinction.'
The five troubles or evils of the mind are passion, anger, ignorance, arrogance, pride; see Burnouf, Lotus, pp. 360, 443. As to pariyodapeyya, see verse 183, and Lotus, pp. 523, 528; as to akiñkano, see Mahâbh. XII, 6568, 1240.
89. The elements of knowledge are the seven Sambodhvangas, on which see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 796. D'Alwis explains them as the thirty-seven Bodhipakkhiya-dhammâ. Khînâsavâ, which I have translated by 'they whose frailties have been conquered,' may also be taken in a more metaphysical sense, as explained in the note to v. 39. The same applies to the other terms occurring in this verse, such as âdâna, anupâdâya, &c. Dr. Fausböll seems inclined to take âsava in this passage, and in the other passages where it occurs, as the Pâli representative of âsraya. But âsraya, in Buddhist phraseology, means rather the five organs of sense with manas, 'the soul,' and these are kept distinct from the âsavas, 'the inclinations, the appetites, passions, or vices.' The commentary on the Abhidharma, when speaking of the Yogâkâras, says, 'En réunissant ensemble les réceptacles (âsr ya), les choses reçues (âsrita) et les supports (âlambana), qui sont chacun composés de six termes, on a dix-huit termes qu'on appelle "Dhâtus" ou contenants. La collection des six réceptacles, ce sont les organes de la vue, de l'ouïe, de l'odorat, du goût, du toucher, et le "manas" (ou l'organe du coeur), qui est le dernier. La collection des six choses reçues, c'est la connaissance produite par la vue et par les autres sens jusqu'au "manas" inclusivement. La collection des six supports, ce sont la forme et les autres attributs sensibles jusqu'au "Dharma" (la loi ou l'être) inclusivement.' See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 449.
Parinibbuta is again a technical term, the Sanskrit parinivrita meaning 'freed from all worldly fetters,' like vimukta. See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 590. See Childers, s.v. nibbâna, p. 270, and Notes on Dhammapada, p. 3; and D'Alwis, Buddhist Nirvâna, p. 75.]
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to anything, rejoice in freedom from attachment, whose appetites have been conquered, and who are full of light, are free (even) in this world.