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Dhammapada
- Dhammapada 14
- The Buddha
- translated by Acharya Buddharakkhita
179. By what track can you trace that trackless Buddha of
limitless range, whose victory nothing can undo, whom none of the vanquished defilements
can ever pursue?
180. By what track can you trace that trackless Buddha of
limitless range, in whom exists no longer, the entangling and embroiling craving that
perpetuates becoming?
181. Those wise ones who are devoted to meditation and who
delight in the calm of renunciation -- such mindful ones, Supreme Buddhas, even the gods
hold dear.
182. Hard is it to be born a man; hard is the life of mortals.
Hard is it to gain the opportunity of hearing the Sublime Truth, and hard to encounter is
the arising of the Buddhas.
183. To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse
one's mind -- this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
184. Enduring patience is the highest austerity. "Nibbana
is supreme," say the Buddhas. He is not a true monk who harms another, nor a true
renunciate who oppresses others.
185. Not despising, not harming, restraint according to the
code of monastic discipline, moderation in food, dwelling in solitude, devotion to
meditation -- this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
186-187. There is no satisfying sensual desires, even with
the rain of gold coins. For sensual pleasures give little satisfaction and much pain.
Having understood this, the wise man finds no delight even in heavenly pleasures. The
disciple of the Supreme Buddha delights in the destruction of craving.
188. Driven only by fear, do men go for refuge to many places
-- to hills, woods, groves, trees and shrines.
189. Such, indeed, is no safe refuge; such is not the refuge
supreme. Not by resorting to such a refuge is one released from all suffering.
190-191. He who has gone for refuge to the Buddha, the
Teaching and his Order, penetrates with transcendental wisdom the Four Noble Truths --
suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the Noble Eightfold Path leading to the
cessation of suffering. [16]
192. This indeed is the safe refuge, this the refuge supreme.
Having gone to such a refuge, one is released from all suffering.
193. Hard to find is the thoroughbred man (the Buddha); he is
not born everywhere. Where such a wise man is born, that clan thrives happily.
194. Blessed is the birth of the Buddhas; blessed is the
enunciation of the sacred Teaching; blessed is the harmony in the Order, and blessed is
the spiritual pursuit of the united truth-seeker.
195-196. He who reveres those worthy of reverence, the
Buddhas and their disciples, who have transcended all obstacles and passed beyond the
reach of sorrow and lamentation -- he who reveres such peaceful and fearless ones, his
merit none can compute by any measure.