(1.1–20)
1. Fore-run by mind are mental states,
Ruled by mind, made of mind.
If you speak or act
With corrupt mind,
Suffering follows you,
As the wheel the foot of the ox.
2. Fore-run by mind are mental states,
Ruled by mind, made of mind.
If you speak or act
With clear mind,
Happiness follows you,
Like a shadow that does not depart.
3. ‘He insulted me, he struck me,
He defeated me, he robbed me’:
For those who get caught up in this,
Hatred does not cease.
4. ‘He insulted me, he struck me,
He defeated me, he robbed me’:
For those who do not get caught up in this,
Hatred ceases completely.
5. For never here
Do hatreds cease by hatred.
By freedom from hatred they cease:
This is a perennial truth.
6. Others do not understand
That we must control ourselves here:
But for those who do understand this –
Through it, their quarrels cease.
7. If you live contemplating the fair,
Unrestrained in senses,
Not knowing moderation in food,
Dull, of weak effort,
Māra overthrows you
As the wind an ill-rooted tree.
8. If you live contemplating the foul,
Well restrained in senses,
Knowing moderation in food,
Confident, raising effort,
Māra does not overthrow you,
As the wind a rocky mountain.
9. If someone who is not freed from stain
Puts on the yellow robe,
Devoid of self-control and truthfulness,
He’s not worthy of the yellow robe.
10. But if someone has got rid of the stains,
Well established in the precepts,
Endowed with self-control and truthfulness,
He indeed is worthy of the yellow robe.
11. Those who imagine value where there’s none,
And don’t see value where there’s value,
Do not understand value –
Dwellers in the realm of wrong thought.
12. Those who perceive value where there’s value,
And no value where there’s none,
Understand value –
Dwellers in the realm of right thought.
14. As rain does not penetrate
A well-roofed house,
Passion does not penetrate
A well-developed mind.
15. He is sorry here; after death he is sorry;
In both places the evil-doer is sorry.
He is sorry, he is tormented,
Seeing his own action was defiled.
16. He is happy here; after death he is happy;
In both places the doer of good is happy.
He is happy, he is joyful,
Seeing his own action was pure.
17. He suffers here; after death he suffers;
In both places the evil-doer suffers.
He suffers, thinking, ‘I have done wrong’;
And going to a bad place he suffers even more.
18. He rejoices here; after death he rejoices;
In both places the doer of good rejoices.
He rejoices, thinking, ‘I have done right’;
And going to a good place he rejoices even more.
19. Though you recite much scripture,
If you are unaware and do not act according
You are like a cowherd counting others’ cattle,
Not a sharer in the wanderer’s life.
20. Though you recite little scripture,
If you go from dhamma to dhamma,
Abandoning passion, hatred and delusion,
Rightly knowing, with well-freed mind,
Not clinging either here or in the other world,
You are a sharer in the wanderer’s life.