(12.1–10)
157. If you hold yourself dear
You should keep yourself well guarded.
A wise one should keep awake
During one or other of the three watches.
158. First he should establish himself
In what is proper,
And then teach another:
That way a wise one will not be defiled.
159. You should do yourself
As you teach another;
Well tamed, tame others –
For self, they say, is hard to tame.
160. Self is protector of self:
What other protector could there be?
With your self well tamed
You find a protector who’s hard to find.
161. By self evil is done:
It is born of self, arisen from self.
It crushes the ignorant
As a thunderbolt crushes a gemstone.
162. The one whose extreme bad conduct spreads over him
Like a māluvā creeper over a sal tree
Does to himself
What an enemy would like to do.
163. Things that are wrong and bad for you
Are easy to do;
What is both good for you and right
Is most difficult to do.
164. The unwise one who,
Because of wrong view,
Reviles the teaching of the Arahats,
The Noble Ones who live by Dhamma,
Ripens only to his own destruction
Like the fruit of the bamboo.
165. By self alone evil is done;
By self one is defiled.
By self evil is not done;
By self one is purified.
Purity and impurity are individual matters:
No one can purify another.
166. You should not neglect your own benefit
For another’s benefit, great though it be.
Understanding your own benefit,
You should pursue your own benefit.