(13.1–12)
167. You shouldn’t follow a lesser Dhamma
Or live in unawareness.
You shouldn’t follow wrong views
Or be attached to the world.
168. You should stand up, be aware,
Practise the Dhamma well.
One who practises the Dhamma sleeps happily
In this world and the next.
169. You should practise the Dhamma well,
Not practise it badly.
One who practises the Dhamma sleeps happily
In this world and the next.
170. You should see the world
As a bubble, a mirage.
If you look on it like this
The King of Death can’t see you.
171. Come, see this world
Like a painted royal chariot.
Where the foolish sink down,
The wise have no attachment.
172. But whoever was unaware before
And afterwards becomes aware
Illuminates this world
Like the moon freed from a cloud.
173. Whoever has done an evil deed
But covers it with a virtuous one
Illuminates this world
Like the moon freed from a cloud.
174. This world has gone blind:
Few here see.
The rare one makes for heaven,
Like a bird freed from a net.
175. Geese go by the sun’s path;
Mages go through the sky.
Conquering Māra with his army,
The wise go forth from the world.
176. If a person speaks falsely,
Though he transgresses just one dhamma,
There is no evil he won’t do,
Rejecting the other world.
177. Misers don’t go to the world of the gods –
Indeed, fools don’t praise giving.
But the wise one, sharing the joy of giving,
Through that becomes happy in the other world.
178. Better than sole rulership of the earth,
Or going to heaven,
Or lordship over all the worlds
Is the fruit of Stream-Entry.