(14.1–18)
179. The one whose victory cannot be undone,
Whose victory does not go anywhere in the world –
By what path will you lead him,
The trackless Buddha of infinite range?
180. The one for whom there is no attachment, with its net,
No craving to lead him anywhere –
By what path will you lead him,
The trackless Buddha of infinite range?
181. Even the gods envy
The mindful Fully Awakened Ones,
Who are wise, intent on meditation,
Delighting in the calm of non-attachment.
182. Hard to reach is the human state,
Hard the life of mortals.
It’s hard to hear the true Dhamma,
Hard for Buddhas to arise.
183. Not to do any evil;
To undertake what is good;
To purify your own mind:
This is the teaching of the Buddhas.
184. Patience, endurance, is the highest asceticism;
Nibbāna, say the Buddhas, is supreme.
One who harms others is no renouncer;
Injuring others, one is no true wanderer.
185. Not blaming, not harming,
Restraint in the monastic rule,
Knowing moderation in eating,
Secluded lodging,
Exertion in higher thought:
This is the teaching of the Buddhas.
186. ‘Not by a rain of gold pieces
Is satisfaction found in sense-pleasures.
Sense-pleasures are painful and have little sweetness’:
Knowing this, the wise one
187. Takes no delight in sense-pleasures,
Even heavenly ones:
The disciple of the Fully Awakened
Delights in the destruction of craving.
188. People struck by fear
Seek many kinds of refuge:
Mountains and woods,
Groves, trees and shrines.
189. This is not the safe refuge;
This is not the supreme refuge.
Not by going to this refuge
Are you freed from all suffering.
190. But the one who has gone for refuge
To the Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha
Sees with right wisdom
The Four Noble Truths:
191. Suffering, the arising of suffering,
The overcoming of suffering,
And the Noble Eightfold Path
Which leads to the ceasing of suffering.
192. This is the safe refuge;
This is the supreme refuge.
By going to this refuge
You are freed from all suffering.
193. A thoroughbred man is hard to find:
He’s not born just anywhere.
The family in which that steadfast one is born
Prospers happily.
194. Happy is the arising of Buddhas,
Happy the teaching of the true Dhamma,
Happy the unity of the Saṅgha,
Happy the asceticism of the united ones.
195. If you honour those worthy of honour –
Whether Buddhas or their disciples –
Who have gone right beyond proliferation
And crossed over grief and lamentation;
196. If you honour ones like that,
Who have attained nibbāna and are afraid of nothing,
It is not possible for your merit
To be measured by anyone – so great it is.