Help | Home » Tipitaka » Sutta Pitaka » Khuddaka Nikaya » Dhammapada

## Dhammapada XVIII

# Impurities

Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Read an alternate translation by Acharya Buddharakkhita

[ Previous chapter | Table of Contents | Next chapter ]

235-238*:

> You are now
> like a yellowed leaf.
> Already
> Yama's minions stand near.
> You stand at the door to departure
> but have yet to provide
> for the journey.

> Make an island for yourself!
> Work quickly! Be wise!
> With impurities all blown away,
> unblemished,
> you'll reach the divine realm
> of the noble ones.

> You are now
> right at the end of your time.
> You are headed
> to Yama's presence,
> with no place to rest along the way,
> but have yet to provide
> for the journey.

> Make an island for yourself!
> Work quickly! Be wise!
> With impurities all blown away,
> unblemished,
> you won't again undergo birth
> & aging.

239:

> Just as a silver smith
> step by
> step,
> bit by
> bit,
> moment to
> moment,
> blows away the impurities
> of molten silver --
> so the wise man, his own.

240*:

> Just as rust
> -- iron's impurity --
> eats the very iron
> from which it is born,
> so the deeds
> of one who lives slovenly
> lead him on
> to a bad destination.

241-243:

> No recitation: the ruinous impurity
> of chants.
> No initiative: of a household.
> Indolence: of beauty.
> Heedlessness: of a guard.

> In a woman, misconduct is an impurity.
> In a donor, stinginess.
> Evil deeds are the real impurities
> in this world & the next.

> More impure than these impurities
> is the ultimate impurity:
> ignorance.
> Having abandoned this impurity,
> monks, you're impurity-free.

244-245:

> Life's easy to live
> for someone unscrupulous,
> cunning as a crow,
> corrupt, back-biting,
> forward, & brash;
> but for someone who's constantly
> scrupulous, cautious,
> observant, sincere,
> pure in his livelihood,
> clean in his pursuits,
> it's hard.

246-248:

> Whoever kills, lies, steals,
> goes to someone else's wife,
> & is addicted to intoxicants,
> digs himself up
> by the root
> right here in this world.

> So know, my good man,
> that bad deeds are reckless.
> Don't let greed & unrighteousness
> oppress you with long-term pain.

249-250:

> People give
> in line with their faith,
> in line with conviction.
> Whoever gets flustered
> at food & drink given to others,
> attains no concentration
> by day or by night.

> But one in whom this is
> cut through
> up- rooted
> wiped out --
> attains concentration
> by day or by night.

251:

> There's no fire like passion,
> no seizure like anger,
> no snare like delusion,
> no river like craving.

252-253:

> It's easy to see
> the errors of others,
> but hard to see
> your own.
> You winnow like chaff
> the errors of others,
> but conceal your own --
> like a cheat, an unlucky throw.

> If you focus on the errors of others,
> constantly finding fault,
> your effluents flourish.
> You're far from their ending.

254-255*:

> There's no trail in space,
> no outside contemplative.
> People are smitten
> with complications,
> but devoid of complication are
> the Tathagatas.

> There's no trail in space,
> no outside contemplative,
> no eternal fabrications,
> no wavering in the Awakened.

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001