Sacred Texts Buddhism Index Previous Next

p. 49

## CHAPTER XIV.

THE BUDDHA (THE AWAKENED).

179. He whose conquest is not conquered again, into whose conquest no one in this world enters, by what track can you lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, the trackless?

180. He whom no desire with its snares and poisons can lead astray, by what track can you lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, the trackless?

181. Even the gods envy those who are awakened and not forgetful, who are given to meditation, who are wise, and who delight in the repose of retirement (from the world).

182. Difficult (to obtain) is the conception of men, difficult is the life of mortals, difficult is the hearing of the True Law, difficult is the birth of the Awakened (the attainment of Buddhahood).

[179, 180. Buddha, the Awakened, is to be taken as an appellative rather than as the proper name of the Buddha (see v. 183). It means, anybody who has arrived at complete knowledge. Anantagokaram I take in the sense of, possessed of unlimited knowledge. Apadam, which Dr. Fausböll takes as an epithet of Buddha and translates by 'non investigabilis,' is translated 'trackless,' in order to show the play on the word pada; see Childers, s.v. The commentator says: 'The man who is possessed of even a single one of such conditions as râga, &c., him ye may lead forward; but the Buddha has not even one condition or basis of renewed existence, and therefore by what track will you lead this unconditioned Buddha?' Cf. Dhp. vv. 92, 420; and Gâtaka, vol. i. pp. 79, 313.

182. Mr. Beal (Dhammapada, p. 110) states that this verse occurs in the Sûtra of the Forty-two Sections.]

p. 50

183. Not to commit any sin, to do good, and to purify one's mind, that is the teaching of (all) the Awakened.

184. The Awakened call patience the highest penance, long-suffering the highest Nirvâna; for he is not an anchorite (pravragita) who strikes others, he is not an ascetic (sramana) who insults others.

185. Not to blame, not to strike, to live restrained under the law, to be moderate in eating, to sleep and sit alone, and to dwell on the highest thoughts,--this is the teaching of the Awakened.

[183. This verse is again one of the most solemn verses among the Buddhists. According to Csoma Körösi, it ought to follow the famous Âryâ stanza, 'Ye dhammâ' (Lotus, p. 522), and serve as its complement. But though this may be the case in Tibet, it was not so originally. The same verse (ascribed to Kanakamuni) occurs at the end of the Chinese translation of the Prâtimoksha. (Beal, J. R. A. S. XIX, p. 473; Catena, p. 159); in the Tibetan translation of the Gâthâsangraha, v. 14 (Schiefner, Mél. Asiat. I VIII, pp. 568, 586; and Csoma Körösi, As. Res. XX, p. 79). Burnouf has fully discussed the metre and meaning of our verse on pp. 527, 528 of his 'Lotus.' He prefers sakittaparidamanam, which Csoma translated by 'the mind must be brought under entire subjection' (svakittaparidamanam), and the late Dr. Mill by 'proprii intellectus subjugatio.' But his own MS. of the Mahâpadhâna-sutta gave likewise sakittapariyodapanam, and this is no doubt the correct reading. (See D'Alwis, Attanugaluvansa, p. cxxix.) We found pariyodappeya in verse 88, in the sense of purging oneself from the troubles of thought. From the same verb, (pari) ava + dai, we may derive the name Avadâna, a legend, originally a pure and virtuous act, an {Greek: aridteia}, afterwards a sacred story, and possibly a story the hearing of which purifies the mind. See Boehtlingk-Roth, s.v. avadâna.

184. Childers, following the commentator, translates, 'Patience, which is long-suffering, is the best devotion, the Buddhas declare that Nirvâna is the best (of things).'

185. Cf. Suttanipâta, v. 337. Pâtimokkhe, 'under the law,' i.e. according to the law, the law which leads to Moksha, or 'freedom.' Prâtimoksha is the title of the oldest collection of the moral laws of the Buddhists (Burnouf, Introduction, p. 300; Bigandet, The Life of Gaudama, p. 439; Rhys Davids, Buddhism, p. 162), and as it was common both to the Southem and the Northem Buddhists, pâtimokkhe in our passage may possibly be meant, as Professor Weber suggests, as the title of that very collection. The commentator explains it by getthakasîla and pâtimokkhasîla. Sayanâsam might stand for sayanâsanam, see Mahâbh. XII, 6684; but in Buddhist literature it is intended for sayanâsanam; see also Mahâbh. XII, 9978, sayyâsane. Fausböll now reads pânta instead of patthañ.

187. There is a curious similarity between this verse and verse 6503 (9919) of the Sântiparva:
Yak ka kâmasukham loke, yak ka divyam mahat sukham,
Trishnâkshayasukhasyaite nârhatah shodasim kalâm.
'And whatever delight of love there is on earth, and whatever is the great delight in heaven, they are not worth the sixteenth part of the pleasure which springs from the destruction of all desires.' The two verses 186, 187 are ascribed to king Mandhâtri shortly before his death (Mél. Asiat. VIII, p. 471; see also Gâtaka, vol. ii. p. 113).]

p. 51

186. There is no satisfying lusts, even by a shower of gold pieces; he who knows that lusts have a short taste and cause pain, he is wise;

187. Even in heavenly pleasures he finds no satisfaction, the disciple who is fully awakened delights only in the destruction of all desires.

188. Men, driven by fear, go to many a refuge, to mountains and forests, to groves and sacred trees.

189. But that is not a safe refuge, that is not the best refuge; a man is not delivered from all pains after having gone to that refuge.

190. He who takes refuge with Buddha, the Law,

[188-192. These verses occur in Sanskrit in the Prâtihâryasûtra, translated by Burnouf, Introduction, pp. 162-189; see p. 186. Burnouf translates rukkhaketyâni by 'arbres consacrés;' properly, sacred shrines under or near a tree. See also Gâtaka vol. i. p. 97.

190. Budda, Dharma, and Sangha are called the Trisarana (cf. Burnouf, Introd. p. 630). The four holy truths are the four statements that there is pain in this world, that the source of pain is desire, that desire can be annihilated, that there is a way (shown by Buddha) by which the annihilation of all desires can be achieved, and freedom be obtained. That way consists of eight parts. (See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 630.) The eightfold way forms the subject of Chapter XVIII. (See also Feer, Journal As. 1870, p. 418, and Chips from a German Workshop, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 251 seq.)]

p. 52

and the Church; he who, with clear understanding, sees the four holy truths:--

191. Viz. pain, the origin of pain, the destruction of pain, and the eightfold holy way that leads to the quieting of pain;--

192. That is the safe refuge, that is the best refuge; having gone to that refuge, a man is delivered from all pain.

193. A supernatural person (a Buddha) is not easily found, he is not born everywhere. Wherever such a sage is born, that race prospers.

194. Happy is the arising of the awakened, happy is the teaching of the True Law, happy is peace in the church, happy is the devotion of those who are at peace.

195., 196. He who pays homage to those who deserve homage, whether the awakened (Buddha) or their disciples, those who have overcome the host (of evils), and crossed the flood of sorrow, he who pays homage to such as have found deliverance and know no fear, his merit can never be measured by anybody.

Next: Chapter XV. Happiness.