Book XII. Self, Atta Vagga
157
If a man value his life, he should ever guard it and guard it well.
During one of the three watches a wise man should be watchful.
158
A man should first direct himself in the way he should go.
Only then should he instruct others; a wise man will so do and not grow weary.
159
If a man will make himself what he instructs others to be.
Being himself well-subdued, he may subdue others;
For, as the saying goes, it is a hard thing for a man to subdue himself.
160
For self is the refuge of self,
Indeed, how can one man be the refuge of another?
For by his own well-tamed self
A man gains for himself a refuge which is hard to gain.
161
The evil done by self, begotten by self, originating in self,
Grinds a fool even as a diamond grinds a hard jewel.
162
He whose wickedness has passed all bounds, even as a creeper overspreads a Sāl-tree,
Makes himself that which his enemy would wish him to be.
163
Easy to do are those things which are not good, and those things which are hurtful to oneself;
But that which is salutary and good is exceedingly hard to do.
164
He that reviles the Religion of the Holy, the Noble, the Righteous,
Such a simpleton, by reason of his false views,
Brings forth fruit to his own destruction, like the fruit of the kaṭṭhaka reed.
165
By self alone is evil done, by self alone does one suffer.
By self alone is evil left undone, by self alone does one obtain Salvation.
Salvation and Perdition depend upon self; no man can save another.
166
Let a man not neglect his own good for the good of another, however important.
A man should learn what is good for himself and apply himself thereto with diligence.