Book XVII. Anger, Kodha Vagga
221
One should put away anger; one should utterly renounce pride; one should overcome every attachment.
He who clings not to Name and Form, and is free from attachment, is not beset with pain.
222
Whoever controls his anger like a swift-speeding chariot, when it is aroused, –
Him I call a charioteer; other folk are merely holders of reins.
223
One should overcome anger with kindness;
One should overcome evil with good;
One should overcome the niggard with gifts,
And the speaker of falsehood with truth.
224
A man should speak the truth, a man should not get angry,
A man should give, when asked to give a little;
By these three acts a man may attain the World of the Gods.
225
They who do no injury, the sages, they who ever control their bodies,
Such go to a place from which they pass no more; and having gone there, sorrow not.
226
They that are ever watchful, they that study both by day and by night,
They that strive after Nibbāna, such men rid themselves of the evil passions.
227, 228, 229, 230
This is an old, old saying, Atula, this is no mere saying of to-day:
“They blame him who sits silent, they blame him who says much,
They also blame him who says little.” There is no one in the world that is not blamed.
There never was, there never will be, there lives not now
A man who receives unqualified blame or unqualified praise.
If men of intelligence always, from day to day, praise
Some man as free from flaws, wise, endowed with learning and goodness, –
Who would venture to find fault with such a man, any more than with a coin made of gold of the Jambu river?
Even the gods praise such a man, even by Brahmā is he praised.
231, 232, 233, 234
Angry deeds should one control; one should be restrained in action;
One should renounce evil deeds; one should do good deeds.
Angry words should one control; one should be restrained in word;
One should renounce evil words; one should speak good words.
Angry thoughts should one control; one should be restrained in thought;
One should renounce evil thoughts; one should cultivate good thoughts.
Wise men who control their deeds, wise men who control their speech,
Wise men who control their thoughts, such men are indeed well controlled.