Book XVIII. Blemishes, Mala Vagga
235, 236, 237, 238
Now art thou as a withered leaf; death’s messengers await thee;
Thou standest at the point of departure; thou hast no provisions for the journey.
Make for thyself an island; haste thee to struggle; be wise;
When thy infirmities have been blown away, and thou hast freed thyself from the evil passions, thou shalt go to the heavenly place of the Elect.
Thy life is now brought to a close; thou art come into the presence of Death;
Thou hast no abiding-place by the way; thou hast no provisions for the journey.
Make for thyself an island; haste thee to struggle; be wise.
When thy infirmities have been blown away, and thou hast freed thyself from the evil passions, thou shalt no more come unto birth and old age.
239
One after another, little by little, time after time, a wise man
Should blow away his own impurities, even as a smith blows away the impurities of silver.
240
Even as rust which springs from iron no sooner appears than it eats away the iron,
Precisely so in the case of transgressors, their own evil deeds bring them to an evil end.
241
Non-repetition mars the Sacred Word; inactivity mars the household life;
Sloth is a blemish on beauty; heedlessness is a blemish on the watchman.
242, 243
Lewdness is a blemish on a woman; niggardliness is a blemish on a giver;
Evil ways are blemishes, both in this world and the next.
But worse than any ordinary blemish, the worst, indeed, of all blemishes, is ignorance;
Rid yourselves of this blemish, monks, and be without blemish.
244, 245
Easy is the life of the man who is shameless, bold like a crow, a backbiter,
Insolent, impudent, corrupt.
Hard is the life of the man who is modest, ever seeking what is pure,
Free from attachment, contained, blameless in conduct, possessed of vision clear.
246, 247, 248
He that destroys life, he that utters falsehood,
He that takes what is not given to him in this world, he that goes in unto another man’s wife,
And the man that is addicted to the drinking of liquor and spirits,
Such a man, even in this present world, digs up his own root.
Know this, O man, that the unrestrained are fallen upon evil ways;
Let not greed and wrongdoing subject thee to suffering for long.
249, 250
People give according to their faith, according to their pleasure;
Whoever allows himself to be annoyed because food and drink are given to others,
Such a man will not attain Tranquillity either by day or by night.
But if a man will exterminate discontent, and tear it out by the roots, and utterly destroy it.
Then he will attain Tranquillity both by day and by night.
251
There is no fire like lust, there is no grip like hatred,
There is no snare like delusion, there is no river like Craving.
252
Easy to see are the flaws of another, but hard to see are one’s own.
For a man winnows the defects of others like chaff,
But covers his own, even as a dishonest gambler covers a losing throw.
253
If a man look to find flaws in another, if he be minded ever to find fault,
The Impurities increase within him; such a man is far from Destruction of the Impurities.
254, 255
There is no path through the air; no outsider is a monk;
Mankind delights in the Hindrances; the Tathāgatas are free from the Hindrances.
There is no path through the air; no outsider is a monk;
The Aggregates are not eternal; there is no variableness in the Buddhas.