Dhammapada on The Divine

Self is the lord of self, who else could be the lord? With self well subdued, a man finds a lord such as few can find.

This world is dark, few only can see here; a few only go to heaven, like birds escaped from the net.

For self is the lord of self, self is the refuge of self; therefore curb thyself as the merchant curbs a good horse.

Some people are born again; evil-doers go to hell; righteous people go to heaven; those who are free from all worldly desires attain Nirvana.

Better than sovereignty over the earth, better than going to heaven, better than lordship over all worlds, is the reward of the first step in holiness.

There is no path through the air, a man is not a Samana by outward acts. No creatures are eternal; but the awakened (Buddha) are never shaken.

Him I call indeed a Brahmana who knows his former abodes, who sees heaven and hell, has reached the end of births, is perfect in knowledge, a sage, and whose perfections are all perfect.

Who shall overcome this earth, and the world of Yama (the lord of the departed), and the world of the gods? Who shall find out the plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man finds out the (right) flower?

As rain does not break through a well-thatched house, passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind.

But, like a beautiful flower, full of colour and full of scent, are the fine and fruitful words of him who acts accordingly.

Those whose mind is well grounded in the (seven) elements of knowledge, who without clinging to anything, rejoice in freedom from attachment, whose appetites have been conquered, and who are full of light, are free (even) in this world.

The gods even envy him whose senses, like horses well broken in by the driver, have been subdued, who is free from pride, and free from appetites.

And he who lives a hundred years, not seeing the highest law, a life of one day is better if a man sees the highest law.

He whose wickedness is very great brings himself down to that state where his enemy wishes him to be, as a creeper does with the tree which it surrounds.

There never was, there never will be, nor is there now, a man who is always blamed, or a man who is always praised.

Make thyself an island, work hard, be wise! When thy impurities are blown away, and thou art free from guilt, thou wilt enter into the heavenly world of the elect (Ariya).

`All forms are unreal,' he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way that leads to purity.

A true Brahmana goes scatheless, though he have killed father and mother, and two holy kings, and an eminent man besides.

A creature's pleasures are extravagant and luxurious; sunk in lust and looking for pleasure, men undergo (again and again) birth and decay.

The gift of the law exceeds all gifts; the sweetness of the law exceeds all sweetness; the delight in the law exceeds all delights; the extinction of thirst overcomes all pain.

The sun is bright by day, the moon shines by night, the warrior is bright in his armour, the Brahmana is bright in his meditation; but Buddha, the Awakened, is bright with splendour day and night.