CHAPTER XXIII.

Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 10: The Dhammapada and Sutta Nipata, by Max Müller and Max Fausböll, [1881], at sacred-texts.com

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THE ELEPHANT.

   320. Silently shall I endure abuse as the elephant in battle endures the arrow sent from the bow: for the world is ill-natured.

   321. They lead a tamed elephant to battle, the king mounts a tamed elephant; the tamed is the best among men, he who silently endures abuse.

   322. Mules are good, if tamed, and noble Sindhu horses, and elephants with large tusks; but he who tames himself is better still.

   323. For with these animals does no man reach the untrodden country (Nirvâna), where a tamed man goes on a tamed animal, viz. on his own well-tamed self.

   324. The elephant called Dhanapâlaka, his temples running with sap, and difficult to hold, does not eat a morsel when bound; the elephant longs for the elephant grove.

[320. The elephant is with the Buddhists the emblem of endurance and self-restraint. Thus Buddha himseIf is called Nâga, 'the Elephant' (Lal. Vist. p. 553), or Mahânâga, 'the great Elephant' (Lal. Vist. p. 553), and in one passage (Lal. Vist. p. 554) the reason of this name is given, by stating that Buddha was sudânta, 'well-tamed,' like an elephant. He descended from heaven in the form of an elephant to be born on earth.

Cf. Manu VI, 47, ativâdâms titiksheta.

323. I read, as suggested by Dr. Fausböll, yath' attanâ sudantena danto dantena gakkhati' (cf. verse 160). The India Office MS. reads na hi etehi thânehi gakkheya agatam disam, yath' attânam sudantena danto dantena gakkhati. As to thânehi instead of yânehi, see verse 224.]

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   325. If a man becomes fat and a great eater, if he is sleepy and rolls himself about, that fool, like a hog fed on wash, is born again and again.

   326. This mind of mine went formerly wandering about as it liked, as it listed, as it pleased; but I shall now hold it in thoroughly, as the rider who holds the hook holds in the furious elephant.

   327. Be not thoughtless, watch your thoughts! Draw yourself out of the evil way, like an elephant sunk in mud.

   328. If a man find a prudent companion who walks with him, is wise, and lives soberly, he may walk with him, overcoming all dangers, happy, but considerate.

   329. If a man find no prudent companion who walks with him, is wise, and lives soberly, let him walk alone, like a king who has left his conquered country behind,--like an elephant in the forest.

   330. It is better to live alone, there is no companionship with a fool; let a man walk alone, let him commit no sin, with few wishes, like an elephant in the forest.

[326. Yoniso, i.e. yonisah, is rendered by Dr. Fausböll 'sapientiâ,' and this is the meaning ascribed to yoni by many Buddhist authorities. But the reference to Hemakandra (ed. Boehtlingk and Rieu, p. 281) shows clearly that it meant 'origin,' or 'cause.' Yoniso occurs frequently as a mere adverb, meaning 'thoroughly, radically' (Dhammapada, p. 359), and yoniso manasikâra (Dhammapada, p. 110) means 'taking to heart' or 'minding thoroughly,' or, what is nearly the same, 'wisely.' In the Lalita-vistara, p. 41, the commentator has clearly mistaken yonisah, changing it to ye 'niso, and explaining it by yamnisam, whereas M. Foucaux has rightly translated it by 'depuis l'origine.' Professor Weber suspected in yonisah a double entendre, but even grammar would show that our author is innocent of it. In Lalita-vistara, p. 544, l. 4, ayonisa occurs in the sense of error.

328, 329. Cf. Suttanipâta, vv. 44, 45.]

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   331. If an occasion arises, friends are pleasant; enjoyment is pleasant, whatever be the cause; a good work is pleasant in the hour of death; the giving up of all grief is pleasant.

   332. Pleasant in the world is the state of a mother, pleasant the state of a father, pleasant the state of a Samana, pleasant the state of a Brâhmana.

   333. Pleasant is virtue lasting to old age, pleasant is a faith firmly rooted; pleasant is attainment of intelligence, pleasant is avoiding of sins.

[332. The commentator throughout takes these words, like matteyyatâ, &c., to signify, not the status of a mother, or maternity, but reverence shown to a mother.]