✶Gnosis
← Contents
Theme
14 / 26

Listen

Dhammapada · narration sample

A one-minute narration sample. Every book in the library is narrated end to end — hear the rest in the app.

Dhammapada · 14 of 26

CHAPTER XIV. The Buddha

179.He whose conquest is not conquered again, into whose conquest no one in this world enters, by what track can you lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, the trackless?

180.He whom no desire with its snares and poisons can lead astray, by what track can you lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, the trackless?

181.Even the gods envy those who are awakened and not forgetful, who are given to meditation, who are wise, and who delight in the repose of retirement (from the world).

182.Difficult (to obtain) is the conception of men, difficult is the life of mortals, difficult is the hearing of the True Law, difficult is the birth of the Awakened (the attainment of Buddhahood).

183.Not to commit any sin, to do good, and to purify one’s mind, that is the teaching of (all) the Awakened.

184.The Awakened call patience the highest penance, long-suffering the highest Nirvâna; for he is not an anchorite (pravragita) who strikes others, he is not an ascetic (sramana) who insults others.

185.Not to blame, not to strike, to live restrained under the law, to be moderate in eating, to sleep and sit alone, and to dwell on the highest thoughts,—this is the teaching of the Awakened.

186.There is no satisfying lusts, even by a shower of gold pieces; he who knows that lusts have a short taste and cause pain, he is wise;

187.Even in heavenly pleasures he finds no satisfaction, the disciple who is fully awakened delights only in the destruction of all desires.

188.Men, driven by fear, go to many a refuge, to mountains and forests, to groves and sacred trees.

189.But that is not a safe refuge, that is not the best refuge; a man is not delivered from all pains after having gone to that refuge.

190.He who takes refuge with Buddha, the Law, and the Church; he who, with clear understanding, sees the four holy truths:—

191.Viz. pain, the origin of pain, the destruction of pain, and the eightfold holy way that leads to the quieting of pain;—

192.That is the safe refuge, that is the best refuge; having gone to that refuge, a man is delivered from all pain.

193.A supernatural person (a Buddha) is not easily found, he is not born everywhere. Wherever such a sage is born, that race prospers.

194.Happy is the arising of the awakened, happy is the teaching of the True Law, happy is peace in the church, happy is the devotion of those who are at peace.

195.He who pays homage to those who deserve homage, whether the awakened (Buddha) or their disciples, those who have overcome the host (of evils), and crossed the flood of sorrow, he who pays homage to such as have found deliverance and know no fear, his merit can never be measured by anybody.

Asked of Guide

Why does this chapter call the Buddha 'trackless' and impossible to lead by any path?

The chapter shows the Buddha as beyond ordinary routes: he whose “conquest is not conquered again” and whom “no desire with its snares and poisons can lead astray.” That language presents awakening as an achieved steadiness and freedom from the pull of craving, so there is no external path that can take him somewhere he already is.

The poem then points readers toward an internal refuge—Buddha, Law, and Church—and the four truths as the true ‘‘way’’ to deliverance. This echoes The Questions of King Milinda, which also treats Nirvâna as supreme freedom from desires and as the end reached by understanding the Four Noble Truths.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.

Echoes elsewhere

Cosmic Consciousness · Esoteric(pravragita) who strikes others, he is not an ascetic (stramana) who insults others [156: 50]. Hunger is the worst of diseases,* the body the greatest of pains; if one knows this tThe Questions of King Milinda · Buddhismthe supreme bliss of Nirvâna, from which the corpses of all evil dispositions have been removed. As a corpse, O king, so should you regard the four pleasures of sense, as the man fThe Yoga-Vasishtha-Maharamayana of Valmiki · Hinduismascertainment of truth, that a man may avoid the snares of misery, and attain his best state. 42. One sitting at ease in his seat and meditating within himself (the nature of the sThe Yoga-Vasishtha-Maharamayana of Valmiki · Hinduismunhappiness, while our disinterestedness with all things, is the fountain of everlasting felicity. 26. As long as the Asuras are independent of worldly things, they must remain inv