Chapter 23

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Minor Collection

Sayings of the Dhamma 320–333

23. Elephants

320 Like an elephant struck

with arrows in battle,

I shall endure abuse,

for so many folk are badly behaved.

321 The well-tamed beast is the one led to the crowd;

the tamed elephant’s the one the king mounts;

the tamed person who endures abuse

is the best of human beings.

322 Those who have tamed themselves are better

than fine tamed mules,

thoroughbreds from Sindh,

or giant tuskers.

323 For not on those mounts

would you go to the untrodden place,

whereas, with the help of one

whose self is well tamed,

you go there, tamed by the tamed.

324 The tusker named Dhanapāla

is musky in rut, hard to control.

Bound, he eats not a morsel,

for he misses the elephant forest.

325 One who gets drowsy from overeating,

fond of sleep, rolling round the bed

like a great hog stuffed with grain:

that dullard returns to the womb again and again.

326 In the past my mind wandered

how it wished, where it liked, as it pleased.

Now I’ll carefully guide it,

as a trainer with a hook guides a rutting elephant.

327 Delight in diligence!

Take good care of your mind!

Pull yourself out of this pit,

like an elephant sunk in a bog.

328 If you find an alert companion,

an attentive friend to live happily together,

then, overcoming all adversities,

wander with them, joyful and mindful.

329 If you find no alert companion,

no attentive friend to live happily together,

then, like a king who flees his conquered realm,

wander alone like a tusker in the wilds.

330 It’s better to wander alone,

there’s no fellowship with fools.

Wander alone and do no wrong,

at ease like a tusker in the wilds.

331 A friend in need is a blessing;

it’s a blessing to be content with whatever;

good deeds are a blessing at the end of life,

and giving up all suffering is a blessing.

332 In this world it’s a blessing to serve

one’s mother and one’s father.

And it’s a blessing also to serve

ascetics and brahmins.

333 It’s a blessing to keep precepts until you grow old;

a blessing to be grounded in faith;

the getting of wisdom’s a blessing;

and it’s a blessing to avoid doing wrong.