All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.
Every living being shrinks from pain; everyone fears death. See yourself in them, and so do not kill, and do not cause others to be killed.
All tremble at violence; life is dear to all. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.
Every living being shrinks from pain; everyone treasures their life. See yourself in them, and so do not kill, and do not cause others to be killed.
One who, while himself seeking happiness, oppresses with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will not attain happiness hereafter.
Whoever chases their own happiness by hurting others, who also long to be happy, will not find happiness themselves.
One who, while himself seeking happiness, does not oppress with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will find happiness hereafter.
Whoever seeks their own happiness without oppressing others, who also long to be happy, will find happiness themselves.
Speak not harshly to anyone, for those thus spoken to might retort. Indeed, angry speech hurts, and retaliation may overtake you.
Speak harshly to no one, for those you wound may throw the same words right back. Angry talk brings pain, and the blows can return to you in kind.
If, like a broken gong, you silence yourself, you have approached Nibbana, for vindictiveness is no longer in you.
If you can fall silent like a cracked gong that no longer rings, you have drawn near to peace, for there is no quarrel left in you.
Just as a cowherd drives the cattle to pasture with a staff, so do old age and death drive the life force of beings (from existence to existence).
Just as a cowherd drives cattle to pasture with a staff, so do aging and death drive the life of every being onward.
When the fool commits evil deeds, he does not realize (their evil nature). The witless man is tormented by his own deeds, like one burnt by fire.
When a fool does wrong, they do not see it for what it is. Yet their own deeds torment them later, as if they were being burned by fire.
He who inflicts violence on those who are unarmed, and offends those who are inoffensive, will soon come upon one of these ten states:
Whoever harms those who are harmless and strikes at those who would never strike back will soon meet with one of ten kinds of suffering.
Sharp pain, or disaster, bodily injury, serious illness, or derangement of mind, trouble from the government, or grave charges, loss of relatives, or loss of wealth, or houses destroyed by ravaging fire; upon dissolution of the body that ignorant man is born in hell.
Such a person may meet sharp pain, or disaster, or bodily injury, or grave illness, or even the unraveling of their own mind.
Sharp pain, or disaster, bodily injury, serious illness, or derangement of mind, trouble from the government, or grave charges, loss of relatives, or loss of wealth, or houses destroyed by ravaging fire; upon dissolution of the body that ignorant man is born in hell.
They may face trouble from those in power, or be hit with grave accusations, or lose those close to them, or watch their wealth slip away.
Sharp pain, or disaster, bodily injury, serious illness, or derangement of mind, trouble from the government, or grave charges, loss of relatives, or loss of wealth, or houses destroyed by ravaging fire; upon dissolution of the body that ignorant man is born in hell.
Their home may be consumed by raging fire, and when the body breaks apart at death, that foolish person is reborn in a state of suffering.
Neither going about naked, nor matted locks, nor filth, nor fasting, nor lying on the ground, nor smearing oneself with ashes and dust, nor sitting on the heels (in penance) can purify a mortal who has not overcome doubt.
Going naked, wearing matted hair, caking yourself in mud, fasting, sleeping on bare ground, smearing on ash, or crouching in penance: none of it can purify someone who has not yet moved beyond doubt.
Even though he be well-attired, yet if he is poised, calm, controlled and established in the holy life, having set aside violence towards all beings — he, truly, is a holy man, a renunciate, a monk.
Even someone finely dressed, if they are calm, restrained, and settled in a good life, harming no living being, is truly a holy one: a renunciate, a monk.
Only rarely is there a man in this world who, restrained by modesty, avoids reproach, as a thoroughbred horse avoids the whip.
Rare in this world is the person who, held back by their own sense of shame, steers clear of blame, as a fine horse shies from the whip.
Like a thoroughbred horse touched by the whip, be strenuous, be filled with spiritual yearning. By faith and moral purity, by effort and meditation, by investigation of the truth, by being rich in knowledge and virtue, and by being mindful, destroy this unlimited suffering.
Like a fine horse that springs forward at the touch of the whip, be eager and earnest. Through faith and virtue, through effort and meditation, through clear insight and mindful conduct, put an end to this vast suffering.
Irrigators regulate the waters, fletchers straighten arrow shafts, carpenters shape wood, and the good control themselves.
Irrigators guide the water where it should go, fletchers straighten their arrows, carpenters shape the wood, and good people shape themselves.