The Elephant

Like a war elephant standing steady under a hail of arrows, I will bear insults in silence, for so many people simply lack virtue.

As an elephant in the battlefield withstands arrows shot from bows all around, even so shall I endure abuse. There are many, indeed, who lack virtue.

It's the trained elephant they lead into battle, the trained one the king chooses to ride. The best among people, likewise, is the one who has trained themselves to endure harsh words calmly.

A tamed elephant is led into a crowd, and the king mounts a tamed elephant. Best among men is the subdued one who endures abuse.

Trained mules are fine, and so are thoroughbred Sindhu horses and noble tusker elephants. But finer still is the person who has tamed their own self.

Excellent are well-trained mules, thoroughbred Sindhu horses and noble tusker elephants. But better still is the man who has subdued himself.

No animal, however well trained, can carry you to the untrodden land of peace. Only the one who has tamed themselves arrives there, riding their own well-controlled mind.

Not by these mounts, however, would one go to the Untrodden Land (Nibbana), as one who is self-tamed goes by his own tamed and well-controlled mind.

The great tusker Dhanapālaka, wild in rut, cannot be controlled. Held in captivity, he refuses every mouthful of food, his heart still longing for the elephant forest.

Musty during rut, the tusker named Dhanapalaka is uncontrollable. Held in captivity, the tusker does not touch a morsel, but only longingly calls to mind the elephant forest.

When someone is sluggish and gluttonous, sleeping and rolling about in bed like a fat, well-fed pig, that dullard is reborn again and again.

When a man is sluggish and gluttonous, sleeping and rolling around in bed like a fat domestic pig, that sluggard undergoes rebirth again and again.

Once this mind of mine roamed wherever it liked, however it pleased. Now I will master it firmly with wisdom, as a mahout reins in an elephant in rut with his hook.

Formerly this mind wandered about as it liked, where it wished and according to its pleasure, but now I shall thoroughly master it with wisdom as a mahout controls with his ankus an elephant in rut.

If you find a wise, steady companion who lives well and walks beside you, then travel together; you'll overcome every danger, content and clear-headed.

Delight in heedfulness! Guard well your thoughts! Draw yourself out of this bog of evil, even as an elephant draws himself out of the mud.

If you find a wise and prudent friend who leads a good life, then travel together, overcoming every obstacle, glad and mindful at their side.

If for company you find a wise and prudent friend who leads a good life, you should, overcoming all impediments, keep his company joyously and mindfully.

But if you can't find a wise and prudent friend who leads a good life, then walk alone, like a king who leaves behind a conquered kingdom, like a lone elephant roaming the forest.

If for company you cannot find a wise and prudent friend who leads a good life, then, like a king who leaves behind a conquered kingdom, or like a lone elephant in the elephant forest, you should go your way alone.

It is better to live alone than to keep company with a fool. Walk alone, doing no harm and wanting little, carefree like an elephant in the forest.

Better it is to live alone; there is no fellowship with a fool. Live alone and do no evil; be carefree like an elephant in the elephant forest.

Friends are a blessing when the need arises; contentment with whatever you have is a blessing; merit at the end of life is a blessing; and the letting go of all suffering, a blessing greater still.

Good are friends when need arises; good is contentment with just what one has; good is merit when life is at an end, and good is the abandoning of all suffering (through Arahantship).

In this world it is good to honour your mother, good to honour your father, good to honour those who have gone forth, and good to honour the holy and the wise.

In this world, good it is to serve one’s mother, good it is to serve one’s father, good it is to serve the monks, and good it is to serve the holy men.

It is good to keep one's virtue to the end of life, good to hold a steadfast faith, good to gain wisdom, and good to refrain from doing harm.

Good is virtue until life’s end, good is faith that is steadfast, good is the acquisition of wisdom, and good is the avoidance of evil.