~
You are now like a withered leaf;
the messengers of death have come near you.
You stand at the threshold of your departure.
Have you made provision for your journey?
Make yourself an island; work hard; be wise.
When your impurities are purged and you are free from guilt,
you will enter into the heavenly world of the noble ones.
Your life is coming to an end;
you are in the presence of death.
There is no rest stop on the way,
and you have made no provision for your journey.
Make yourself an island; work hard; be wise;
when your impurities are purged and you are free from guilt,
you will not again enter into birth and old age.
As a smith removes the impurities from silver,
so let the wise remove the impurities from oneself
one by one, little by little, again and again.
Just as rust from iron eats into it
though born from itself,
so the wrong actions of the transgressor
lead one to the wrong path.
Dull repetition is the impurity of prayers;
lack of repair is the impurity of houses;
laziness is the impurity of personal appearance;
thoughtlessness is the impurity of the watcher.
Bad conduct is the impurity of a woman;
stinginess is the impurity of the giver;
wrong actions are the impurity of this world and the next.
The worst impurity of all is the impurity of ignorance.
Mendicants, throw off that impurity
and become free of all impurities.
Life seems easy for one who is shameless,
who is a crowing hero, a mischief-maker,
an insulting, impudent, and corrupt person.
But life seems difficult for one who is modest,
who always looks for what is pure,
who is detached, quiet, clear, and intelligent.
Whoever destroys life, whoever speaks falsely,
whoever in this world takes what is not given to them,
whoever goes to another person’s spouse,
and whoever gives oneself to drinking intoxicating liquors,
even in this world they dig up their own roots.
Know this, human, that the unrestrained are in a bad way.
Do not let greed and wrong-doing bring you long suffering.
People give according to their faith
or according to their pleasure.
Thus whoever worries about food and drink given to others
will find no peace of mind day or night.
Whoever destroys that feeling, tearing it out by the root,
will truly find peace of mind day and night.
There is no fire like lust, no chain like hate;
there is no snare like folly, no torrent like craving.
The faults of others are easy to see;
our own are difficult to see.
A person winnows others’ faults like chaff,
but hides one’s own faults,
like a cheater hides bad dice.
If a person is concerned about the faults of others
and is always inclined to be offended,
one’s own faults grow and one is far from removing faults.
There is no path in the sky;
one does not become an ascetic outwardly.
People delight in worldly pleasures;
the perfected ones are free from worldliness.
There is no path in the sky;
one does not become an ascetic outwardly.
No creatures are eternal,
but the awakened ones are never shaken.