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235. Like a yellow leaf are you now;
And even Yama’s men have appeared for you;
And at the threshold of departure you stand;
But even the journey’s provisions you do not have.
236. Make a lamp for yourself.
Strive quickly! Become a wise one;
With stains blown out, free of blemish,
You shall go to the heavenly realm of the nobles.
237. And you are now well advanced in age;
You have started the journey to the presence of Yama.
And, in between, there is not even a resting place for you;
Even the journey’s provisions you do not have.
238. Make a lamp for yourself;
Strive quickly! Become a wise one;
With stains blown out, free of blemish,
You shall not undergo birth and old age again.
239. Gradually, would the wise one,
Bit by bit, moment by moment,
Blow out the stain that is one’s own,
Like a smith the stain of silver.
240. As rust sprung from iron,
Springing from that, eats that itself,
So one’s own actions lead
One of unwise conduct to a state of woe.
241. For chants [memorised], non-repetition is corrosive;
For houses, non-maintenance is corrosive;
Corrosive is sloth for physical appearance;
For one who guards, heedlessness is corrosive.
242. The stain of a woman is misconduct;
To the giver, stinginess is the stain.
Bad qualities indeed are stains,
In this world and in that beyond.
243. More staining than that stain
Is ignorance, the worst of stains.
Having abandoned this stain,
Be you free of stains, O bhikkhus!
244. Life is easily lived
By a shameless one,
A disparager, crafty as a crow,
An obtruder, impudent and corrupt.
245. But life is lived with hardship
By one sensitive to shame, ever seeking purity,
Free from clinging, and not impudent,
Discerning, pure in the mode of life.
246. Whoever in [this] world destroys life,
And falsehood speaks,
Takes what is not given,
And goes to another’s wife,
247. And the man who engages in
The drinking of intoxicants,
Right here in this word
He digs up his own root.
248. Know this, dear fellow,
Bad qualities are intemperate.
Let not greed and the un-dhammalike way
Oppress you into prolonged suffering.
249. People give according to their faith,
According as they are pleased.
So, one who becomes sullen,
About the food and drink of others [received],
He does not gain integration,
Be it by day or by night.
250. But the one in whom this is extirpated,
Destroyed at its roots, abolished,
He does gain integration,
Be it by day or by night.
251. There is no fire like passion.
There is no grip like ill will.
There is no snare like delusion.
There is no river like craving.
252. Easily seen is the fault of others,
But one’s own is hard to see.
The faults of others
He winnows like chaff;
But conceals his own,
As a shrewd gambler, the defeating throw.
253. Of one who sees the faults of others,
Constantly holding ideas of disdain –
His intoxicants increase;
Far is he from the extinction of intoxicants.
254. In the sky there is no footstep;
The recluse is not in externals;
Enamoured with preoccupying tendencies are the generations;
Free of preoccupying tendencies are Tathagatas.
255. In the sky there is no footstep;
The recluse is not in externals;
No samkhara is eternal;
There is no agitation among Buddhas.