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DHAMMAPADA

Dr. M. V. Kamath

In the absence of an acknowledged gentleman of letters, to fill the Last Page  we are falling back on MVK’s writings.  His book – Letters to Gauri – includes some of his brush with historical wisdom. We are reproducing them with some sequential order for the benefit of our readers. – Editor

My dear Gauri,

I said in my last letter that the Dhammapada is to Buddhism what the Sermon on the Mount is to Christianity. I will come to the Sermon preached by Jesus Christ at a later stage. One writer has said that if all of the New Testament (which is that part of the Bible, holy to Christians) had been lost and only the Sermon on the Mount had managed to survive, we would still have all that is necessary for following the teachings of Christ. Similarly, he said, if everything else were lost, and only the Dhammapada survived, that was enough for the practice of Buddhism.

Dhammapada is  the Pali equivalent of  Dharmapatha – the path of Dharma, truth, righteousness and the central law of life. The Dhammapada is a map for a journey through life. The Buddha came to propound the Dhammapada after deep meditation, after fighting all temptations offered by Maya, the tempter. When he had attained enlightenment under the bodhi tree it is said that his personality was so radiant that he seemed like a God. He was asked: “Are you a God?”

“No.”

“Are you an angel?”

“No”.

“What are you, then?”

Replied the Buddha: “I am awake!”

What the Dhammapada provides is the wisdom of the Buddha. A few samples are as follows:

Our life is shaped by our mind. We become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it.

As rain seeps through an ill-thatched hut, passion will seep through an untrained mind.

Those who recite many scriptures but fail to practice their teachings are like a cowherd counting another’s cows.

Hard is to train the mind, which goes where it likes and does what it wants. But a trained mind brings health and happiness.

Long is the right to those who are awake, long is the road to those who are weary. Long is the cycle of birth and death to those who know not the dharma.

Better than a speech of a thousand vain words is one thoughtful word which brings peace to the mind. 

Better to live in virtue and wisdom for one day than to live a hundred years with an evil and undisciplined mind.

If you have no wound on your hand, you can touch poison without being harmed. No harm comes to him who does no harm.

Selfish bonds cause grief; selfish bonds cause fear. Be unselfish and you will be free from grief and fear.

People will blame you if you say too much; they will blame if you say too little, they will blame you if you say just enough. No one in this world escapes blame.

Bhikshu, empty your boat. It will go faster. Cast out greed and hatred and reach nirvana.

There is a chapter in Dhammapada in which the Buddha defines who a true Brahmin is:

Him I call a Brahmin who had trained his mind to be still to reach the supreme goal of life.

Him I call a Brahmin who has shed all evil, whose heart is pure.

Him I call a Brahmin who does not hurt others.

Him I call a Brahmin who clings not to pleasure.

Him I call a Brahmin who is never angry, never goes astray from his path.

You will see in all these sayings, Gauri, how much the Buddha valued dharma. To the Buddha not birth but character, determined who a Brahmin was.

In my next letter I shall be writing to you about Greece and one of its greatest son of all time, Socrates.

Your loving

Ajja