Dhp 256–272PTS (2nd ed) Dhp 732 min read

19. The Just

Dhammaṭṭhavagga

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

0.1KhuddakanikāyaMinor Collection
0.2DhammapadaSayings of the Dhamma 256–272

0.3Dhammaṭṭhavagga19. The Just

0.4Vinicchayamahāmattavatthu

1Na tena hoti dhammaṭṭho,You don’t become just2yenatthaṁ sāhasā naye;by passing hasty judgment.3Yo ca atthaṁ anatthañca,An astute person evaluates both4ubho niccheyya paṇḍito.what is pertinent and what is irrelevant.

1Asāhasena dhammena,A wise one judges others without haste,2samena nayatī pare;justly and impartially;3Dhammassa gutto medhāvī,that guardian of the law4“dhammaṭṭho”ti pavuccati.is said to be just.

0Chabbaggiyavatthu

1Na tena paṇḍito hoti,You’re not an astute scholar2yāvatā bahu bhāsati;just because you speak a lot.3Khemī averī abhayo,One who is secure, free of enmity and fear,4“paṇḍito”ti pavuccati.is said to be astute.

0Ekudānakhīṇāsavavatthu

1Na tāvatā dhammadharo,You’re not one who has memorized the teaching2yāvatā bahu bhāsati;just because you recite a lot.3Yo ca appampi sutvāna,Someone who directly sees the teaching4dhammaṁ kāyena passati;after hearing only a little5Sa ve dhammadharo hoti,is truly one who has memorized the teaching,6yo dhammaṁ nappamajjati.for they can never forget it.

0Lakuṇḍakabhaddiyattheravatthu

1Na tena thero so hoti,You don’t become a senior2yenassa palitaṁ siro;by getting some grey hairs;3Paripakko vayo tassa,for one ripe only in age,4“moghajiṇṇo”ti vuccati.is said to have aged in vain.

1Yamhi saccañca dhammo ca,One who is truthful and principled,2ahiṁsā saṁyamo damo;harmless, restrained, and self-controlled,3Sa ve vantamalo dhīro,attentive, purged of stains,4“thero” iti pavuccati.is said to be a senior.

0Sambahulabhikkhuvatthu

1Na vākkaraṇamattena,Not by mere enunciation,2vaṇṇapokkharatāya vā;or a beautiful complexion3Sādhurūpo naro hoti,does a person become holy,4issukī maccharī saṭho.if they’re jealous, stingy, and devious.

1Yassa cetaṁ samucchinnaṁ,But if they’ve cut that out,2mūlaghaccaṁ samūhataṁ;dug it up at the root, eradicated it,3Sa vantadoso medhāvī,that intelligent one, purged of vice,4“sādhurūpo”ti vuccati.is said to be holy.

0Hatthakavatthu

1Na muṇḍakena samaṇo,A liar and breaker of vows is no ascetic2abbato alikaṁ bhaṇaṁ;just because they shave their head.3Icchālobhasamāpanno,How on earth can one be an ascetic4samaṇo kiṁ bhavissati.who’s full of desire and greed?

1Yo ca sameti pāpāni,One who stops all wicked deeds,2aṇuṁthūlāni sabbaso;great and small,3Samitattā hi pāpānaṁ,because of stopping wicked deeds4“samaṇo”ti pavuccati.is said to be an ascetic.

0Aññatarabrāhmaṇavatthu

1Na tena bhikkhu so hoti,You don’t become a mendicant2yāvatā bhikkhate pare;just by begging from others.3Vissaṁ dhammaṁ samādāya,One who has undertaken domestic duties4bhikkhu hoti na tāvatā.has not yet become a mendicant.

1Yodha puññañca pāpañca,But one living a spiritual life,2bāhetvā brahmacariyavā;who has banished both merit and evil,3Saṅkhāya loke carati,who wanders having appraised the world,4sa ve “bhikkhū”ti vuccati.is said to be a mendicant.

0Titthiyavatthu

1Na monena munī hoti,You don’t become a sage by being sagelike,¹2mūḷharūpo aviddasu;while still confused and ignorant.3Yo ca tulaṁva paggayha,The astute one who holds the scales,4varamādāya paṇḍito.taking only the best,

1Pāpāni parivajjeti,and shunning the bad—2sa munī tena so muni;that is a sage, <j>and that is how one becomes a sage.3Yo munāti ubho loke,One who sagely weighs both in the world,²4“muni” tena pavuccati.is thereby said to be a sage.

0Bālisikavatthu

1Na tena ariyo hoti,You don’t become a noble one2yena pāṇāni hiṁsati;by harming living beings.3Ahiṁsā sabbapāṇānaṁ,One harmless toward all living beings4“ariyo”ti pavuccati.is said to be a noble one.

0Sambahulasīlādisampannabhikkhuvatthu

1Na sīlabbatamattena,Not by precepts and observances,2bāhusaccena vā pana;nor by much learning,3Atha vā samādhilābhena,nor by meditative immersion,4vivittasayanena vā.nor by living in seclusion,

1Phusāmi nekkhammasukhaṁ,do I experience the bliss of renunciation2aputhujjanasevitaṁ;not frequented by ordinary people.3Bhikkhu vissāsamāpādi,A mendicant cannot rest confident4appatto āsavakkhayaṁ.without attaining the end of defilements.

5Dhammaṭṭhavaggo ekūnavīsatimo.

Translator’s notes

Mona (“sagacity”, Sanskrit mauna) is the abstract noun from muni (“sage”). Over time it acquired the sense “silence”, as a thoughtful man is silent, and it is explained as such here by the commentary as well as the Chinese translation (T 210:27.13 at T iv 586c19). However I have not found any early instances to support this. In Pali, silence is tuṇhī; a “vow of silence”—forbidden to monastics—is mūgabbata (Kd 4:1.12.6). Nothing in the context here suggests a vow of silence. In the Rig Veda (7.56.8, 10.136) the muni appears as an ecstatic, raving as if drunk, apparently from drugs (soma, viṣa), suggesting a sense of “mind-altered” or “mind-expanded”. Chāndogya Upaniṣad 8.5.2 refers to mauna as the life of a student, characterized by manute (“thinking”, “reflection”), so we can well translate “thoughtfulness”. Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.5.1 enjoins the student to become like a child, then reject both scholarship and childishness, thus becoming a “sage” (muni). Then, rejecting sagacity and lack of sagacity they become a brahmin. This could easily have the Vedic sense of “mind-expanded (through drugs or meditation)”. A similar sense probably applies here. The verse enjoins “weighed” or rational thought as opposed to confused, perhaps “ecstatic” or “mind-altered” thought.
↩ dhp268:1
These two lines recapitulate the previous lines. Munāti (“sagely weighs”, literally “thinks, examines”) is punned with mināti (“measure, weigh”) following the imagery of the scales. “Both” calls back to both good and evil.
↩ dhp269:3