At Sāvatthi. Standing to one side, that devatā addressed the Blessed One in verse:
223 “Having slain what does one sleep soundly?
Having slain what does one not sorrow?
What is the one thing, O Gotama,
Whose killing you approve?”
[The Blessed One:]
224 “Having slain anger, one sleeps soundly;
Having slain anger, one does not sorrow;
The killing of anger, O devatā,
With its poisoned root and honeyed tip:
This is the killing the noble ones praise,
For having slain that, one does not sorrow.”
225 “What is the token of a chariot?
What, the token of a fire?
What is the token of a country?
What, the token of a woman?”
226 “A standard is the token of a chariot;
Smoke, the token of a fire;
The king is a country’s token;
A husband, the token of a woman.”
227 “What here is a man’s best treasure?
What practised well brings happiness?
What is really the sweetest of tastes?
How lives the one whom they say lives best?”
228 “Faith is here a man’s best treasure;
Dhamma practised well brings happiness;
Truth is really the sweetest of tastes;
One living by wisdom they say lives best.”
[A devatā:]
229 “What is the best of things that rise up?
What excels among things that fall down?
What is the best of things that go forth?
Who is the most excellent of speakers?”
[Another devatā:]
230 “A seed is the best of things that rise up;
Rain excels among things that fall down;
Cattle are the best of things that go forth;
A son is the most excellent of speakers.”
[The Blessed One:]
231 “Knowledge is the best of things that rise up;
Ignorance excels among things that fall down;
The Saṅgha is the best of things that go forth;
The most excellent of speakers is the Buddha.”
232 “Why are so many people here afraid
When the path has been taught with many bases?
I ask you, O Gotama, broad of wisdom:
On what should one take a stand
To have no fear of the other world?”
233 “Having directed speech and mind rightly,
Doing no evil deeds with the body,
Dwelling at home with ample food and drink,
Faithful, gentle, generous, amiable:
When one stands on these four things,
Standing firmly on the Dhamma,
One need not fear the other world.”
234 “What decays, what does not decay?
What is declared the deviant path?
What is the impediment to [wholesome] states?
What undergoes destruction night and day?
What is the stain of the holy life?
What is the bath without water?
235 “How many fissures are there in the world
Wherein the mind does not stand firm?
We’ve come to ask the Blessed One this:
How are we to understand it?”
236 “The physical form of mortals decays,
Their name and clan does not decay.
Lust is declared the deviant path,
Greed the impediment to [wholesome] states.
237 “Life undergoes destruction night and day;
Women are the stain of the holy life:
Here’s where menfolk are enmeshed.
Austerity and the holy life —
That is the bath without water.
238 “There are six fissures in the world
Wherein the mind does not stand firm:
Laziness and negligence,
Indolence, lack of self-control,
Drowsiness and lethargy —
Avoid these fissures completely.”
239 “What is sovereignty in the world?
What ranks as the best of goods?
What in the world is a rusty sword?
What in the world is considered a plague?
240 “Whom do they arrest when he takes away?
And who, when he takes away, is dear?
In whom do the wise take delight
When he returns again and again?”
241 “Mastery is sovereignty in the world;
A woman ranks as the best of goods;
In the world anger is a rusty sword;
Thieves in the world are considered a plague.
242 “They arrest a thief when he takes away,
But an ascetic who takes away is dear.
The wise take delight in an ascetic
When he returns again and again.”
243 “What should he not give who loves the good?
What should a mortal not relinquish?
What should one release when it’s good,
But not release when it’s bad?”
244 “A person should not give himself away;
He should not relinquish himself.
One should release speech that is good,
But not speech that is bad.”
79 (9) Provisions for a Journey
245 “What secures provisions for a journey?
What is the abode of wealth?
What drags a person around?
What in the world is hard to discard?
By what are many beings bound
Like birds caught in a snare?”
246 “Faith secures provisions for a journey;
Fortune is the abode of wealth;
Desire drags a person around;
Desire is hard to discard in the world.
By desire many beings are bound
Like birds caught in a snare.”
247 “What is the source of light in the world?
What in the world is the wakeful one?
What are [the colleagues] of those living by work?
What is one’s course of movement?
248 “What nurtures both the slack and active
Just as a mother nurtures her child?
The creatures who dwell on the earth —
By what do they sustain their life?”
249 “Wisdom is the source of light in the world;
Mindfulness, in the world, is the wakeful one;
Cattle are [the colleagues] of those living by work;
One’s course of movement is the furrow.
250 “Rain nurtures both the slack and active
Just as a mother nurtures her child.
Those creatures who dwell on the earth
Sustain their life by rain.”
251 “Who here in the world are placid?
Whose mode of life is not squandered?
Who here fully understand desire?
Who enjoy perpetual freedom?
252 “Whom do parents and brothers worship
When he stands firmly established?
Who is the one of humble birth
That even khattiyas here salute?”
253 “Ascetics are placid in the world;
The ascetic life is not squandered;
Ascetics fully understand desire;
They enjoy perpetual freedom.
254 “Parents and brothers worship an ascetic
When he stands firmly established.
Though an ascetic be of humble birth
Even khattiyas here salute him.”