Skip to main content
Buddhism

SN 1:18 · Shame (Hiri Sutta)

Thai temple painting: Prince Vessantara gives away the white elephant
Vessantara Jātaka, Chapter 2 (Himavanta Forest) · Thai, Rattanakosin, c. 1850–1870 · Walters Art Museum

This pair of verses provides an answer to the question posed and left unanswered in Dhp 143.

“Who in the world

is a man constrained by shame,

who awakens to censure

like a fine stallion     to the whip?”

“Those restrained by shame

are rare—

those who go through life

always mindful.

Having reached the end

of suffering & stress,

they go among the discordant

harmoniously.”


Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 licence, for free distribution only. Source: dhammatalks.org (Metta Forest Monastery).

Join the Journal

Subscribe to Ninth Heaven | Literary & Arts Journal

New issues, stories, and poems, delivered to your inbox.
Subscribe