Skip to main content
Buddhism

Thag 4:10 · Dhammika

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

The Dhamma protects

those who live by the Dhamma.

The Dhamma well-practiced

brings bliss.

This—the reward

when the Dhamma’s well-practiced:

One who lives by the Dhamma

doesn’t go to a bad destination.

For Dhamma and non-

don’t bear equal results.

Non-Dhamma leads you to hell;

Dhamma, to a good destination.

So you should engender desire

for acts of Dhamma,

rejoicing

in the One     Well-Gone,

the one      who is Such.

Standing firm in the Dhamma,

of the foremost

One Well-Gone,

his disciples are guided

—enlightened—

to the foremost

refuge supreme.

Burst       is the root of the boil;

the net of craving     uprooted.

He, having ended his wandering-on,

has no stain—

like the moon

on a clear full-moon night.


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