Chapter XXIII - The Elephant

320.^[1] Silently shall I endure abuse as the elephant in battle endures the arrow sent from the bow: for the world is ill-natured.

321. They lead a tamed elephant to battle, the king mounts a tamed elephant; the tamed is the best among men, he who silently endures abuse.

322. Mules are good, if tamed, and noble Sindhu horses, and elephants with large tusks; but he who tames himself is better still.

323.^[2] For with these animals does no man reach the untrodden country (Nirvāṇa), where a tamed man goes on a tamed animal, viz. on his own well-tamed self.

324. The elephant called Dhanapālaka, his temples running with sap, and difficult to hold, does not eat a morsel when bound; the elephant longs for the elephant grove.

325. If a man becomes fat and a great eater, if he is sleepy and rolls himself about, that fool, like a hog fed on wash, is born again and again.

326.^[3] This mind of mine went formerly wandering about as it liked, as it listed, as it pleased; but I shall now hold it in thoroughly, as the rider who holds the hook holds in the furious elephant.

327. Be not thoughtless, watch your thoughts! Draw yourself out of the evil way, like an elephant sunk in mud.

328.^[4] If a man find a prudent companion who walks with him, is wise, and lives soberly, he may walk with him, overcoming all dangers, happy, but considerate.

329. If a man find no prudent companion who walks with him, is wise, and lives soberly, let him walk alone, like a king who has left his conquered country behind,—like an elephant in the forest.

330. It is better to live alone, there is no companionship with a fool; let a man walk alone, let him commit no sin, with few wishes, like an elephant in the forest.

331. If an occasion arises, friends are pleasant; enjoyment is pleasant, whatever be the cause; a good work is pleasant in the hour of death; the giving up of all grief is pleasant.

332.^[5] Pleasant in the world is the state of a mother, pleasant the state of a father, pleasant the state of a Samaṇa, pleasant the state of a Brāhmaṇa.

333. Pleasant is virtue lasting to old age, pleasant is a faith firmly rooted; pleasant is attainment of intelligence, pleasant is avoiding of sins.

Footnotes and references:

[back to top]

[1]:

The elephant is with the Buddhists the emblem of endurance and self-restraint. Thus Buddha himseIf is called Nāga, 'the Elephant' (Lal. Vist. p. 553), or Mahānāga, 'the great Elephant' (Lal. Vist. p. 553), and in one passage (Lal. Vist. p. 554) the reason of this name is given, by stating that Buddha was sudānta, 'well-tamed,' like an elephant. He descended from heaven in the form of an elephant to be born on earth.

Cf. Manu VI, 47, ativādāṃs titiksheta.

[2]:

I read, as suggested by Dr. Fausböll, yath' attanā sudantena danto dantena gacchati' (cf. verse 160). The India Office MS. reads na hi etehi ṭhānehi gaccheya agataṃ disam, yath' attānaṃ sudantena danto dantena gacchati. As to ṭhānehi instead of yānehi, see verse 224.

[3]:

Yoniso, i. e. yoniśaḥ, is rendered by Dr. Fausböll 'sapientiā,' and this is the meaning ascribed to yoni by many Buddhist authorities. But the reference to Hemacandra (ed. Boehtlingk and Rieu, p. 281) shows clearly that it meant 'origin,' or 'cause. ' Yoniso occurs frequently as a mere adverb, meaning 'thoroughly, radically' (Dhammapada, p. 359), and yoniso manasikāra (Dhammapada, p. 110) means 'taking to heart' or 'minding thoroughly,' or, what is nearly the same, 'wisely. ' In the Lalita-vistara, p. 41, the commentator has clearly mistaken yoniśaḥ, changing it to ye 'niśo, and explaining it by yamniśam, whereas M. Foucaux has rightly translated it by 'depuis l'origine. ' Professor Weber suspected in yoniśaḥ a double entendre, but even grammar would show that our author is innocent of it. In Lalita-vistara, p. 544, l. 4, ayoniśa occurs in the sense of error.

[4]:

Cf. Suttanipāta, vv. 44, 45.

[5]:

The commentator throughout takes these words, like matteyyatā, etc. , to signify, not the status of a mother, or maternity, but reverence shown to a mother.

Other Theravada Concepts:

[back to top]

Discover the significance of concepts within the article: ‘The Elephant’. Further sources in the context of Theravada might help you critically compare this page with similair documents:

Living alone, Wandering mind, Evil way, Tamed elephant, Great eater, Dhanapalaka elephant, Well-tamed self, Tamed self, Walk alone, Companionship with a fool.