Chapter XXXI

The Perfection of Morality

By morality those who hanker after calm are lifted up,
Established in the sphere of those with the ten powers, unbroken in their morality.
How ever many actions of restraint they comply with,
They dedicate them to enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.

If he generates a longing for the enlightenment of Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas,
He becomes immoral, unwise, and likewise faulty in his coursing.
But when one turns over [all one's merit] into the utmost Bliss of enlightenment,
Then one is established in the perfection of morality, [although] joined to the sense-qualities.

The Dharma from which come the qualities of the enlightenment of the Gentle,
That is the object of the morality of those who are endowed with the qualities of Dharma.
The Dharma which [involves] the loss of the qualities of the enlightenment of those who act for the weal of the world,
As immorality has that been proclaimed by the Leader.

When a Bodhisattva tastes of the five sense-qualities,
But has gone for refuge to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the holy Sangha
And has turned his attention towards all-knowledge, [thinking] 'I will become a Buddha,' -
As established in the perfection of morality should that discerning one be known.

If, when coursing for kotis of aeons in the ten paths of wholesome action,
He engenders a longing for Arhatship or Pratyekabuddhahood,
Then he becomes one whose morality is broken, and faulty in his morality.
Weightier than an offence deserving expulsion is such a production of thought.

When he guards morality, he turns [the resulting merit] over to the foremost enlightenment,
But he does not feel conceited about that, nor does he exalt himself.
When he has got rid of the notion of I and the notion of other beings,
Established in the perfection of morality is that Bodhisattva called.

If a Bodhisattva, coursing in the path of the Jinas,
Makes [a difference between] these beings as observers of morality and those as of bad morality,
Intent on the perception of multiplicity he is perfectly immoral.
He is faulty in his morality, not perfectly pure in it.

He who has no notion of I and no notion of a being,
He has performed the withdrawal from perception, [and] he has no [need for] restraint.
One who minds neither about restraint nor about non-restraint,
He has been proclaimed by the Leader as restrained by morality.

The Perfection of Giving

But one who, endowed with morality, a pure being,
Becomes unconcerned about anything that may be dear or unclear,
If, when he renounces head, hands and feet his thought remains undejected,
He becomes one who gives up all he has, always uncowed.

And having known the essential original nature of dharmas as void and without self,
He would renounce his own flesh, undejected in thought,
To say nothing of his renouncing of property and gold.
It is impossible that he should act from meanness.

Through the notion of I comes about a sense of ownership about property, as well as greed;
How can the deluded have the resolve to renunciation?
The mean are reborn in the world of the Pretas,
Or if as humans, then they are poor.

Then the Bodhisattva, having understood why these beings are poverty-stricken,
Becomes resolved on giving, always a generous giver.
When he has given away the four Continents, well adorned, as if they were just spittle,
He becomes elated, for he has not kept the Continents.

Having given gifts, the wise and learned Bodhisattva,
Having brought to mind all the beings that there are in the triple world,
Becomes to all of them a donor, and he turns over
That gift into the most excellent enlightenment, for the weal of the world.

When he has given a gift, he does not make it into a basis or support.
And he does never expect any reward from it.
Having thus renounced, he becomes a wise renouncer of all.
The little he has renounced becomes much and immeasurable.

If all the beings in the entire triple world, as many as there are
Would, let us assume, give gifts for endless aeons,
To the Buddhas, Knowers of the world, to Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas,
But would wish for the virtues of the Disciples;

And if a Bodhisattva, wise and skilled in means,
Would rejoice at the foundation of their meritorious deed,
And would, for the weal of beings, turn it over into the best and most excellent enlightenment, -
By having turned over he surpasses the [merit of the] entire world.

If there were a large heap of spurious glass jewels,
One single gem of lapis lazuli surpasses it all:
Just so the Bodhisattva, who rejoices, surpasses
The [merit from the] whole vast heap of gifts of the entire world.

If the Bodhisattva, when giving gifts to the world
Remains unaffected by a sense of ownership or by affection for his property,
From that his wholesome root grows into something of great might:
As the moon, in the absence of cloud, is a circle of radiant light in the bright half of the lunar month.