Chapter 23

I will bear insults in silence, just as an elephant in battle bears the arrow shot from a bow: for the world is full of ill will.

People lead a tamed elephant into battle, and a king rides a tamed elephant; the tamed person is the best among humans—the one who silently endures abuse.

Mules are good when tamed, as are thoroughbred Sindhu horses and great tusked elephants; but better still is the person who has tamed himself.

For no one reaches the untrodden country (Nirvana) by riding such animals; the tamed person reaches it by riding the tamed animal of his own well-disciplined self.

The elephant called Dhanapalaka, with sap streaming from his temples and hard to control, refuses even a mouthful of food when bound; he longs for his elephant grove.

The person who grows fat and overeats, who is drowsy and lolls about—that fool, like a pig fattened on slop, is born again and again.

In the past, this mind of mine wandered wherever it wished, however it pleased; but now I will hold it firmly in check, as a rider with his hook controls a raging elephant.

Do not be careless—watch over your thoughts! Pull yourself out of the wrong path, like an elephant pulling itself out of mud.

If you find a thoughtful companion to walk with you, one who is wise and lives with self-control, then walk together, overcoming all dangers, happy and mindful.

If you find no thoughtful companion to walk with you, no one wise and living with self-control, then walk alone, like a king who has left his conquered country behind—like an elephant in the forest.

It is better to live alone; there is no real companionship with a fool. Walk alone, do no harm, want little, like an elephant in the forest.

When the need arises, friends are a pleasant thing; contentment with what one has is pleasant; doing good is pleasant at the hour of death; and letting go of all sorrow is pleasant.

Pleasant in this world is honoring one’s mother, pleasant is honoring one’s father, pleasant is the life of a Samana, pleasant is the life of a Brahmana.

Pleasant is virtue that lasts into old age, pleasant is faith firmly grounded; pleasant is the gaining of wisdom, pleasant is the avoidance of wrongdoing.