Dhammapada - Chapter 16: Piyavagga - Affection
- fdg sc Translated from the Pali by Acharya Buddharakkhita.
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209Giving himself to things to be shunned and not exerting where exertion is needed, a seeker after pleasures, having given up his true welfare, envies those intent upon theirs. |
210Seek no intimacy with the beloved and also not with the unloved, for not to see the beloved and to see the unloved, both are painful. |
211Therefore hold nothing dear, for separation from the dear is painful. There are no bonds for those who have nothing beloved or unloved. |
212From endearment springs grief, from endearment springs fear. For one who is wholly free from endearment there is no grief, whence then fear? |
213From affection springs grief, from affection springs fear. For one who is wholly free from affection there is no grief, whence then fear? |
214From attachment springs grief, from attachment springs fear. For one who is wholly free from attachment there is no grief, whence then fear? |
215From lust springs grief, from lust springs fear. For one who is wholly free from craving there is no grief; whence then fear? |
216From craving springs grief, from craving springs fear. For one who is wholly free from craving there is no grief; whence then fear? |
217People hold dear him who embodies virtue and insight, who is principled, has realized the truth, and who himself does what he ought to be doing. |
218One who is intent upon the Ineffable (Nibbāna), dwells with mind inspired (by supramundane wisdom), and is no more bound by sense pleasures—such a man is called "One Bound Upstream." |
219When, after a long absence, a man safely returns from afar, his relatives, friends and well-wishers welcome him home on arrival. |
220As kinsmen welcome a dear one on arrival, even so his own good deeds will welcome the doer of good who has gone from this world to the next. |