Udanavarga 4: Bam po 4

Udānavarga. [Bampo 4, the last.] / Hard to restrain and nimble, / going wherever it pleases, / taming the mind is good: / a tamed mind brings happiness. / When abandoning the grounds of Māra, / my mind trembles completely, / like a fish pulled out from its watery home / and cast onto dry land. / Just as rays of light spread from the sun, / my mind races in every direction; / the wise person steadily turns them back, / like an elephant with an iron hook. / To constantly tame / that which engages in what is useless to me, / invisible and insubstantial, / I address this mind: / 'Mind, you who formerly wandered as you wished, / pursuing your pleasures and roaming about— / just as a man controls a mad elephant with a hook, / so will I hold you with proper attention! / House builder, you have produced / many a saṃsāric rebirth / fraught with the suffering of repeated birth, / until now! / House builder, you are seen! / The main ridgepole of the house is broken, / all the rafters are shattered, / and you shall build no house again! / The mind, parted from conditioned phenomena, / wishes to be exhausted in this very life.' / The mind is wavering and false, / going far and hard to turn back; / like a fletcher straightening with fire, / the intelligent one should straighten it. / Bodiless, dwelling in a cave, / wandering alone, travelling far— / one who tames such a mind / will be liberated from great fear. / By whatever wrongly directed mind / one makes oneself suffer, / neither an enemy to an enemy / nor a foe to a foe would do the same. / By whatever rightly directed mind / one makes oneself happy, / neither a father nor a mother, / nor any other kin could do the same. / Just as when the roof of a house is poorly thatched, / the rain leaks in entirely,

Just so, the uncultivated mind / Is completely overcome by desire. / Just as rain does not leak into / A roof that is well-covered, / Just so, the well-cultivated mind / Is not at all overcome by desire. / Just as rain leaks through / A poorly covered roof, / Just so, the uncultivated mind / Is completely overcome by hatred. / Just as rain does not leak into / A roof that is well-covered, / Just so, the well-cultivated mind / Is not at all overcome by hatred. / Just as rain leaks through / A poorly covered roof, / Just so, the uncultivated mind / Is completely overcome by delusion. / Just as rain does not leak into / A roof that is well-covered, / Just so, the well-cultivated mind / Is not at all overcome by delusion. / Just as rain leaks through / A poorly covered roof, / Just so, the uncultivated mind / Is completely overcome by pride. / Just as rain does not leak into / A roof that is well-covered, / Just so, the well-cultivated mind / Is not at all overcome by pride. / Just as rain leaks through / A poorly covered roof, / Just so, the uncultivated mind / Is completely overcome by attachment. / Just as rain does not leak into / A roof that is well-covered, / Just so, the well-cultivated mind / Is not at all overcome by attachment. / Just as rain leaks through / A poorly covered roof, / Just so, the uncultivated mind / Is completely overcome by craving. / Just as rain does not leak into / A roof that is well-covered, / Just so, the well-cultivated mind / Is not at all overcome by craving. / Preceded by the mind

Are phenomena; / The mind is swift, the mind is primary. / If with a thoroughly corrupted mind / One speaks or even acts, / Thereby suffering will follow them, / Just as the wheel follows the head of the ox. / Preceded by the mind are phenomena; / The mind is swift, the mind is primary. / If with a thoroughly purified mind / One speaks or even acts, / Thereby happiness will follow them, / Just like an accompanying shadow. / One who clings strongly to disputation, / And whose mind has become afflicted, / Seeking an opportunity [for faultfinding], / Does not understand what is well explained. / With a mind that is hateful, disturbed, / Or devoid of faith, / One cannot comprehend all of the sublime Dharma / Taught by the fully enlightened buddha. / One who has tamed the careless mind / And conquered anger, / And abandoned malice in this world, / Understands what is well explained. / One whose mind lacks steadfastness / Will not comprehend the sublime Dharma; / One whose faith wavers / Will not bring wisdom to perfection. / Desiring and relying upon conceptual thoughts, / Whatever is the stream of rivers / Of thirty-six wrong views / Flows forth from the stream of the mind. / For the person with a joyful mind, coarse faculties, / And inferior followers of the mind, / Their reputation wanes like birds leaving / A fruit tree [bereft of fruit]. / Mind, do not take pleasure in ruinous desires! / Cultivate diligence and abide in heedfulness! / Do not weep when boiled in hell / And forced to swallow molten iron due to heedlessness! / One who remains seated when it is time to rise, / Who, endowed with youth and strength, makes no effort and stays at home, / And who is lazy when the mind should be fulfilled, / Such a person's wisdom will not realize the path. / When fine, subtle thoughts run rampant, / The inner mind becomes agitated. / Not knowing these mental fabrications, / The deluded mind runs wild again and again.

When a mindful, discerning, and diligent person, / Skilled in examining thoughts, recognizes them, / That inner mind that had been running rampant / Is thoroughly abandoned by the intellect without remainder. / Recognizing this body to be like a vase, / And fortifying it with a mind like a citadel, / One should wage war against Māra with the weapon of wisdom, / And having conquered him, guard it without resting. / Recognizing these worlds to be like a vase, / And knowing phenomena in the same way to be like a mirage, / One should wage war against Māra with the weapon of wisdom, / And having conquered him, guard it without resting. / Recognizing this body to be like foam, / And fortifying it with a mind like a citadel, / One should wage war against Māra with the weapon of wisdom, / And having conquered him, guard it without resting. / Recognizing these worlds to be like foam, / And fortifying it with a mind like a citadel, / One should wage war against Māra with the weapon of wisdom, / And having conquered him, guard it without resting. / Whoever has properly cultivated / The seven limbs of enlightenment with the mind, / Whoever has no delight in clinging, / Has completely abandoned clinging, / And eliminated the faults of tainted defilements, / Has attained nirvāṇa right within this world. / Whoever protects their own mind / Like the tip of a yak's tail, / And has compassion toward living beings, / Their happiness will never diminish. / Just as the greatest elephant among bull elephants, / With its magnificent tusks, / Shares the same mind [of solitary ease], / It delights to be alone in the forest. / Whoever has no harmful intention in mind, / Holds compassion for all beings, / And shows loving-kindness toward beings, / Enmity will never arise for them. / Whoever has no malicious mind, / Holds compassion for all beings, / And shows loving-kindness toward all living creatures, / Enmity will never arise for them. / Whoever has no

Harmful intention, / Holds compassion for all beings, / And shows loving-kindness toward all sentient beings, / Enmity will never come to them. / If one shows compassion toward all relatives and all companions, / And toward all beings, / And cultivates a mind of loving-kindness, / One's happiness will greatly increase. / If one directs a benevolent mind without malice / Even toward a single living creature, that is virtuous; / But by generating compassion in one's mind toward all sentient beings, / The noble ones accomplish vast merit. / Whatever person with a joyful mind / And an undaunted heart / Meditates upon virtuous qualities, / Will attain realization and happiness. / Liberated through correct knowledge, / With agitation completely calmed, / Their mind becomes peaceful, / And the actions of their body and speech are peaceful too. / Just as with a single-pointed mind / One sees phenomena distinctly, / Five-instrument music cannot / Produce such supreme joy. / Those whose minds delight in meditative absorption / Do not play with sensual desires. / Free from even slight torment, / Such protectors sleep in peace. / Those whose minds delight in meditative absorption / Do not indulge in sensual pleasures. / Free from even slight torment, / How joyful is the sage! / One whose mind is like a rock, / Remaining completely unshaken, / Is unattached in situations of attachment, / And untroubled in situations of provocation; / For one whose mind has become like that, / How could suffering ever befall them? / Do not slander, do not harm, / Exercise restraint in accordance with the Prātimokṣa, / Be temperate in food, / Dwell in remote wilderness lodgings, / And engage in the yoga of higher mind; / This is the teaching of the buddhas. / Skilled in the marks of the mind, / Finding the taste of utter solitude, / Straightforward, preserving diligence, / Free from material

experiences joy without [sorrow]. / Whoever is insightful, delights in solitude, and dwells in seclusion, / who always restrains their body's conduct, / speech, and mind— / abandoning sorrow, they will not experience suffering. / An unguarded mind, / overcome by wrong views / and weighed down by sleep and sluggishness, / falls under the power of Māra. / Therefore, having guarded the mind / and placed right view foremost, / moving within the sphere of right thought, / knowing true arising and cessation, / the monk who overcomes sleep and sluggishness / attains the end of suffering. / Guarding the mind with heedfulness, / taming the mind, and true restraint are happiness. / Living beings deceived by their minds / are boiled solely in hell. / Guarding the mind with heedfulness, / taming the mind, and true restraint are happiness. / Living beings deceived by their minds / are boiled solely among animals. / Guarding the mind with heedfulness, / taming the mind, and true restraint are happiness. / Living beings deceived by their minds / are boiled solely among pretas. / Guarding the mind with heedfulness, / taming the mind, and true restraint are happiness. / Living beings who guard the mind / rejoice solely among humans. / Guarding the mind with heedfulness, / taming the mind, and true restraint are happiness. / Living beings who guard the mind / rejoice solely in the heavens. / Guarding the mind with heedfulness, / taming the mind, and true restraint are happiness. / Living beings who guard the mind / attain solely nirvāṇa. / Chapter Thirty-One: The Mind. // A monk who collects almsfood to satisfy / only himself, and does not feed others, / who is always calmed and mindful— / the gods delight in that protector. / A monk who collects almsfood to satisfy / only himself, and does not feed others— / the protector

in whom the gods delight, / does not desire homage, wealth, and renown. / A monk who has abandoned all desires, / who has cleared away the dust before him, / and relies upon the selfless Sage, / needs not speak to others. / Even when hearing the unbearable words / of unrestrained people who inflict harm through speech, / a monk free from malice pays no heed, / like an elephant struck by arrows on the battlefield. / Even when hearing the unbearable words / of unrestrained people who inflict harm through speech, / a monk whose mind is well settled pays no heed, / like an elephant struck by arrows on the battlefield. / Not living by a craft, unburdened, delighting in himself, / faculties tamed, completely liberated from all, / unattached to home, free from heedless craving— / one who fares alone is truly a monk. / With pure livelihood and without sloth, / one should associate with agreeable companions, / share what one has, / and be skilled in proper conduct and deportment. / With hands well restrained and feet well restrained, / words well restrained and faculties well restrained, / delighting in solitary inner absorption, / contented—he is called a monk. / A monk who delights in the Dharma, / rejoices in the Dharma, contemplates the Dharma, / and bears the Dharma in mind / will never fall away from the Dharma. / A monk who enters an empty dwelling, / looks within, / and clearly sees phenomena, / will possess divine joy. / Just as one thoroughly comprehends / the arising and passing away of the aggregates, / just so does one attain / joy and great satisfaction. / A monk with abundant joy / will attain the end of suffering. / Just as a rocky mountain / is not shaken by the wind, / even so a monk whose passions / are exhausted is completely unshaken. / Just as a rocky mountain / is not shaken by the wind,

even so a monk whose hatred / is exhausted is completely unshaken. / Just as a rocky mountain / is not shaken by the wind, / even so a monk whose delusion / is exhausted is completely unshaken. / Just as a rocky mountain / is not shaken by the wind, / even so a monk whose pride / is exhausted is completely unshaken. / Just as a rocky mountain / is not shaken by the wind, / even so a monk whose attachment / is exhausted is completely unshaken. / Just as a rocky mountain / is not shaken by the wind, / even so a monk whose craving / is exhausted is completely unshaken. / One who has no accumulation whatsoever, / who holds nothing as 'mine', / and does not grieve over what is not, / is called a monk. / Merely begging from others / surely does not make one a monk. / One who embraces the ways of the householder / surely is not a monk. / One who has completely abandoned virtue and evil, / lives the brahmacarya, / and lives having renounced worldly crowds— / is called a monk. / The monk who abides in loving-kindness / and has serene faith in the Buddha's teaching / will attain the peaceful state / of which one can never see enough. / The monk who abides in loving-kindness / and has serene faith in the Buddha's teaching / will attain the peaceful state / wherein conditioned phenomena are stilled. / The monk who abides in loving-kindness / and has serene faith in the Buddha's teaching / will gradually directly realize / the exhaustion of all fetters. / The monk who abides in loving-kindness / and has serene faith in the Buddha's teaching / pulls himself out of the lower realms, / like an elephant from the mud. / The monk who abides in loving-kindness / and has serene faith in the Buddha's teaching / shakes off evil phenomena, / like the wind shakes leaves from a tree. / The monk who abides in loving-kindness / and has serene faith in the Buddha's teaching, / because he is close to nirvāṇa, / cannot possibly fall away.

With a cheerful mind, a good heart, / and having overcome pleasure and displeasure, / the monk with abundant joy / will attain the end of suffering. / With body stilled and speech stilled, / mind stilled, well concentrated, / and having abandoned worldly material things, / the monk is said to be 'truly calmed.' / There is no meditative absorption for one lacking wisdom; / there is no wisdom for one lacking meditative absorption. / One endowed with wisdom and meditative absorption / is called a monk. / Therefore, the wise should apply themselves / to meditative absorption and wisdom; / likewise, for that monk, wisdom / is the primary thing to be cultivated. / Contented, with senses guarded, / restrained by the prātimokṣa, / knowing the measure in food, / dwelling in remote hermitages, / and practicing yoga for the higher mind— / this is the teaching of the Buddha. / One whose body, speech, / and mind commit no misdeeds, / possesses virtuous moral discipline, / and is a conscientious monk. / Whoever has properly cultivated / the seven factors of complete awakening / possesses virtuous qualities / and is said to be a concentrated monk. / Here, whoever clearly understands / the exhaustion of their own suffering, / is virtuous, and possesses wisdom, / is said to be an untainted monk. / If one has not attained the exhaustion of taints, / merely through moral discipline and ascetic practices, / or extensive learning, / or even dwelling in solitude, / or even attaining meditative absorption, / a monk does not have complete confidence. / Those in this world who call the aggregates a 'self' / give rise to anguish. / The happiness of complete awakening / taught by the noble ones must be directly realized. / However one imagines things to be, / they turn out otherwise. / This world that turns into something else / clings to existence, delights in existence, / is attached to existence, rejoices in existence, / fully revels in existence itself. / Joy

Whatever is done for another is suffering; / whatever is terrifying is happiness. / In order to completely abandon existence, / here one practices brahmacarya. / As many ascetics and brāhmaṇas as say, / 'One departs from existence through existence,' / all of them, it should be said, / have not departed from existence. / As many ascetics and brāhmaṇas as say, / 'One departs from existence through existence,' / all of them, it should be said, / are not completely liberated from existence. / Suffering arises from the condition of grasping; / grasping arises from suffering. / When all grasping is completely exhausted, / suffering does not arise at all. / When one sees correctly with virtuous wisdom that whatever forms of existence there are in all grasping are impermanent, suffering, and subject to change, one completely abandons the craving for existence and takes no delight in non-existence. Thus, the monk who protects nirvāṇa has no further grasping and has no further existence; he has overcome Māra, triumphed in battle, and fully transcended all existence—this is the end of suffering. / The monk who has cut off entities, / whose mind is appeased and calm, / will have no further existence; / he has completely abandoned the saṃsāra of birth. / The monk who has cut off entities, / whose mind is appeased and calm, / is liberated from the bonds of Māra; / he has completely abandoned the saṃsāra of birth. / The monk who has cut off entities, / and whose mind has become untainted, / has no further existence; / he has completely abandoned the saṃsāra of birth. / The monk who has cut off entities, / and whose mind has become untainted, / is liberated from the bonds of Māra; / he has completely abandoned the saṃsāra of birth. / The monk who has cut off entities, / and has severed the craving for existence, / will have no further existence; / he has completely abandoned the saṃsāra of birth. / The monk who has cut off entities,

and has cut off the craving for existence, / is liberated from the bonds of Māra; / he has completely abandoned the saṃsāra of birth. / Whoever has fully crossed the mire, / trampled down the thorns of the village, / and subsequently attained the exhaustion of passion, / is said to be a monk. / Whoever has fully crossed the mire, / trampled down the thorns of the village, / and subsequently attained the exhaustion of hatred, / is said to be a monk. / Whoever has fully crossed the mire, / trampled down the thorns of the village, / and subsequently attained the exhaustion of delusion, / is said to be a monk. / Whoever has fully crossed the mire, / trampled down the thorns of the village, / and subsequently attained the exhaustion of pride, / is said to be a monk. / Whoever has fully crossed the mire, / trampled down the thorns of the village, / and subsequently attained the exhaustion of attachment, / is said to be a monk. / Whoever has fully crossed the mire, / trampled down the thorns of the village, / and subsequently attained the exhaustion of craving, / is said to be a monk. / Whoever endures reviling, slaying, / and bonds, and subdues the thorns of the village, / who remains like a mountain, unswayed, / and is unmoved by pain or pleasure—he is a monk. / The monk who neither deprecates nor superimposes, / and realizes that all this world is false, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / Like medicine for poison expelled by a snake, / the monk who subdues passion that has arisen, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / Like medicine for poison expelled by a snake, / the monk who subdues hatred that has arisen, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding

its worn-out skin. / Like medicine for poison expelled by a snake, / the monk who subdues delusion that has arisen, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / Like medicine for poison expelled by a snake, / the monk who subdues pride that has arisen, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / Like medicine for poison expelled by a snake, / the monk who subdues attachment that has arisen, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / Like medicine for poison expelled by a snake, / the monk who subdues anger that has arisen, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / Like medicine for poison expelled by a snake, / the monk who subdues craving that has arisen, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / Like a great river against a weak reed dam, / the monk who uproots passion without remainder, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / Like a great river against a weak reed dam, / the monk who uproots hatred without remainder, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / Like a great river against a weak reed dam, / the monk who uproots delusion without remainder, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / Like a great river against a weak reed dam, / the monk who uproots pride without remainder, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / Like a great river against a weak reed dam, / the monk who uproots attachment without remainder, / leaves behind the near and

the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / Like a great river against a weak reed dam, / the monk who uproots craving without remainder, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / The monk who abandons all sensual pleasures, / and dispels the bond of sensual attachment, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / The monk who has abandoned all hindrances, is without evil, / and has cut out the dart of doubt, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / The monk who has eliminated discursive thoughts, / and is free from conceptual thoughts within, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / The monk who has no involvement in the jungle [of desires], / and has thoroughly uprooted unwholesome roots, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / The monk who has no feverish ailment, / and has thoroughly uprooted unwholesome roots, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / The monk who has no latent tendencies, / and has thoroughly uprooted unwholesome roots, / leaves behind the near and the far, / like an old snake shedding its worn-out skin. / Whoever is endowed with discipline is a monk; / whoever is endowed with emptiness possesses dhyāna; / whoever constantly practices is a yogi; / whoever attains nirvāṇa has happiness. / A monk who is not influenced by joy or displeasure, / and resorts to remote hermitages— / dwelling heedfully, he thoroughly eradicates / the latent tendency toward passion and craving. / Chapter on the Monk, the thirty-

[The Udānavarga] constitutes an ancient Buddhist anthology of verse sayings, in which this section (traditionally grouped under the Brāhmaṇavarga or similar thematic chapters) details the true definition of a spiritual aspirant. The text criticizes mere external markers of ascetism—such as tangled hair, wearing skins, nakedness, or ceremonial chanting—and emphasizes that a true brāhmaṇa, monk, or renunciant is defined by internal purity, ethical restraint, and abandoning all harmful actions rather than by caste or ascetic displays.

The discourse continues by asserting that external rituals like washing in water or shaving the head do not bring true cleansing from evil deeds. Instead, one who abandons unwholesome states, masters bodily and verbal actions, remains patient under abuse, and abides free of hostility and deceit embodies the authentic qualities of a sage, free from all fetters.

Further verses describe the enlightened state of the sage, who harbors neither longings for the future nor regrets for the past. Unattached to both shores of existence, untainted by notions of worldly gain or distinction, and untouched by dualities of virtue and sin, this individual remains completely unpolluted by worldly clinging, comparable to water slipping cleanly off a lotus leaf or a mustard seed balanced on an awl.

Concluding this sequence of verses, the text reiterates metaphors of purity, likening the perfected practitioner to the untainted moon or open sky untouched by dust and mud. One who has completed their spiritual tasks, discerns the right path, harms no living creature, lives on alms without householder ties, and meets hostility with concord is proclaimed to be a true brāhmaṇa.