དམ་པའ་ཆས་པད་མ་དཀར་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 7.4

7.4

Thereupon the Bhagavān taught on this topic in detail, speaking these verses:

“The bodhisattvas who wish
To give the teaching of this sūtra
With confidence and courage
In the later, terrifying times, {1}

“Should maintain their practice and field of activity:
They should be isolated and pure.
They should always abstain
From association with kings and princes. {2}

“They should have no association either
With those who are the king’s courtiers,
Nor at all with caṇḍālas, swindlers,
Or those who are tīrthikas.⁴⁰¹ {3}

“They should not associate with arrogant bhikṣus,
Who follow vinaya and scripture
And conceive of themselves as arhats.
They should avoid those with poor conduct.

“They should always avoid bhikṣuṇīs
Whose behavior is talking and laughing.
They should also avoid the upāsikās⁴⁰²
Who are evidently dissolute. {5}

“They should avoid association with
Those upāsikās who are seeking
For nirvāṇa within this lifetime.
This is what is called the practice. {6}

“The brave one should always teach
Confidently and freely
Those who come asking for the Dharma
For the sake of supreme enlightenment. {7}

“He should avoid association with
Beings who are women, or paṇḍakas.
He should also avoid families
That have brides and young women. {8}

“He should not delight those women,⁴⁰³
Laughingly asking after their welfare.⁴⁰⁴
He should avoid association
With pig farmers and shepherds.⁴⁰⁵ {9}

“He should avoid association
With those who will kill various creatures
For the sake of pleasure,
And those who sell flesh to eat. {10}

“He should avoid association
With those beings who are keepers of women,
Dancers, wrestlers, musicians,⁴⁰⁶
And other people of that kind. {11}

“He should not frequent courtesans
Or others who provide pleasures;
He should completely avoid
The enjoyments that they provide. {12}

“When the wise one is teaching
The Dharma to a woman,
He should not be alone with her,
Nor should it be an occasion for laughter. {13}

“If he has to enter a village
Repeatedly to obtain alms,