Daṇḍavaggo : Chapter 10. Violence
“Daṇḍa” is “stick, staff or whip“, an ancient symbol of authority and means “punishment, violence“.
DhP.10-129
Sabbe tasanti daṇḍassa, all tremble stick sabbe bhāyanti maccuno; all fear death Attānaṃ upamaṃ katvā, self as done na haneyya na ghātaye. not kill not make-kill
Everyone trembles at violence.
Everyone fears death.
just like you.
So never kill others or cause to kill.
explanation
All living beings have a strong instinct to “stay alive“. We don’t want to die and we don’t want to be killed. If you do not want to be killed yourself, you should not kill other living beings. It cannot be reasoned that you do not want to be killed, but you may kill other living beings.
The important point in this verse is that “you must not kill others or cause to kill“. Even if you don’t have a hand in it, just thinking in your mind that you want to kill anyone, it is a evil action with potential energy (kamma). Even if no one finds out, your own mind will certainly be corrupted.
DhP.10-130
Sabbe tasanti daṇḍassa, all tremble stick sabbesaṃ jīvitaṃ piyaṃ; all's life love Attānaṃ upamaṃ katvā, self as done na haneyya na ghātaye. not kill not make-kill
Everyone scares of violence.
Everyone loves life.
just like you.
So never kill others or cause to kill.
explanation
“My life matters, your life matters”. Any life is equal. Why?
Because other beings (people, animals, water, air, micro-organisms, etc. all) are essential for you to live, and the more cooperation and help you have from other beings, the easier it is to live. If you are left alone on earth, you cannot live. This is the truth.
DhP.10-131
Sukhakāmāni bhūtāni, happiness-desire existence yo daṇḍena vihiṃsati; he by-stick injure Attano sukhamesāno, self happiness-seek pecca so na labhate sukhaṃ. after-death he not get happiness
All living beings wish for happiness.
One who seeks his own happiness
by harming others
will not be happy in the next life.
explanation
We all really want to “satisfy our own needs“. Therefore, we want others to be “the satisfiers of our needs“. The purpose of this need is to “maintain a sense of happiness” by keeping oneself satisfied. Harming others is also an act of trying to feel satisfied and happy by making others you don’t like conform to your will. In such unnatural forms, happiness cannot continue, can it?
DhP.10-132
Sukhakāmāni bhūtāni, happiness-desire existence yo daṇḍena na hiṃsati; he by-stick not hurt Attano sukhamesāno, self happiness-seek pecca so labhate sukhaṃ. after-death he get happiness
All living beings wish for happiness.
One who seeks his own happiness
without harming others
will be happy in the next life.
explanation
Harming other beings means putting one’s own needs first before those of other beings. However, according to the laws of nature, you and other living beings are always equal. To be happy, you cannot put yourself first or other beings first. If you make someone you don’t like conform to your needs, or you conform to the needs of someone you love, neither of you will be happy.
DhP.10-133
Māvoca pharusaṃ kañci, do-not-say unkind whoever vuttā paṭivadeyyu taṃ; said replied you Dukkhā hi sārambhakathā, suffering really anger-words paṭidaṇḍā phuseyyu taṃ. return-stick touch you
Don’t use harsh words.
People who are told to talk back.
Angry words are really unpleasant and
you will feel bad too.
explanation
coments
DhP.10-134
Sace neresi attānaṃ, if not-motion self kaṃso upahato yathā; gong broken like Esa pattosi nibbānaṃ, this reached nirvana sārambho te na vijjati. anger you not be-found
If you keep silent
like a broken gong,
you have as good as reached nirvana,
and there is no more anger.
explanation
Broken gongs make no sound when struck. They are motionless whatever happens. If you talk back, get back or do some other action, it will always come back to you as a result. If you are unsure or confused, it is better to do nothing and keep quiet. It is best not to create an act.
DhP.10-135
Yathā daṇḍena gopālo, like by-stick cowherd gāvo pājeti gocaraṃ; cow drive pasture Evaṃ jarā ca maccu ca, in-this-way old-age and death and āyuṃ pājenti pāṇinaṃ. life-age driving living-being
Just as a cowherd
drives his cows to pasture,
old age and death drive life.
episode
One day, a group of women came to the monastery and were meditating diligently. The caretaker asked them why they had come to the monastery. The elderly woman came to pray for wealth and prosperity in the next life, the middle-aged woman for her husband to stop being unfaithful, the young married woman to have a child and the young unmarried woman to have a good marriage.
The caretaker was discouraged by these women, who were only thinking of the immediate future. He took the women to the Buddha and told him their purpose. Buddha said: People’s purposes change from one to another. Marriage is useless for an old woman, and wealth and prosperity in the next life will be unnecessary for a young girl now.
In other words, whether the purpose is attained or not, if the time and place change, the purpose becomes meaningless. Yet we lose time in order to gain our purpose, and suffer when it is not gained.
explanation
Don’t worry if your dreams come true or not, because they will always change with you. Worrying about old age and death is a cause of suffering, but at the same time it is an energy source for reincarnation.
DhP.10-136
Atha pāpāni kammāni, then evil action karaṃ bālo na bujjhati; does foolish not know Sehi kammehi dummedho, by-self action bad-intelligence aggidaḍḍhova tappati. fire-burnt-or be-tormented
Ignorant one who does not know that
evil deeds are wrong
will suffer as if he was burnt by fire.
explanation
All distress and suffering is due to a person’s deeds. It is the result of deeds. One performs acts according to one’s will. If this will is impure, then naturally the act will also be impure.
DhP.10-137
Yo daṇḍena adaṇḍesu, who stick-by not-sticks appaduṭṭhesu dussati; not-wicked offend Dasannamaññataraṃ ṭhānaṃ, ten-of-one condition khippameva nigacchati. quick-only enter
If you harm an unarmed,
non-evil person,
you will immediately become
one of the following 10.
explanation
Of course, this is not divine punishment, but a law of nature that follows from such an act.
DhP.10-138
138. Vedanaṃ pharusaṃ jāniṃ, sensation rough loss sarīrassa ca bhedanaṃ; body-at and destruction Garukaṃ vāpi ābādhaṃ, serious or-also illness cittakkhepañca pāpuṇe. derangement-of-the-mind-and reached
Feelings of guilt or loss
Physical injury
Serious illness
Insanity.
explanation
A complex emotional dynamic with mixed feelings of guilt or loss appears in the mind. This is the pangs of conscience. Guilt attacks one’s body, resulting in phenomena such as pain, injury or illness. In doing so, the mind moves to believe that it has received retribution and does not have to face the “real result of its evil deeds“, which it fears.
DhP.10-139
Rājato vā upasaggaṃ, king or disaster abbhakkhānañca dāruṇaṃ; slander-or libel Parikkhayañca [parikkhayaṃ va (sī. syā. pī.)] ñātīnaṃ, decay relative bhogānañca pabhaṅguraṃ. possession or lose
Punishment
Libel and slander
Lose a relative
Lose property
explanation
These four are social sanctions. If you harm a good and unarmed person, you will be caught and punished. The public will condemn you and your relatives will have no place to stay. Naturally, you will also lose your property.
DhP.10-140
Atha vāssa agārāni, then living house aggi ḍahati pāvako; fire burn shining Kāyassa bhedā duppañño, body's breaking nirayaṃ sopapajjati. hell he reborn
Furthermore, his house and livelihood
will be burnt in a blazing fire and
he will be reborn in hell
after death without wisdom.
explanation
Being burnt by fire is an extreme punishment, and the niraya world (hell) is also constantly roasted by fire. Mankind is the only creature that can handle fire, but at the same time fire has always been a symbol of fear for life.
DhP.10-141
Na naggacariyā na jaṭā na paṅkā, not nudity not Hairdressing not mud nānāsakā thaṇḍilasāyikā vā; not-fasting sleeping-on-ground or Rajojallaṃ ukkuṭikappadhānaṃ, dust-dirt squatting-striving sodhenti maccaṃ avitiṇṇakaṅkhaṃ. purifying man gone-through-uncertainty
Always nudity or…
Continuously growing out hair
Paint mud all over the body
Fasting
Sleeping on the ground
Stopping bathing
Staying in a squatting position
Such hardship does not purify man.
explanation
This verse is about violence inflicted on oneself. These are called “tapas” that is a method of suppressing desires and increasing mental capacity by tormenting the body, thereby removing past karma and purifying the mind.
For six years after his ordination, the Buddha undertook intense ascetic practices. However, he realised that he could not become enlightened by doing so and stopped his ascetic practice. His friends treated him as a dropout.
The Buddha realised that ‘just as the pleasures of the age of princes are inappropriate, so is extreme suffering‘, and after this he practised meditation and attained enlightenment.
DhP.10-142
Alaṅkato cepi samaṃ careyya, decorated even-if equally does santo danto niyato brahmacārī; calmed trained fixed abstinence-life Sabbesu bhūtesu nidhāya daṇḍaṃ, all living-things put-down stick so brāhmaṇo so samaṇo sa bhikkhu. he brahmin he practitioner he monk
Even if he is well-dressed,
a person who is gentle,
self-controlled,
morally pure and
non-violent towards all living beings
is a Brahmin, a practitioner and a monk.
explanation
This verse is a Buddha’s comment about a minister in the Kosala country. The minister, Santati, was neither an ordained nor a lay practitioner, but an enlightened arahant. Realising the day his life span would end, he dressed formally and took the moment in front of Buddha.
The monks asked the Buddha. “The minister in full dress completed nirvana, but was he a practitioner disguised as a Brahmin* ?” Buddha replied, “My son was a practitioner and a Brahmin. He is both”.
* Brahmin here refers to the Brahmin class in Indian caste.
The Buddha had instructed monks and lay practitioners to lead a simple life. So it is likely that the monks had questions about a secular minister completing nirvana in formal attire (presumably in deference to death). Buddha’s answer is that it is not the outward appearance that matters, but the inner self.
DhP.10-143
Hirīnisedho puriso, shame-prevention person koci lokasmi vijjati; someone in-the-world be-found Yo niddaṃ apabodheti, he nest not-awaken asso bhadro kasāmiva. horse good whip-as
transration
Episode
One day, when the Thera-Ananda saw a shabbily dressed boy begging for food, he took pity on him and made him a samanera (young ascetic/minor monk). Samanera hung the clothes he was wearing and the begging plate on a tree branch.
He then became a monk and was called Pilotika. Since he became a monk, he no longer had to worry about food and clothing. Sometimes, however, he was not satisfied with his life as a monk and wanted to return to secular life. At such times he goes back under that tree where he hung his old clothes and plates. And under the tree he asks himself.
“Oh, shame on you! Do you want to leave a place where you can eat well and dress well? Do you want to go begging again, wearing these shabby clothes and carrying this old plate?” Thus, after pep-talking himself and calming himself down, he returned to the monastery.
After a few days, he wanted to leave the monastic life again and went under the tree again. After asking himself the same question and remembering the misery of his old life, he returned to the monastery. He did this so many times that the other monks asked him why he always went to that tree. Pirotikatisa said, “I go to see my teacher“.
Eventually, Pilotica stopped going under the tree. A monk noticed this and asked why he no longer went. Pirotika replied, “I used to go to the teacher when I needed to, but now I don’t need to go to the teacher any more.” Hearing this, the monks took him to the Buddha.
The Buddha said, “Pirotika told himself to distinguish between right and wrong and to find out the true nature of things. He is now an arahant and no longer needs a teacher”.
DhP.10-144
144. Asso yathā bhadro kasāniviṭṭho, horse like good whip-settled ātāpino saṃvegino bhavātha; ardently right-force let-it-be Saddhāya sīlena ca vīriyena ca, Confidence morality and devotion and samādhinā dhammavinicchayena ca; concentration truth-decision and Sampannavijjācaraṇā patissatā, succeeded-wisdom-practice against-memory jahissatha dukkhamidaṃ anappakaṃ. joyful suffering now many
Like a good whipped horse,
diligently and with right force,
trusting and warning and striving,
concentrating the mind and
searching for the truth.
Develop wisdom by accepting many joys and
sufferings as they are, and
by insighting the mind without prejudice.
explanation
A good horse that has been whipped gallops hard in the right direction.
Our minds are filled with memories of each of us. We judge, rejoice or suffer on the basis of those memories. We always approach every event with prejudice. These memories are not present now. Reality has already changed, but people bend and judge reality according to the impressions of their memories. This is simply a habit.
DhP.10-145
Udakañhi nayanti nettikā, water carrying conduits usukārā namayanti tejanaṃ; arrow-maker craft arrow Dāruṃ namayanti tacchakā, wood craft carpenter attānaṃ damayanti subbatā. self taming wise-man
Plumbers control water.
Arrow-makers control arrows.
Carpenters control wood.
Good men control the mind.
explanation
This verse is exactly the same as number 80 of chapter 6 “Wise”, except for the last letter. The mind is like a rampaging horse, it can be very useful if it is well controlled.
Daṇḍavaggo dasamo niṭṭhito. stick-chapter 10th finish
10. The violence chapter is ended.