CHAPTER XIX.

THE JUST.

256, 257.

A man is not a just judge if he carries a matter by violence; no, he who distinguishes both right and wrong, who is learned and leads others, not by violence, but by law and equity, he who is a guardian of the law and intelligent, he is called Just.

258.

A man is not learned because he talks much; he who is patient, free from hatred and fear, he is called learned.

259.

A man is not a supporter of the law because he talks much; even if a man has learnt little, but sees the law bodily, he is a supporter of the law, a man who never neglects the law.

(259.) Buddhaghosha here takes law (dhamma) in the sense of the four great truths, see note to v. 190. Could dhammam kâyena passati' mean, he observes the law in his acts? Hardly, if we compare expressions like 'dhammam vipassato,' v. 373.

260.

A man is not an elder because his head is grey; his age may be ripe, but he is called 'Old-in-vain.'

261.

He in whom there is truth, virtue, love, restraint, moderation, he who is free from impurity and is wise, he is called an 'Elder.'

262.

An envious, greedy, dishonest man does not become respectable by means of much talking only, or by the beauty of his complexion.

263.

He in whom all this is destroyed, taken out with the very root, he, freed from hatred and wise, is called 'Respectable.'

264.

Not by tonsure does an undisciplined man who speaks falsehood, become a Sramana; can a man be a Sramana who is still held captive by desire and greediness?

265.

He who always quiets the evil, whether small or large, he is called a Sramana (a quiet man), because he has quieted all evil.

(265.) This is a curious etymology, because it shows that at the time when this verse was written, the original meaning of 'sramana' had been forgotten. Sramana' meant originally, in the language of the Brahmans, a man who performed hard penances, from 'sram,' to work hard, etc. When it became the name

266.

A man is not a mendicant (Bhikshu), simply because he asks others for alms; he who adopts the whole law is a Bhikshu, not he who only begs.

267.

He who is above good and evil, who is chaste, who with knowledge passes through the world, he indeed is called a Bhikshu.

268, 269.

A man is not a Muni because he observes silence (mona, i.e. mauna), if he is foolish and ignorant; but the wise who, taking the balance, chooses the good and avoids evil, he is a 'Muni,' and is a 'Muni' thereby; he who in this world weighs both sides is called a 'Muni.'

270.

A man is not an Elect (Ariya) because he injures living creatures; because he has pity on all living creatures, therefore is a man called 'Ariya.'

of the Buddhist ascetics, the language had changed, and 'sramana' was pronounced 'samana.' Now there is another Sanskrit root, 'sam,' to quiet, which in Pâli becomes likewise 'sam,' and from this root 'sam,' to quiet, and not from 'sram,' to tire, did the popular etymology of the day and the writer of our verse derive the title of the Buddhist priests. The original form 'sramana' became known to the Greeks as Zapμâvai, that of 'samana' as Zapavaîo; the former through Megasthenes, the latter through Bardesanes, 80-60 B.C. (See Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde,' ii. 700.) The Chinese 'Shamen' and the Tungusian 'Shamen' come from the same source, though the latter is sometimes doubted.

(266-270.) The etymologies here given of the ordinary titles of

271, 272.

Not only by discipline and vows, not only by much learning, not by entering into a trance, not by sleeping alone, do I earn the happiness of release which no worldling can know. A Bhikshu receives confidence when he has reached the complete destruction of all desires!

the followers of Buddha are entirely fanciful, and are curious only as showing how the people who spoke Pâli had lost the etymological consciousness of their language. A Bhikshu' is a beggar, i.e. a Buddhist friar who has left his family and lives entirely on alms. 'Muni' is a sage, hence 'Sâkya-muni,' the name of Gautama. 'Muni' comes from 'man,' to think, and from 'muni' comes 'mauna,' silence. 'Ariya,' again, is the general name of those who embrace a religious life. It meant originally 'respectable, noble.' In v. 270 it seems as if the writer wished to guard against deriving'ariya' from 'ari,' enemy. See note to v. 22.

(272.) The last line is obscure, because the commentary is imperfect.

CHAPTER XX.

THE WAY.

273.

The best of ways is the Eightfold; the best of truths the Four Words; the best of virtues passionlessness; the best of men he who has eyes to see.

274.

This is the way, there is no other that leads to the purifying of intelligence. Go ye on this way! ! Every. thing else is the deceit of Mâra (the tempter).

275.

If you go on this way, you will make an end of pain!

(273.) The eight-fold or eight-membered way is the technical term for the way by which Nirvâna is attained. (See Burnouf, 'Lotus,' 519.) This very way constitutes the fourth of the Four Truths, or the four words of truth, viz. Duhkha, pain; Samudaya, origin; Nirodha, destruction; Mârga, road. ('Lotus,' p. 517.) See note to v. 178. For another explanation of the Mârga, or way, see Hardy, Eastern Monachism,' p. 280.

(275.) The 'salyas,' arrows or thorns, are the 'sokasalya,' the arrows of grief. Buddha himself is called 'mahâsalya-hartâ,' the great remover of thorns. (Lalita-vistara, p. 550; Mahâbh. xii. 5616.)