The Holy Person

Chapter Twenty-Six -- The Holy Person

1. Exert yourself, O holy person! Cut off the
   stream (of craving) and discard sense desires
   Knowing the destruction of all conditioned things,
   become, O holy person, a knower of the Uncreate (Nibbana)!
   
2. When a holy person has reached the summit
   of the two paths (meditative concentration and
   insight), that person knows the Truth and all fetters
   fall away.
   
3. One for whom there is neither this shore
   nor the other shore, nor yet both, one who is free of
   cares and is unfettered--such a one do I call
   a holy person.
   
4. One who is meditative and stainless, settled
   and whose work is done, free from cankers, having
   reached the highest goal--such a one do I call
   a holy person.
   
5. The sun shines by day, the moon shines by
   night. The warrior shines in armour, the holy
   person shines in meditation. But the Buddha shines
   resplendent all day and all night.
   
6. Because one has discarded evil, one is called
   a holy person. Because one is serene in conduct,
   one is called a recluse. And because one has
   renounced one's impurities, one is called a renunciate.
   
7. One should not strike a holy person, nor
   should a holy person, when struck, give way to
   anger. Shame on one who strikes a holy person,
   and more shame on one who gives way to anger.
   
8. Nothing is better for a holy person than
   when one holds one's mind back from what is endearing.
   To the extent that thoughts of harming
   wear away, to that extent does suffering subside.
   
9. One who does no evil in deed, word and
   thought, who is restrained in these three ways--
   such a one do I call a holy person.
   
10. Just as a brahmin priest reveres his sacrificial
    fire, even so should one devoutly revere the
    person from whom one has learned the Dhamma
    taught by the Buddha.
    
11. Not by matted hair, nor by lineage,
    nor by birth does one become a holy person.
    But one in whom truth and righteousness exist
    --such a one is pure and is a holy person.
    
12. What is the use of your matted hair, O witless person? What of your garment of antelope's
    hide? Within you is the tangle (of passion),
    only outwardly do you cleanse yourself.
    
13. The person who wears a robe made from
    rags, who is lean, with veins showing all over the
    body, and who meditates alone in the forest--
    such a one do I call a holy person.
    
14. I do not call one a holy person because of
    one's lineage or one's high-born mother. If one has
    impeding attachments, one is just a supercilious
    person. But one who is free from impediments and
    clinging--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
15. One who, having cut off all fetters, trembles
    no more, who has overcome all attachments and is
    emancipated--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
16. One who has cut off the thong (of hatred),
    the band (of craving), and the rope (of false views),
    together with the appurtenances (latent evil
    tendencies), one who has removed the crossbar
    (ignorance) and is enlightened--such a one do I call
    a holy person.
    
17. One who without resentment endures
    abuse, beating and punishment, whose power,
    real might, is patience--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
18. One who is free from anger, devout,
    virtuous, without craving, self-subdued, bearing
    one's final body--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
19. Like water on a lotus leaf or a mustard
    seed on the point of a needle, one who does not
    cling to sensual pleasures--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
20. One who in this very life realizes for oneself
    the end of suffering, who has laid aside the burden
    and become emancipated--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
21. One of profound knowledge, wise, skilled
    in discerning the right or wrong path, who has
    reached the highest goal--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
22. One who holds aloof from householders
    and ascetics alike, and wanders about with no
    fixed abode and but few wants--such a one do I call
    a holy person.
    
23. One who has renounced violence towards
    all living beings, weak or strong, who neither kills
    no causes others to kill--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
24. One who is friendly amidst the hostile,
    peaceful amidst the violent, and unattached amidst
    the attached--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
25. One from whom lust and hatred, pride and
    hypocrisy have fallen off like a mustard seed from
    the point of a needle--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
26. One who utters gentle, instructive and truthful
    words, who imprecates none--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
27. One who in this world takes nothing that
    is not given to one, be it long or short, small or
    big, good or bad--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
28. One who wants nothing of either this world
    or the next, who is desire-free and emancipated--
    such a one do I call a holy person.
    
29. One who has no attachment, who through
    perfect knowledge is free from doubts and has
    plunged into the Deathless--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
30. One who in this world has transcended the
    ties of both merit and demerit, who is sorrowless,
    stainless and pure--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
31. One who, like the moon, is spotless and
    pure, serene and clear, who has destroyed the
    delight in existence--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
32. One who, having traversed this miry, perilous
    and delusive round of existence, has crossed
    over and reached the other shore, meditative,
    calm and free from doubt, clinging to nothing, attained to Nibbana--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
33. One who, having abandoned sensual pleasures,
    renounced the household life and become a
    homeless one, has destroyed both sensual desire
    and continued existence--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
34. One who, having abandoned craving, renounced
    the household life and become a homeless
    one, has destroyed both craving and continued
    existence--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
35. One who, casting off human bonds and
    transcending celestial ties, is wholly delivered of
    all bondages--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
36. One who, having cast off likes and dislikes,
    has become tranquil, rid of the substrata of
    existence and like a hero has conquered all the
    worlds--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
37. One who, in every way, knows the death
    and rebirth of all beings, and is totally detached,
    blessed and enlightened--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
38. One whose track no gods, no angels, no
    humans trace, the Arahat who has destroyed all
    cankers--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
39. One who clings to nothing of the past,
    present and future, who has no attachment and
    holds on to nothing--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
40. One, the Noble, the Excellent, the Heroic,
    the Great Sage, the Conqueror, the Passionless,
    the Pure, the Enlightened--such a one do I call a holy person.
    
41. One who knows one's former births, who
    sees heaven and hell, who has reached the end of
    births and attained to the perfection of insight,
    the sage who has reached the summit of spiritual
    excellence--such a one do I call a holy person.