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Chapter Twenty-Three -- The Elephant
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As an elephant in the battlefield withstands
arrows shot from bows all around, even so shall
I endure abuse. There are many, indeed,
who lack morality.
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Tamed elephants can be led into a crowd,
and the king mounts a tamed elephant. So too,
best among people is the subdued one who
endures abuse.
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Excellent are well-trained mules,
thoroughbred Sindhu horses and noble tusker
elephants. But better still is the person
who has subdued oneself.
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Not by these mounts, however, can
one go to the Untrodden Land (Nibbana), as one
who is self-tamed goes by one's own tamed and
well-controlled mind.
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Musty during rut, the tusker named
Dhanapalaka is uncontrollable. Held in captivity,
the tusker does not touch a morsel, but only
longingly calls to mind the elephant forest.
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When a person is sluggish and gluttonous,
lazy, rolling around in bed like a fat pig--that
sluggard undergoes rebirth again and again.
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Formerly this mind wandered about as
it liked, where it wished, according to its pleasure,
but now I shall thoroughly master it with wisdom,
as a mahout controls an elephant in rut.
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Delight in heedfulness! Guard well your
thoughts! Draw yourself out of this bog of evil,
even as an elephant draws oneself out of the mud.
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If for company you find a wise and
prudent friend, one who leads a good life, you should
overcome all impediments and keep this person's
company, joyously and mindfully.
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But if for company you cannot find a wise
and prudent friend, one who leads a good life,
then, like a king who leaves behind a conquered
kingdom or a lone elephant in the elephant forest,
you should go your own way alone.
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Better it is to live alone, there is no
fellowship with a fool. Live alone and do no evil;
be carefree like an elephant in the elephant forest.
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Good are friends when need arises; good
is contentment with just what one has; good is
merit when life is at an end; and good is the
abandoning of all suffering (through Arahatship).
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Good it is to serve one's mother; good
it is to serve one's father; good it is to serve
the Sangha; and good it is to serve the holy people.
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Good is virtue until life's end; good is
faith that is steadfast; good is the acquisition
of wisdom; and good is the avoidance of evil.