Dhp 21-32 — Chapter on Non-Negligence

English translation by Bhante Suddhāso.

Translation

Text

Collection of Minor Texts
Verses of Dhamma
Chapter on Non-Negligence
Non-negligence is the path of the Deathless,
negligence is the path of death.
Those who are not negligent never die,
those who are negligent are like the dead.
This is what the wise distinctly know
about non-negligence.
They rejoice in non-negligence,
enjoying the territory of the noble ones.
Those who meditate continuously,
who always persevere,
Steadfast, they touch Nibbāna—
the unsurpassable safety.
Glory increases for those who are proactive and mindful,
with pure and careful conduct,
self-restrained, living the Dhamma,
and not negligent.
By being proactive and not negligent,
self-restrained and self-controlled,
a wise person makes an island
which no flood can submerge.
Fools and idiots commit
to negligence,
whereas a wise person protects non-negligence
as the greatest wealth.
Do not commit to negligence
or to involvement in sensuality;
for one who meditates without negligence
attains abundant bliss.
When a wise person dispels negligence
by practicing non-negligence,
then having ascended in the palace of wisdom,
sorrowless, they look at this sorrowful generation,
as a wise person on a mountain
looks down at the fools on the ground.
Not negligent amidst the negligent,
wide awake amidst the sleeping—
like a swift horse leaving behind a feeble one,
the wise leave them behind and move on.
By means of non-negligence
Maghavā became the best of the angels;
they praise non-negligence,
whereas negligence is always criticized.
A monk who approves of non-negligence
and sees the danger in negligence
proceeds like a fire—
burning up fetters, small and large.
A monk who approves of non-negligence
and sees the danger in negligence
cannot decline
and is close to Nibbāna.