Thag 6.12 - Thag 6:12 Brahmadatta
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Thag/thag6_12.html
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Copyright: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017
License notice: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Attribution: From Handful of Leaves, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu; https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/SuttaPitaka_251113.epub. Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Publisher references (not part of the sutta): See also: SN 7:2; SN 11:5
Changes: Presentation only: original HTML markup reflowed into plain text; wording, numbering and source repetitions retained. No repetitions expanded.
Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved, including introductions, notes and verse structure. Thanissaro's collection-level note explicitly states that repetitions were cut: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/about.html. This is evidence about the translation method, not an assertion that every individual unit contains an omission; no repetitions reconstructed.

Thag 6:12 Brahmadatta

This poem repeats a poem attributed to the Buddha in SN 7:2. The second and third stanzas also appear in a poem attributed to Sakka the deva-king in SN 11:5.

  Whence is there anger
  in one without anger
    tamed, calmed, living in tune,
    released through right knowing,
    Such?

  You make things worse
    when you flare up
    at someone who’s angry.
    Whoever doesn’t flare up
    at someone who’s angry
        wins a battle
        hard to win.

  You live for the good of both
    —your own, the other’s—
when, knowing the other’s provoked,
    you mindfully grow calm.

When you work the cure of both
    —your own, the other’s—
those who think you a fool
    know nothing of Dhamma.

  If anger arises,
  reflect on the saw simile.1
  If craving for savor,
  remember the son’s-flesh simile.2

  If your mind runs loose
  after sensual pleasures
  & states of becoming,
  quickly restrain it with mindfulness
  as you would a bad ox
  eating grain.3

Notes

1. See MN 21 and MN 28.

2. See SN 12:63.

3. See MN 19.