When anger arises,
whoever keeps firm control
as if with a racing chariot:
him
I call a master charioteer.
Anyone else,
a rein-holder–
that’s all.
Conquer anger
with lack of anger;
bad with good;
stinginess with a gift;
a liar with truth.
By telling the truth;
by not growing angry;
by giving, when asked,
no matter how little you have:
by these three things
you enter the presence of devas.
Gentle sages,
constantly restrained in body,
go to the unwavering state
where, having gone,
there’s no grief.
Those who always stay wakeful,
training by day & by night,
keen on Unbinding:
their effluents come to an end.
This has come down from old, Atula,
& not just from today:
they find fault with one
who sits silent,
they find fault with one
who speaks a great deal,
they find fault with one
who measures his words.
There’s no one unfaulted in the world.
If knowledgeable people praise him,
having observed him
day after day
to be blameless in conduct, intelligent,
endowed with discernment & virtue:
like an ingot of gold–
who’s fit to find fault with him?
Even devas praise him.
Even by Brahma he’s praised.
Guard against anger
erupting in body;
in body, be restrained.
Having abandoned bodily misconduct,
live conducting yourself well
in body.
Origin URL: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Dhp/Ch17.html