Cross the river bravely; conquer all your passions. Go beyond the world of fragments and know the deathless ground of life.
Cross the river bravely; conquer all your passions. Go beyond your likes and dislikes and all fetters will fall away.
Who is a true brahmin? That one I call a brahmin who has neither likes nor dislikes and is free from the chains of fear.
Who is a true brahmin? That one I call a brahmin who has trained the mind to be still and reached the supreme goal of life.
The sun shines in the day; the moon shines in the night. The warrior shines in battle, the brahmin in meditation. But day and night the Buddha shines in radiance of love for all.
That one I call a brahmin who has shed all evil. I call that one a recluse whose mind is serene; a wanderer, whose heart is pure.
That one I call a brahmin who is never angry, never causes harm to others even when harmed by them.
That one I call a brahmin who clings not to pleasure. Do not cause sorrow to others; no more sorrow will come to you.
That one I call a brahmin who does not hurt others with unkind acts, words, or thoughts. Both body and mind obey him.
That one I call a brahmin who walks in the footsteps of the Buddha. Light your torch from the fire of his sacrifice.
It is not matted hair nor birth that makes a brahmin, but truth and the love for all of life with which one’s heart is full.
What use is matted hair? What use is a deerskin on which to sit for meditation if your mind still seethes with lust?
Saffron robe and outward show do not make a brahmin, but training of the mind and senses through practice of meditation.
Neither riches nor high caste makes a brahmin. Free yourself from selfish desires and you will become a brahmin.
The brahmin has thrown off all chains and trembles not in fear. No selfish bonds can ensnare such a one, no impure thought pollute the mind.
That one I call a brahmin who has cut through the strap and thong and chain of karma. Such a one has got up from sleep, fully awake.
That one I call a brahmin who fears neither prison nor death. Such a one has the power of love no army can defeat.
That one I call a brahmin who is never angry, never goes astray from the path, who is pure and self-controlled. This body is the last.
That one I call a brahmin who clings not to pleasure, no more than water to a lotus leaf or mustard seed to the tip of a needle.
For such a one no more sorrow will come, no more burden will fall.
That one I call a brahmin whose wisdom is profound and whose understanding deep, who by following the right path and avoiding the wrong has reached the highest goal.
That one I call a brahmin whose wants are few, who is detached from householders and homeless mendicants alike.
That one I call a brahmin who has put aside weapons and renounced violence toward all creatures. Such a one neither kills nor helps others to kill.
That one I call a brahmin who is never hostile to those who are hostile toward him, who is detached among those who are selfish and at peace among those at war.
That one I call a brahmin from whom passion and hatred, arrogance and deceit, have fallen away like mustard seed from the point of a needle.
That one I call a brahmin who is ever true, ever kind. Such a one never asks what life can give, only ‘What can I give life?’
That one I call a brahmin who has found his heaven, free from every selfish desire, free from every impurity.
Wanting nothing at all, doubting nothing at all, master of both body and mind, such a one has gone beyond time and death.
That one I call a brahmin who has gone beyond good and evil and is free from sorrow, passion, and impurity. That one I call a brahmin who has risen above the duality of this world, free from sorrow and free from sin. Such a one shines like the full moon with no cloud in the sky.
That one I call a brahmin who has crossed the river difficult and dangerous to cross, and safely reached the other shore.
That one I call a brahmin who has turned his back upon himself. Homeless, such a one is ever at home; egoless, he is ever full.
Self-will has left his mind; it will never return. Sorrow has left his life; it will never return.
That one I call a brahmin who has overcome the urge to possess even heavenly things and is free from all selfish attachments.
That one I call a brahmin who is free from bondage to human beings and to nature alike, the hero who has conquered the world.
That one I call a brahmin who is free from I, me, and mine, who knows the rise and fall of life. Such a one is awake and will not fall asleep again.
That one I call a brahmin whose way no one can know. Such a one lives free from past and future, free from decay and death.
Possessing nothing, desiring nothing for their own pleasure, their own profit, they have become a force for good, working for the freedom of all.
That one I call a brahmin who is fearless, heroic, unshakable, a great sage who has conquered death and attained life’s goal.
Brahmins have reached the end of the way; they have crossed the river of life. All that they had to do is done: they have become one with all life.
The Dhammapada is an ancient popular collection of the Buddha’s teachings in verse form. This passage has been translated by Easwaran for meditation and is published in his spiritual anthologies, “God Makes the Rivers to Flow” and “Timeless Wisdom.” The audio recording is by Eknath Easwaran who is reading an earlier translation of the passage.