Chapter 11
The Self
157
If one holds oneself dear,
one should diligently watch oneself.
Let the wise man keep vigil
during any of the three watches*
of the night.
*Three watches: Youth, middle age and old age
158
One should first establish oneself
in what is proper;
then only should one instruct others.
Thus the wise man
will not be reproached.
159
One should do
what one teaches others to do;
If one would train others,
one should be well controlled oneself.
Diffficult, indeed, is self-control.
160
One truly is the protector of oneself;
who else could the protector be?
with oneself fully controlled,
one gains a mastery
that is hard to gain.
161
The evil a witless man does by himself,
born of himself
and produced by himself,
grinds him as a diamond
grinds a hard gem.
162
Just as a jungle creeper
strangles the tree on which it grows,
even so,
a man who is exceedingly depraved
harm himself
as only an enemy might wish.
163
Easy to do are things
that are bad and harmful to oneself.
But exceedingly difficult to do are things
that are good and beneficial.
164
Whoever, on account of perverted views,
scorns the Teaching of the Perfected Ones,
the Noble and Righteous Ones--
that fool, like the bamboo,
produces fruits only for self-destruction.*
*Bamboos perish immediately after producing fruits.
165
By oneself is evel done;
by oneself is one defiled.
By oneself is evil left undone;
by oneself is one made pure.
Purity and impurity depend on oneself;
no one can purify another.
166
Let one not neglect
one's own welfare
for the sake of another,
however great.
Clearly understanding
one's own welfare,
let one be intent upon the good.
