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383
Diligently cut off
the stream of craving
and abandon sensual longings;
knowing the limitation
of all that is formed,
realise the uncreated.
384
All chains of bondage fall away
from those who know
and have crossed over
beyond two things.
385
I say a being is great
who stands not on this shore,
nor the other shore,
nor on any shore at all.
Such a being is free from all ties.
386
I say a being is great
who dwells secluded and at ease,
knowing the heart
free from all pollution,
having completed the task
purified of all compulsive tendencies,
and awake.
387
The sun shines by day,
the moon shines by night.
But, both all day and all night
the Buddha shines
in glorious splendour.
388
Having transformed evil
one is called a great being.
Living peacefully
one is called a contemplative.
Having given up impurity
one is called a renunciate.
389
Non-retaliation
is the characteristic of great beings.
They do not give rise to anger.
Should they be attacked,
it is not in their nature to strike back.
390
Suffering subsides to the degree
that you are free from the intention
to cause harm.
There is no real greatness
if there is no restraint from anger.
391
One who refrains from causing harm
by way of body, speech or mind,
can be called a worthy being.
392
Devotion and respect
should be offered to those
who have shown us the Way.
393
One should not be considered
worthy of respect
because of birth or background
or any outer sign;
it is purity
and the realisation of truth
that determine one's worth.
394
Your outer adornments
and pretentious practices
are irrelevant
if inwardly you remain in disarray.
395
To be unconcerned
about outer appearance,
but committed to
intense relentless practice
makes for greatness.
396
No one is noble
merely because of what they inherit.
Nobility comes from cleansing oneself
of all pollutions and attachments.
397
Whoever has broken loose from all bondage
and found fearlessness,
who is beyond attachments
and defilements,
I recognise as a great being.
398
Whoever severs the ties of hatred,
unbinds the ropes of craving,
undoes the locks of wrong view,
opens the doors of ignorance,
and sees truth,
I recognise as a great being.
399
Strength of patience
is the might of noble beings;
they can be shackled,
endure verbal abuse and beatings,
without resorting to anger.
400
Those who are free from anger,
simply disciplined, virtuous,
well-trained,
and have gone beyond rebirth,
these I call great beings.
401
As water slides from a lotus leaf,
so sensual pleasures
do not cling
to a great being.
402
Those who know the freedom
of having laid aside
the burden of attachment
to the body-mind
I call great beings.
403
Those possessed of deep wisdom,
who see what accords with the Way
and what does not,
those who have attained
to the peak of possibility,
I call great beings.
404
Those who are free from attachment
to the company of either householders
or fellow renunciates,
and so wander free from desires
or concern for security of any kind,
are great beings.
405
Those who have renounced
the use of force
in relationship to other beings
whether weak or strong,
who neither kill
nor cause to be killed,
can be called great beings.
406
Those who remain
friendly amid the hostile,
at peace among the aggressive,
and who do not attach themselves
to that upon which others depend
are great beings.
407
For a great being,
lust and ill-will,
arrogance and conceit
drop away
even as a tiny seed would drop
from the tip of a needle.
408
Those who speak truth
and give gentle encouragement,
contending with no-one,
these do I call great beings.
409
The actions of a great being are pure.
Great beings never
knowingly take for themselves
that which belongs to another.
410
The heart of a great being is free.
Great beings no longer pine
for things of this world
or any other world.
411
The heart of a great being is free.
With accurate understanding
which is beyond doubt,
great beings have set their feet firmly
in the land of liberation.
412
Whoever has transcended
all ties of good and bad,
is purified
and free from sorrow,
should be called a great being.
413
Those beings who
are released from all longing
and, like the moon in a cloudless sky,
are pure, clear and serene,
I call great.
414
There are beings
who travel the difficult path
across the dangerous swamp
of defiling passions,
traverse the ocean of delusion
through the darkness of ignorance,
and go beyond.
They are sustained
by wise contemplation,
secure in freedom from doubt,
liberated;
such beings are great indeed.
415
It is a great being
who, having restrained desires
for sensual pleasure,
lives the homeless life
and realises freedom
from both sensual desire
and perpetual becoming.
416
It is a great being
who, having restrained all craving,
lives the homeless life
and realises freedom
from both craving
and perpetual becoming.
417
It is a great being
who can see through all obvious delights
as well as subtle pleasures
to be free from attachment.
418
Those who cease
setting up like against dislike,
who are cooled,
who are not swayed
by worldly conditions –
these I call great beings.
419
I say anyone who understands fully
the passing away and arising of beings,
who remains aware,
non-attached, awake,
who is conscious of
right action at all times,
is a great being.
420
The condition after death
of great beings is indiscernible;
no trace of passion remains.
They are pure.
421
Anyone who lives freed
from habits of clinging,
to past, present or future,
possessing nothing,
is a great being.
422
A great being is fearless like a bull,
noble, strong, wise, diligent,
sees through delusions,
is clear, attentive and awake.
423
To understand all dimensions
of past existence,
to see accurately into all realms,
to reach the end of rebirths,
to know with insight
that which must be known,
to free the heart from ignorance –
this is the essence of great being.
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