Dhammapada 159

If you conduct yourself as you instruct others, then, well tamed, you should tame others

If you conduct yourself as you instruct others, then, well tamed, you should tame others. For taming oneself is hard indeed.

Translated from the Pāli by Banya

In plain words

Someone training others should conduct themselves according to the same instruction. The verse stresses that training yourself is difficult, so the demand begins with you.

Key words

attā

oneself — Reflexive language here does not assert a permanent self.

The story behind the verse

“Be ye doers of the word”

In the commentary, a monk repeatedly told his companions to practice diligently. He directed them to continue meditation instead of sleeping, and they followed his encouragement. He himself lay down and slept, and the other monks discovered the difference between his advice and his conduct. They reported it to the Buddha, and the Buddha taught that someone guiding others should practice as they instruct, and he recalled a story about a cock crowing at the wrong time.

Retold by Banya from the traditional commentary, after E. W. Burlingame, Buddhist Legends (1921).

Explanation by Banya. Traditional readings vary.