Dhammapada 184
Patience, forbearance, is the highest austerity
Patience, forbearance, is the highest austerity; the Buddhas call Nibbāna the highest. One who injures another is no renunciant; one who harms another is no contemplative.
Translated from the Pāli by Banya
Pāli
Khantī paramaṁ tapo titikkhā,
Nibbānaṁ paramaṁ vadanti buddhā;
Na hi pabbajito parūpaghātī,
Na samaṇo hoti paraṁ viheṭhayanto.
In plain words
Patience and forbearance are called the highest austerity, and the Buddhas call Nibbāna supreme. Traditionally, Nibbāna is read as liberation. Someone who harms or mistreats others does not fulfill the ideal of a renunciant or contemplative.
Key words
- tapo
- austerity, ascetic discipline — The verse ranks forbearance above other forms of austerity.
- nibbāna
- Nibbāna, liberation — The ending of the bondage of craving and suffering.
The story behind the verse
How did the Seven Buddhas keep Fast-day?
In the commentary, at Jetavana, Ānanda considered what he had heard about the earlier Buddhas. He knew accounts of their families, lifespans, disciples, and places of awakening, and he wondered how they observed the religious fast-day. He asked the Buddha whether their observance differed from the present one, and the Buddha explained that the intervals between observances differed. He said the essential verses of admonition were the same, and he then gave the verses about avoiding wrong, developing good, patience, restraint, and purification of mind.
Retold by Banya from the traditional commentary, after E. W. Burlingame, Buddhist Legends (1921).
To reflect on
What would patience without harming look like in a small difficulty today?
Try it today
Let one minor delay pass without directing a harsh remark at anyone.
Practise it with
Compassion (karuṇā)
Explanation by Banya. Traditional readings vary.