The Dhammapada · 2 of 2 · tr. F. Max Müller

Chapter V, Section 1b

In Manu IV, 172, where a similar sentence occurs, the commentators are equally doubtful: Nâdharma s k arito loke sadya h phalati gaur iva, 'for an evil act committed in the world does not bear fruit at once, like a cow;' or 'like the earth (in due season);' or 'like milk.' See Childers, Notes, p.

6.] p.

22 72.

And when the evil deed, after it has become known, brings sorrow to the fool, then it destroys his bright lot, nay, it cleaves his head.

73.

Let the fool wish for a false reputation, for precedence among the Bhikshus, for lordship in the convents, for worship among other people!

74.

'May both the layman and he who has left the world think that this is done by me; may they be subject to me in everything which is to be done or is not to be done,' thus is the mind of the fool, and his desire and pride increase.

75.

'One is the road that leads to wealth, another the road that leads to Nirvâ n a;' if the Bhikshu, the disciple of Buddha, has learnt this, he will not yearn for honour, he will strive after separation from the world.

[72.

I take ñ attam for gñ apitam, the causative of gñ âtam, for which in Sanskrit, too, we have the form without i, gñ aptam.

This gñ aptam, 'made known, revealed,' stands in opppsition to the kh anna, 'covered, hid,' of the preceding verse.

Sukka m sa, which Fausböll explains by s uklâ m sa, has probably a more technical and special meaning.

Childers traces ñ attam to the Vedic gñ âtram, 'knowledge.' Fausböll refers to G âtaka, vol.

i.

p.

445, v.

118.

75.

Viveka, which in Sanskrit means chiefly understanding, has with the Buddhists the more technical meaning of separation, whether separation from the world and retirement to the solitude of the forest (kâya-viveka), or separalion from idle thoughts ( k itta-viveka), or the highest separation and freedom (Nirvâ n a).]

Themes

◆Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis

Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.

The text urges the disciple to strive after separation from the world and not yearn for honour, reflecting a radical letting-go of worldly attachments.

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◆Good Thought Word Deedethics

The Zoroastrian triad of right thought, right speech, and right action as the foundation of ethical life; truth-in-living.

The passage centrally warns that evil deeds bring sorrow and destroy the bright lot, emphasizing the moral consequence of actions.

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◆Poverty Of Spiritanthropology

Eckhart's radical reading of Matthew 5:3 — the saint as one who wants nothing, knows nothing, and has nothing, having emptied even the will and the self with which to receive God; distinct from renunciation_of_wealth (material poverty).

The text contrasts the fool's desire for wealth with the disciple who strives after separation from the world and does not yearn for honour.

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◆Renunciation Of Wealthethics

The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle.

The passage explicitly states that if the Bhikshu has learnt the distinction between the road to wealth and the road to Nirvana, he will not yearn for honour.

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◆Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

Understanding the distinction between the two roads is presented as a key to liberation from worldly yearning.

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◆Separation From Sourcesoteriology

The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.

The text describes the fool's mind as being attached to worldly desires and the disciple's path as one of separation from the world.

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◆Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

The reference to 'separation from the world' implies a movement away from material entanglement toward a higher spiritual state.

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