Chapter VIII, Section 1a

p. 31 CHAPTER VIII. THE THOUSANDS. 100. Even though a speech be a thousand (of words), but made up of senseless words, one word of sense is better, which if a man hears, he becomes quiet. 101. Even though a Gâthâ (poem) be a thousand (of words), but made up of senseless words, one word of a Gâthâ is better, which if a man hears, he becomes quiet. 102. Though a man recite a hundred Gâthâs made up of senseless words, one word of the law is better, which if a man hears, he becomes quiet. 103. If one man conquer in battle a thousand times thousand men, and if another conquer himself, he is the greatest of conquerors. 104., 105. One's own self conquered is better than all other people; not even a god, a Gandharva, not Mâra with Brahman could change into defeat the [100. This Sahasravarga, or Chapter of the Thousands, is quoted by that name in the Mahâvastu (Minayeff, Mélanges Asiatiques, VI, p. 583): Teshâm Bhagavâ ñ g a t ilânâ m Dharmapadeshu sahasravargam bhâshati: 'Sahasram api vâkânâm anarthapadasa m hitânâm, ekârthavati s reyâ yâ m s rutvâ upa s âmyati. Sahasram api gâthânâm anarthapadasa m hitânâm, ekârthavati s reyâ yâ m s rutvâ upa s âmyati.' (MS. R. A. S. Lond.) Here the Pâli text seems decidedly more original and perfect. 104. G ita m , according to the commentator, stands for g ito (li n gavipallâso, i.e. viparyâsa); see also Senart in Journal Asiatique, 1880, p. 500. The Devas (gods), Gandharvas (fairies), and other fanciful beings of the Brahmanic religion, such as the Nâgas, Sarpas, Garu d as, &c., were allowed to continue in the traditional language of the people who had embraced Buddhism. See the pertinent remarks of Burnouf, Introduction, pp. 134 seq., 184. On Mâra, the tempter, see v. 7. Sâstram Aiyar, On the G aina Religion, p. xx, says: 'Moreover as it is declared in the G aina Vedas that all the gods worshipped by the various Hindu sects, viz. S iva, Brahma, Vish n u, Ga n apati, Subramaniyan, and others, were devoted adherents of the above-mentioned Tîrtha n karas, the G ainas therefore do not consider them as unworthy of their worship; but as they are servants of Arugan, they consider them to be deities of their system, and accordingly perform certain pû g âs in honour of them, and worship them also.' The case is more doubtful with orthodox Buddhists. 'Orthodox Buddhists,' as Mr. D'Alwis writes (Attanagalu-vansa, p. 55), 'do not consider the worship of the Devas as being sanctioned by him who disclaimed for himself and all the Devas any power over man's soul. Yet the Buddhists are everywhere idol-worshippers.