THE ELEPHANT

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
THE ELEPHANT.

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320.
As an elephant in battle bears the arrows at him hurled,
I must bear men's bitter tongues, for very evil is the world.

321.
Tamed, they lead him into battle; tamed, the king his back ascends;
Tamed is he the best of beings, whom no bitter speech offends.

322.
Good are well-tamed mules, and good are Scindian steeds of lineage famed;
Good indeed the mighty tusker; best of all the man self-tamed.

323.
Yet such mounts can nought avail us, cannot be Nibbāna's guide;
We can only reach The Pathless[1] on the self-tamed self astride.

324.
With the must from temples streaming, mighty Dhanapālako[2]
Captive, tastes no food, but longeth to the Nāga-grove to go.

325.
Sluggish, gluttonous and sleepy, wallowing idly to and fro,
Like a huge and grain-fed hog, a fool again to birth must go.

326.
Once this mind roamed as it listed, as it pleaded a-wandering went.
As the holder of the ankus checks the furious elephant,
Now with wisdom I'll restrain it, guide it wholly to my bent.

327.
Take delight in earnestness; watch thy thoughts and never tire;
Lift thee from the Path of Evil, like the tusker sunk in mire.

328.
Hast thou found a fellow-traveller, upright, firm, intelligent?[3]
Leaving all thy cares behind thee, gladly walk with him intent.

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329.
Hast thou found no fellow-traveller, upright, firm, intelligent?
As a king deserts his borders, by the enemy pursued,
Like the tusker in the forest, go thy way in solitude.

330.
Better is the lonely life, for fools companions cannot be;
Live alone and do no evil, live alone with scanty needs,
Lonely, as the mighty tusker in the forest lonely feeds.

331.
Sweet are friends when need ariseth, sweet is joy whate'er it be;
Sweet the blessing of life's ending, sweet to be from sorrow free.

332.
Sweet it is to be a mother, sweet the lot of fatherhood,
Sweet the life of holy hermits, sweet the life of Brāhmans good.

333.
Sweet is growing old in goodness, sweet is faith established,
Sweet to gain the prize of wisdom when desire for sin is dead.