Commentary on the Dhammapada–by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
The Real “Pursuit of Happiness”
Through the ages people have been chasing after the silliest of things and situations in the belief that they will bring them happiness. But Buddha cuts through the nonsense and shows the only way, saying: “It is good to restrain one’s mind, uncontrollable, fast moving, and following its own desires as it is. A disciplined mind leads to happiness.”
Both the Bhagavad Gita and the upanishads are echoed in this passage listing the problems of the mind–uncontrollable, fast moving, and following its own desires. Buddha adds to the list, continuing: “A wise man should guard his mind for it is very hard to keep track of, extremely subtle, and follows its own desires. A guarded mind brings happiness.”
In his translation Harischandra Kaviratna lists the mind as “incomprehensible,” and Max Muller employes the expression: “very artful.” How true that is. The mind is a mystery beyond mystery–actually more of a mystification. And in its tricky ways it truly is extremely artful. Yet we must outsmart it. The next verse tells how.
“The mind goes wandering off far and wide alone. Incorporeal, it dwells in the cavern of the heart. Those who keep it under control escape from Mara’s bonds.” The “cave of the heart” is the lair of the mind. So those who track it down to that core of their being will be able to tame it. There is no drawing near to the cave of the heart except through meditation. As T. Byrom renders this verse: “With single-mindedness the master quells his thoughts. He ends their wandering. Seated in the cave of the heart, he finds freedom.” Through meditation all this is accomplished, and the pursuit of happiness ends in the eluding of delusion and death!
Wasted wisdom
“If he is unsettled in mind, does not know the true Teaching, and has lost his peace of mind, a man’s wisdom does not come to fulfillment.”
Getting wisdom is hard enough, but that is not the ending of the matter. Those who have no real focus or knowledge of The Way–without which peace of mind is impossible–cannot bring their wisdom to fruition. A tool is valueless if there is no knowledge of its purpose or how to use it.
Fearlessness
There can be no happiness where there is fear. So Buddha tells us: “With his mind free from the inflow of thoughts and from restlessness, by abandoning both good and evil, an alert man knows no fear.” When we are no longer assaulted by thoughts and agitated by them, and when we feel no compulsion to do either “good” or “evil” but in perfect freedom of will to that which is RIGHT–that which is accordance with our true nature–then, being awake even in the dark night of material existence, we shall have no fear. For that which makes fear possible shall have melted away in the flame of spiritual reality.
This is a beautiful thought, but Buddha did not come into the world to give pretty ideas, he came to show The Way. So he continues.
Understand the body
“Seeing your body as no better than an earthen pot, make war on Mara with the sword of wisdom, and setting up your mind as a fortress, defend what you have won, remaining free from attachment.”
Foolishly we identify with the body and therefore order our lives according to its whims, demands, and even its addictions. What a preposterous basis for the conduct of our life! But Buddha exhorts us to see that the body is no more than an earthen pot, ready at any moment to break and to be as nothing.
Far greater than the body is the indwelling consciousness, indeed it is for the sake of the consciousness that the body has been assumed. Therefore we should seize the sword of wisdom which cuts through the veils of ignorance, and make war on illusion and delusion (Mara), an enemy that dwells within, not without. This is why the only remedy is an internal process. Certainly, because the body so affects the mind, we need to provide external measures to make the internal process easier and more effective. This includes right conduct in all its aspects, and is the way to fortify the mind. Rousing up and honing the sword of wisdom in the mind, we shall conquer Mara; there is no doubt. For Mara itself is an illusion.
Defend yourself
One of the saddest events in human life is to see someone who has attained some measure of spiritual development slip back and lose the gained ground. Why does it happen? Simply because he did not defend what he had won–mostly because he had no idea of his danger. Having lived so long in the swirling waters of spiritual heedlessness, he felt secure as would a child.
One of the most important elements of spiritual awakening is awakening to the real dangers inherent in the world and in ourselves, conditioned by the world. Once we begin walking the path to liberation in this world whose very nature is bondage, we are moving against an inexorable current of downward-moving force with which there can be no compromise or accommodation if we are not to fall back and be once more carried along in the descending stream. As Krishna urged Arjuna: “Stand up and fight!” Buddha does not outline for us an easy or lackadaisical path any more than did Jesus.
Free from attachment
But there is more. Buddha tells us to be free from attachment. This has two aspects. One is the common failing in which a person becomes satisfied with what has been gained, however small, and clings on to that in self-congratulation with no intent of pressing onward to wider horizons of consciousness. The wise are never satisfied with their gains, but keep on seeking more. The other problem is becoming attached to our self-image as a seeker after enlightenment, and cultivating all that gives us the appearance of being so–with no interest as to whether we really are seeking, and even less interest in really attaining. One of the worst illusions of human beings is the belief that they are what others–and they themselves–think they are. They consider that if they look or act the part, then they are that which they look and act like. And being caught up in this costume drama, they can be distracted from reality for all of their life.
No more than wood!
“Before long this body will be lying on the ground, discarded and unconscious, like a useless bit of wood.”
Buddha knows that body identification is at the root of so much of our suffering. He has already pointed out its fragility, but knows that many can shrug that off, feeling that they will be healthy and “feeling alive” forever. So he makes us face our mortality–for although we may ignore our mortality, we cannot deny it.
Yet, he points beyond the body when he speaks of it as “discarded.” Surely he has in mind the words of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita: “Even as a man casts off his worn-out clothes and then clothes himself in others which are new, so the embodied casts off worn-out bodies and then enters into others which are new.”
It is true. In time our body will be discarded, bereft of life and consciousness (which are really the same), as useless to ourself and others as scrap wood. Yet we shall be alive and conscious, immortal beings. And that is the most important reason to heed the Buddha’s teachings. For he shows us to way to unveil our immortality–our eternity.
Mind: enemy/friend
“He should lift himself by the Self; he should never degrade himself; the Self is indeed the self’s friend, and the self’s only enemy. For him who has conquered himself by the Self, the Self is a friend; but for him who has not conquered himself, the Self remains a foe.”
So said Krishna. Some centuries later, Buddha told his hearers: “One’s own misdirected thought can do one more harm than an enemy or an ill-wisher.” Harischandra Kaviratna renders it: “An ill-directed mind does greater harm to the self than a hater does to another hater or an enemy to another enemy.”
Sri Ramakrishna frequently said: “The mind is all.” Of course in “mind” he is including both the basic consciousness and its instruments, which would include the senses, at least on a subtle level. The body certainly dominates our awareness, but it is continually seen that the mind dominates the body. In crisis situations, for example, people can do things that are supposedly beyond the capacity of the body. The mind is the ruler in the plane of relative existence.
The history of mankind in general and the personal history of just about every human on the earth demonstrates the destructive capabilities of a misdirected or uncontrolled mind. Why expound it? Anyone who is not aware of the facts is either sub-or-super-human.
There are some points in which the fact of duality becomes advantageous, and this is one. For the same mind which harms can also do good. So Buddha continues: “Even your mother, father or any other relative cannot do you as much good as your own properly directed thought.” The reason should not be hard to figure out. Mother, father, or any other human being is outside us, whereas the mind is within us.
So in these few verses Buddha has shown the way to the fulfillment of our pursuit of true happiness, of that true bliss (ananda) that is our Self.
1) Dhammapada 35
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2) Dhammapada 36 [Go back]
3) Dhammapada 37 [Go back]
4) Dhammapada 38 [Go back]
5) Dhammapada 39 [Go back]
6) Dhammapada 40 [Go back]
7) Dhammapada 41 [Go back]
8) Bhagavad Gita 2:22 [Go back]
9) Bhagavad Gita 6:5,6 [Go back]
10) Dhammapada 42 [Go back]
11) Dhammapada 43. “Not a mother, not a father will do so much, nor any other relative; a well-directed mind will do us greater service.” (Max Muller translation) [Go back]
