I42 
DHAMMAPADA 
 
Follow not vanity, nor seek the transient pleasures of the 
sense : 
The earnest one who meditates derives the highest rapture 
thence. 
 
When the wise man by Earnestness hath Vanity to chaos 
hurled 
He mounts to wisdom’s palace, looks serene upon the 
sorrowing world. 
 
Mighty is wisdom :  as a man climbs high upon the hills ice-
crowned, 
Surveys, aloof, the toiling folk far distant on the dusty 
ground. 
 
Among the sleepers vigilant, among the thoughtless eager-
eyed 
The wise speeds on ; the racer so passes the hack with 
vigorous stride. 
 
By earnestness did Maghava attain of Gods to be the Lord. 
Praise is one-pointed thought’s reward ; Dispersion is a 
thing abhorred. 
 
The Bhikkhu who in Earnestness delights, who fears 
dispersions dire, 
His fetters all, both great and small, burning he moves 
about the fire.