SuttaCentral
I am looking for a translation of the Dhammapada by Samanera Bodhesako, titled The Track of Truth.
Verses from the text (along with mention of the completed text and title) can be found in the book Stringhoppers and Rabbit Holes - Letters of a Wayfarer.
Can anybody point me in the direction of this text, or better still, link me to a Pdf?
Thanks and anumodana.
Itâs a rather free rhyming translation, but was left unfinished at the time of Bodhesakoâs sudden early death. Later it was posthumously completed by Bhikkhu Varado. I donât know whether it was ever published, but itâs available online:
BÄlavagga (Dhp. 58-75)
Fools
As upon a rubbish pit,
Its filth beside the road,
May there a fragrant lotus sit,
So bonny to behold.
And so with men, that rubbish pile
Of common beings blind,
Disciples of the Buddha dwell.
With wisdomâs light they shine.
How long, indeed, a sleepless night;
How long a weary ten mile hike;
And, for the fool, how long samsara,
Failing to perceive true Dhamma.
If a woman does not find
Her betters or her equals, she
Should fare alone, steadfast in mind:
With fools there is no company.
âI have sons!â âI have wealth!â
Thus the fool exalts herself.
She has not her very self,
Let alone her sons or wealth.
The fool who does her folly see
Indeedâs a sage to that degree;
But who to wisdom gives false airs,
That fool indeedâs a fool declared.
Although a fool might well engage
All his lifetime with a sage,
Heâll the Dhamma no more savour
Than the spoon the curryâs flavour.
Although the prudent might engage
But a moment with a sage,
Still, heâll Dhamma quickly savour,
As the tongue the curryâs flavour.
The fool of little wit proceeds
Undertaking evil deeds,
Acting as her own ill-wisher,
Reaping fruit profusely bitter.
Acts and deeds are not propitious,
Acts which done, she lives to rue;
Which lead to tears and lamentation
When the kammic fruits ensue.
Deeds and actions are propitious,
If when done, she rests appeased,
Which lead to happy satisfaction
With the kammic fruits received.
Like honey does the fool adore
Evil deeds that still are raw.
When those evil deeds are ripe,
Then the fool will sorrow strike.
Though month after month, as a spoon for his nourishment,
A fool should a grass-tip employ (as self-punishment),
His value is not even one in sixteen
Of that person who Dhamma, with insight, has seen.
Though milk squirts out immediately,
Iniquityâs corollary
Will burn the fool enduringly,
Like coal that smoulders steadily.
Training arises for a fool, to his detriment. It ruins any goodness in him, and utterly destroys him.
A fool might wish for undue reverence,
To be the master of the residence,
âMidst monks to have the right to precedence,
And from the folk, respectful deference.
âLet monks and all the folk conceive
The author of these things was me!
And in their many undertakings,
May they take up my suggestions!â
For this fool, his thoughts unwise,
His pride expands, his longings thrive.
One path leads to liberation;
One to gifts accumulation.
Those who pay the Lord attention
See both paths with comprehension.
With no like for veneration,
May they strive in isolation!
Thank you, Venerable. I did find this online, but itâs not quite what Iâm after
Iâd like to find the original, without Bhikkhu Varadoâs alterations and additions.
For that I suppose youâd need to contact either Bhikkhu Nirodho at Wat U Mong in Chiang Mai, or else Bhikkhu Varado himself, whom I know nothing about.
Iâm not sure where Ven Varado is now, but I hung out with him for a while when he was completing this. At that time he was at Wat U Mong, and i stayed for a week or so to see my dad, who was in town. We chatted quite extensively!
Itâs not an easy task to rhyme Pali verse. I feel the end result is inevitably uneven, some verses work well, others not so much. I always thought that version would be a good starting place for someone who wanted to set some Dhammapada verses to music.
I probably wonât be buying tickets to Dhammapada the Musical, and am happy to wait and see if someone on here can point me in the direction of Track of Truth. Thanks again, Venerables.