Hatred is, indeed, never appeased by hatred in this world. It is appeased only by loving-kindness. This is an ancient law.
Trans. Daw Mya Tin, M.A.
Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal.
“Yamakavagga: Pairs” (Dhp I), translated from the Pali by Acharya Buddharakkhita.
Hostilities aren’t stilled through hostility, regardless. Hostilities are stilled through non-hostility: this, an unending truth.
Yamakavagga: Pairs” (Dhp I), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
I love the way that the Dharma is described in this verse. It’s various described as
an ancient law
an unending truth
a law eternal
and I’m sure if I kept looking I could find more translations, and I maybe will. It’s the notion of the Dharma being eternal that resonates, but the Heart Sutra tells us that all things are empty including the path itself. So, eternal perhaps isn’t the most accurate rendering. I can use a bit of flexibility of view though and sit with the eternal nature of the Dharma for a while and see how that feels (spoiler alert – it feels pretty good).
Moving on from eternal, I’ve read somewhere that the Dharma isn’t so much eternal; rather it is universally applicable, which is helpful albeit with a bit less poetry. What really chimes for me though is RELENTLESS. The Dharma is relentless. It keeps on and on and on and on and doesn’t let up. It hectors, cajoles, niggles, demands, inspires and just won’t leave us or even leave us alone.
Years ago I was quite into comics for a while. I remember one comic had the word RELENTLESS emblazoned onto the front cover. Inside were lots of images of heroic looking types, flying into the air and doing all manner of super hero type activities. And they kept doing it panel after panel and panel. And they never let up. They were indeed relentless. The comic itself was OK but never my favourite but the imagery of the relentless has stayed with me.
I aspire to the relentless Dharma and I aspire to have a little of the relentless in my Dharma life.