深觀善惡 心知畏忌 畏而不犯 終吉無憂 故有智者 以漸積德 德積則厚 如雨成洪 伴賢智人 猶如親月 德行光明 見識高遠
shēn guān shàn è xīn zhī wèi jì wèi ér bù fàn zhōng jí wú yōu gù yǒu zhì zhě yǐ jiàn jī dé dé jī zé hòu rú yǔ chéng hóng bàn xián zhì rén yóu rú qīn yuè dé xíng guāng míng jiàn shí gāo yuǎn
Key Message
The wise person who observes good and evil deeply and restrains from wrongdoing builds virtue like rain building a flood; to associate with such a person is to have one's own character illuminated like the moon.
▸The Paṇḍitavagga (Chapter on the Wise) delineates the marks of the truly wise person and the benefit of associating with them.
The Paṇḍitavagga (Chapter on the Wise) delineates the marks of the truly wise person and the benefit of associating with them. The wise person observes good and evil deeply, holds moral fear (hiri and ottappa — shame and dread of wrongdoing) in the heart, and by refraining from transgression, arrives at a life that is ultimately auspicious and free of anxiety. The wise person does not accumulate virtue all at once, but gradually — and as rain accumulates to form a flood, so too does virtue gradually deepen until it becomes a powerful force. To associate with a person of wisdom and virtue is like drawing near to the moon: one's own character is illuminated, and one's vision becomes elevated and far-reaching.