Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/379

Rh The whole of the Dhammapada is a series of 423 moral precepts which in their beauty and moral worth are unsurpassed by any similar collection of precepts made in any age or country; and a good-sized volume might be compiled from the legends and maxims, the parables and precepts, which are interspersed throughout the Buddhist sacred scriptures, of which the following may serve as specimens:—

"All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death. Remember that you are like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter. "

"The fault of others is easily perceived, but that of oneself is difficult to perceive; a man winnows his neighbour's faults like chaff, but his own fault he hides, as a cheat hides the bad die from the gambler."

"This is called progress in the discipline of the Noble One, if one sees his sin in its sinfulness, and duly makes amends for it, and refrains from it in future."