The Rod
The rod is a stick used to strike. The chapter opens by saying that all beings tremble at it and fear death, so treat others as you would yourself and neither kill nor incite killing. It warns that harsh speech invites harsh speech in return, and that one who harms creatures in search of their own happiness will not find happiness after death. A list of misfortunes is said to fall on anyone who attacks the peaceful and innocent. Later verses say that outward austerities such as matted hair, fasting or lying on bare ground do not cleanse a person still full of doubt; what counts is living peacefully and laying aside violence toward all creatures.
A note on these verses. Verses 131–132 speak of happiness or its absence after death; verses 137–140 list ten misfortunes ending in hell after death; verse 134 mentions “extinguishment”, the end of suffering.
Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · public domain (CC0) · about 2 min · on SuttaCentral
129All tremble at the rod,all fear death.Treating others like oneself,neither kill nor incite to kill.Explained: Treating others like oneself
130All tremble at the rod,all love life.Treating others like oneself,neither kill nor incite to kill.
131Creatures love happiness,so if you harm them with a stickin search of your own happiness,after death you won’t find happiness.
132Creatures love happiness,so if you don’t harm them with a stickin search of your own happiness,after death you will find happiness.
133Don’t speak harshly,they may speak harshly back.For aggressive speech is painful,and the rod may spring back on you.
134If you still yourselflike a broken gong,you reach extinguishmentand know no conflict.
135As a cowherd drives the cowsto pasture with the rod,so too old age and deathdrive life from living beings.
136The fool does not understandthe evil that they do.But because of those deeds, that simpletonis tormented as if burnt by fire.
137One who violently attacksthe peaceful and the innocentswiftly fallsto one of ten bad states:
138harsh pain; loss;the breakup of the body;serious illness;mental distress;
139hazards from rulers;vicious slander;loss of kin;destruction of wealth;
140or else their homeis consumed by fire.When their body breaks up, that witless personis reborn in hell.
141Not nudity, nor matted hair, nor mud,nor fasting, nor lying on bare ground,nor wearing dust and dirt, or squatting on the heels,will cleanse a mortal not free of doubt.
142Dressed up they may be, but if they live well—peaceful, tamed, committed to the spiritual path,having laid aside violence toward all creatures—they are a brahmin, an ascetic, a mendicant.
143Can a person constrained by consciencebe found in the world?Who shies away from blame,like a fine horse from the whip?
144Like a fine horse under the whip,be keen and full of urgency.With faith, ethics, and energy,immersion, and investigation of principles,accomplished in knowledge and conduct, mindful,give up this vast suffering.
145While irrigators guide water,fletchers bend arrows straight,and carpenters bend timber straight,those true to their vows tame themselves.