The Just

Chapter Nineteen -- The Just

1. Not by passing arbitrary judgements does
   a person become just; a wise person investigates
   both right and wrong.
   
2. One who does not judge others arbitrarily,
   but passes judgement impartially according
   to truth, that sagacious person is a guardian
   of law and is called just.
   
3. One is not versed in Dhamma because
   one speaks much. One who, after hearing even a
   little Dhamma, does not neglect it but personally
   realises its truth, that person is truly versed
   in the Dhamma.
   
4. A monk is not an Elder because his
   head is gray; he is but ripe in age, and he is called
   one grown old in vain.
   
5. One in whom there is truthfulness,
   virtue, inoffensiveness, restraint and self-mastery,
   who is free from defilements and wise--he is
   truly called an Elder.
   
6. Not by mere eloquence nor by bodily
   beauty does a person become accomplished, should
   one be jealous, selfish and deceitful.
   
7. But one in whom these are wholly destroyed,
   uprooted and extinct, and who has cast out
   hatred--that wise person is truly accomplished.
   
8. Not by shaven head does a person who is
   undisciplined and untruthful become a renunciate.
   How can one who is full of desire and greed be
   a renunciate?
   
9. One who wholly subdues evil both small
   and great is called a renunciate, because that
   person has overcome all evil.
   
10. One is not a renunciate just because one lives
    on other's alms. Not by adopting outward form
    does one become a true renunciate.
    
11. One here who lives the holy life and
    walks with understanding in this world,
    transcending both merit and demerit--that
    person is truly called a renunciate.
    
12. Not by observing silence does one
    become a sage, if one be foolish and ignorant. But
    that wise person who, as if holding a balance-scale,
    accepts only the good and rejects the evil--that person
    is truly a sage. Since both (the present and future)
    worlds are comprehended, that person is called a sage.
    
13. One is not a Noble One who injures living
    beings. One is called a Noble One because one is
    harmless towards all living beings.
    
14. You should not rest content merely by
    following rules and observances, nor even by
    acquiring much learning; nor by gaining
    absorption, nor by a life of seclusion;
    
15. Nor by thinking: "I enjoy the bliss of
    renunciation that is not experienced by the
    worldling." O renunciates, you should not rest content
    until the utter destruction of the cankers
    (Arahatship) is reached.