Dhammapada Verses 256-270 - The Just

 

 

Verse 256: He is not just if he decides a case arbitrarily; the wise man should decide after considering both what is right and what is wrong.

Verse 257: The wise man who decides not arbitrarily but in accordance with the law is one who safeguards the law; he is to be called 'one who abides by the law (dhammattho)'. 258: He is not a wise man just because he talks much; only he who is peaceful, free from enmity, and does no harm to others, is to be called 'a wise man'. 259: He is not "one versed in the Dhamma (Dhammadhara)" just because he talks much. He who hears only a little but comprehends the Dhamma, and is not unmindful is, indeed, "one versed in the Dhamma". 260: He is not a thera just because his head is grey; he who is ripe only in years is called "one grown old in vain".  261: Only a wise man who comprehends the Four Noble Truths and the Dhamma, who is harmless and virtuous, who restrains his senses and has rid himself of moral defilements is indeed called a thera. 262: Not by fine talk, nor by good looks could one be a good-hearted man, if he were envious, miserly and crafty.  263: A wise man who has cut off, uprooted and removed these and has rid himself of moral defilements is indeed called a good-hearted man. 264: Not by a shaven head does a man become a samana, if he lacks morality and austere practices and tells lies. How could he who is full of covetousness and greed be a samana?  265: He who has totally subdued all evil, great and small, is called a samana because he has overcome all evil. He does not become a bhikkhu merely because he stands at the door for alms. He cannot become a bhikkhu because he acts according to a faith which is not in conformity with the Dhamma.  267: In this world, he who lays aside both good and evil, who leads the life of purity, and lives meditating on the khandha aggregates is indeed called a bhikkhu. 268 & 269: Not by silence does one become a muni, if one is dull and ignorant. Like one holding a pair of scales, the wise one takes what is good and rejects what is evil. For this reason he is a muni. He who understands both internal and external aggregates is also, for that reason, called a muni. 270: He who harms living beings is, for that reason, not an ariya (a Noble One); he who does not harm any living being is called an ariya.