166. The Lord said: “Words that have these four qualities are well-spoken, not ill-spoken, faultless, not blamed by the wise. What four? Concerning this, one speaks words that are well-spoken not ill-spoken, words that are right not wrong, words of love not hate, one speaks words that are truthful not false.
The virtuous say well-spoken words are best,
Secondly comes right speech, not wrong,
Thirdly come words of love not hatred,
And fourthly come truthful, not false words.”
Then Venerable Vangīsa rose from his seat, arranged his robe on one shoulder, put his palms together and said: “Something occurs to me, Lord.” Then he spoke these words in praise of the Lord:
“One should utter only words
Which do no harm to oneself
Or cause harm to others
That is truly beautiful speech.
Speak loving words,
Words rejoiced at and welcomed,
Words that bear ill-will to none;
Always speak lovingly to others.
Truthful speech is of the Immortal.
This is an eternal truth.
The good say the Dhamma and the goal
Are based on words that are true.
The Buddha speaks words that lead
To the winning of security,
The ending of sorrow, and the attaining of Nirvana.
Truly, this is the speech supreme.”
No comments:
Post a Comment