In Sanskrit: Śīlaparikathā / शीलपरिकथा
In Tibetan: tshul khrims kyi gtam / ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་ཀྱི་གཏམ
Homage to the Three Jewels.
As between the ocean and an animal’s hoofprint,
such is the distinction:
the distinction between generosity
and ethical discipline.
If one with a faithful mind
gives gifts for a hundred years,
while another for a single day
guards ethical discipline,
the latter is superior.
But butchers and people of low status
may also practice generosity;
yet not just anyone at all
can uphold ethical discipline in full.
Even if one has great abundance for giving,
one is not thereby a great benefactor.
It is through utterly pure ethical discipline
that one is said to be a great benefactor.
Whether one is shaven-headed or wears a topknot,
whether one keeps one’s hair soaked with water,
though one adopts many outward observances,
if ethical discipline is absent, it is merely beast-like conduct.
Whether one goes to the Ganges,
or to the Sarasvatī, or to a pond,
or performs observances at Nairañjanā,
if one has declined in ethical discipline, it is pointless.
The unsurpassed fragrance of ethical discipline
is inexhaustible in this world and in higher realms;
the scent of garlands does not spread so far,
nor does the fragrance of ointments arise like that.
Here one is joyful, and elsewhere one goes in happiness;
one gains renown, delight, and the honor of all.
Such are the many Dharma-endowed fruits
that the great sage taught as the fruits of ethical discipline.
Ethical discipline is the supreme physician for illness,
a lamp in darkness, a refuge for the destitute,
a protection in fear, a kinsman to the poor,
and a ship for the shoreless ocean of death.
When Vinaya discipline collapses,
fear enters, and those endowed with discipline are not found.
Therefore, whoever wishes in mind
to cross beyond this world
should guard ethical discipline.
If stainless ethical discipline
is fully maintained exactly as it should be,
the mind is thoroughly ripened by peaceful wisdom.
Therefore, whoever seeks release
from old age, death, illness, and fear
should guard ethical discipline.
The Advice on Ethics, composed by the master Vasubandhu, is complete. It was translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptor Jaraṇḍhana and the translator-editor Rinchen Zangpo.
Translated and edited from Tibetan to English by Maṅgalaratnadhvaja, referencing the Śīlaparikathāvṛtti, on the 9th day of the 6th lunar month of the Male Fire Horse Year (2153).