— The Dhammapada, verse 158 (tr. F. Max Müller, 1881)
About this quote
हिन्दी में
मनुष्य पहले स्वयं को उचित मार्ग पर लगाए, फिर दूसरों को सिखाए; ऐसा करने वाला बुद्धिमान दुख नहीं उठाएगा।
What it means
Look at where the payoff lands. The verse does not end with then his teaching will be effective or then others will benefit. It ends with the teacher himself not suffering. The order is prescribed for the sake of the one giving the instruction.
It is usually quoted as practise what you preach, which is a charge laid against hypocrites for the benefit of an audience. This says something narrower and more useful: teaching from a position you have not occupied costs you something. The gap between your advice and your conduct is a wound the audience may never notice and you cannot stop noticing.
What it teaches you
Before handing out a piece of advice, check whether you have done the thing yourself — not whether you believe in it, whether you have done it. If you have not, you still have two honest options: do it first, or give the advice with the gap stated aloud. What the verse rules out is the third option, in which you say it as though you had.
अर्थ और सीख
यह पद कहता है कि पहले स्वयं को सही मार्ग पर लगाओ, फिर दूसरों को सिखाओ — और ध्यान दें कि इसका फल दूसरों को नहीं, सिखाने वाले को मिलता है: वह दुख नहीं उठाएगा। इसे आम तौर पर जैसा कहते हो वैसा करो के रूप में पढ़ा जाता है, पर बात ज़्यादा बारीक है — अपने आचरण और अपनी सलाह के बीच का फ़ासला सुनने वाले को शायद न दिखे, आपको हमेशा दिखता रहेगा। सीख यह है कि सलाह देने से पहले देखें कि वह काम आपने ख़ुद किया है या नहीं; अगर नहीं, तो या तो पहले कर लें, या यह बात साफ़ कह दें।
Where it comes from
This is verse 158 of the Dhammapada, from the chapter called Self — self as one’s own lord and refuge, purified by no one else.
The Dhammapada is a collection of 423 verses in Pali, among the oldest and most widely read records of the Buddha’s teaching. This English translation is by F. Max Müller (1881), the pioneering Oxford scholar of Indian texts; the verse number is cited with this quote.
