Dhammapada verses 157-166 emphasize self-discipline, personal responsibility, and inner mastery. A wise person must first establish themselves properly before guiding others, as self-mastery is difficult but essential. Purity and impurity are personal matters, and one should prioritize their own spiritual welfare over external concerns, for no one can purify another.
Atta vagga - Chapter 12 - Self
157
If one considers oneself dear, one should guard oneself well; In one of the three watches [of the night] [1], the wise person should watch over.
158
One should first establish oneself, in what is proper; Then one may instruct another, A wise person should not become defiled.
159
One should act towards oneself in the same way, as one instructs another; One who is well-tamed can tame others, for it is hard to tame oneself.
160
Indeed, oneself is one's own refuge, for who else could be another's refuge; By means of a well-tamed self, one obtains a refuge that is hard to find.
161
Indeed the injurious [actions] committed by oneself, born from oneself, arising from oneself; Crushes the undiscerning one, like a diamond crushes a rock-made jewel.
162
For the one whose conduct is extremely unprincipled, like a creeping vine that envelopes a sal tree; He brings himself to such a state, as an enemy would wish for him.
163
Easy to do are things that are unwholesome, and unbeneficial to oneself; But what is beneficial and auspicious, that is indeed hard to do.
164
Whoever rejects the teachings upheld by the Arahants, of the noble ones who live according to the Dhamma; The undiscerning person who refuses to accept it, leaning on a harmful view; Like the bamboo when it bears fruit [2], brings about his own destruction.
165
By oneself is wrong done, by oneself one becomes impure; By oneself is wrong left undone, by oneself one becomes purified; Purity and impurity are individual matters, no one can purify another.
166
One's own good should not be abandoned for the sake of another's, Not even for the good of many; Having understood one's own welfare, One should remain intent on it.
[1] Traditionally, the night was divided into three parts: first watch starting from sunset [6 PM to 10 PM], second watch [10 PM to 2 AM], and third watch [2 AM to 6 AM] ending at the dawn. [2] Most bamboo species flower and produce fruit only once in their lifetime, often after 30 to 120 years. After fruiting, the entire bamboo plant dies, as it exhausts all its energy in reproduction.