21
Diligence is the path to the deathless,
Negligence is the path to death;
The diligent do not die,
The negligent are as if dead.
22
Thus, understanding this distinction,
The wise excel in diligence;
They rejoice in heedfulness,
Engaged in the domain of the noble ones.
23
Those meditators who are practicing continuously,
consistently firm in effort;
The steadfast ones attain liberation,
The unsurpassed safety from the bonds.
24
One who is energetic and mindful,
pure in actions, who acts calmly;
Self-restrained and living ethically,
The fame of such a diligent one surpasses.
25
By initiative and diligence,
with self-restraint and discipline;
The wise one should make an island,
Which no flood can submerge.
26
Immature, unwise persons,
indulge in negligence;
But the wise one guards diligence,
like the most important wealth.
27
Do not indulge in negligence,
Do not delight or associate with sensual pleasures;
The diligent one, meditating,
experiences expansive contentment.
28
When with diligence,
the wise one dispels negligence;
Climbing the tower of wisdom,
free from sorrow, seeing the sorrowful persons;
Like one on a mountain top sees those on the ground,
the stable one sees the immature, undiscerning persons.
29
The diligent amongst the negligent,
wide awake amongst the asleep;
Like a swift horse amongst the feeble,
the wise one proceeds leaving them behind.
30
Through diligence, Maghavant,
attained eminence amongst the gods;
They praise diligence,
negligence is always blamed.
31
A bhikkhu who is devoted to diligence,
who sees danger in negligence;
Burns away all fetters, both subtle and gross,
like a blazing fire that consumes everything.
32
A bhikkhu who is devoted to diligence,
who sees danger in negligence;
Is incapable of decline,
and is near to Nibbāna.