Dhamamapada gatha – ධම්මපද ගාථා! 4

අක්කොච්ඡි මං, අවධි මං,
අජිනි මං, අහාසි මේ,
යෙ තං න උපනයහන්ති
වෙරං තෙසුපසම්මති

” මට අපහාස කලේය, මට හිංසා කලේය, මා පැරදවූයේය, මාගේ දෙය පැහැර ගත්තේය” යි සිතා යම් කෙනෙක් වෛරය නොබඳිත්ද, ඔවුන්ගේ වෛරය සංසිදේ.

Akkocchi mam avadhi mam
ajini mam ahasi me
ye ca tam nupanayhanti
veram tesupasammati.

“He abused me, he ill-treated me, he got the better of me, he stole my belongings;”… the enmity of those not harbouring such thoughts can be appeased.

The Story of Thera Tissa

While residing at the Jetavana monastery in Savatthi, the Buddha uttered Verses (3) and (4) of this gatha , with reference to Thera Tissa.

Tissa, son of the Buddha’s maternal aunt, was at one time staying with the Buddha. He had become a bhikkhu only in his old age, but he posed as a senior bhikkhu and was very pleased when visiting bhikkhus asked his permission to do some service for him. On the other hand, he failed to perform the duties expected of junior bhikkhus; besides, he often quarrelled with the younger bhikkhus. Should anyone rebuke him on account of his behaviour he would go complaining to the Buddha, weeping, very much dissatisfied and very upset. The others also followed him to the presence of the Buddha. The Buddha told them not to harbour thoughts of enmity, for enmity could only be appeased by not harbouring enmity.

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Verse 3: “He abused me, he ill-treated me, he got the better of me, he stole my belongings;”… the enmity of those harbouring such thoughts cannot be appeased.

Verse 4: “He abused me, he ill-treated me, he got the better of me, he stole my belongings;”… the enmity of those not harbouring such thoughts can be appeased.

At the end of the discourse, one hundred thousand bhikkhus attained Sotapatti Fruition.

Explanation: Living in human society, people often quarrel with one another. When such conflicts occur, people often keep thinking about the wrongs done to them by others. When that happens, their anger tends to grow. But in those who forgive and forget the wrongs done to them, anger quickly vanishes. They are then at peace.