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# Dhp 03 · The Mind
- URL: https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/dhp-03/
- Published: 2026-06-01T00:03:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-13T16:55:35.000Z
- Description: The mind's wildness and subtlety, hard to grasp and restrain, and the ease that comes from taming and guarding it.
- Author: Ninth Heaven Literature & Arts Association (NHLAA)
- Tags: Buddhism, Sutta Piṭaka, Text, Indian, The Buddha, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Dhammapada, Verse, Pali, Early Buddhist, Library

Quivering, wavering,

hard to guard,

to hold in check:

the mind.

The sage makes it straight–

like a fletcher,

the shaft of an arrow.

Like a fish

pulled from its home in the water

& thrown on land:

this mind flips & flaps about

to escape Mara’s sway.

Hard to hold down,

nimble,

alighting wherever it likes:

the mind.

Its taming is good.

The mind well-tamed

brings ease.

So hard to see,

so very, very subtle,

alighting wherever it likes:

the mind.

The wise should guard it.

The mind protected

brings ease.

Wandering far,

going alone,

bodiless,

lying in a cave:

the mind.

Those who restrain it:

from Mara’s bonds

they’ll be freed.

[33-37\*](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Dhp/endnotes.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co)

For a person of unsteady mind,

not knowing true Dhamma,

serenity

set adrift:

discernment doesn’t grow full.

38

For a person of unsoddened mind,

unassaulted awareness,

abandoning merit & evil,

wakeful,

there is

no danger

no fear.

[39\*](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Dhp/endnotes.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co)

Knowing this body

is like a clay jar,

securing this mind

like a fort,

attack Mara

with the spear of discernment,

then guard what’s won

without settling there,

without laying claim.

[40\*](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Dhp/endnotes.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co)

All too soon, this body

will lie on the ground

cast off,

bereft of consciousness,

like a useless scrap

of wood.

41

Whatever an enemy might do

to an enemy,

or a foe to a foe,

the ill-directed mind

can do to you

even worse.

Whatever a mother, father

or other kinsman

might do for you,

the well-directed mind

can do for you

even better.

[42-43\*](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Dhp/endnotes.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co)

---

*Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) licence, for free distribution only. Source: [dhammatalks.org](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Dhp/Ch03.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) (Metta Forest Monastery).*