The Power of Authentic Action — The Dhammapada

True goodness is not a show. This chapter asks who can overcome the earth, the world of the dead, and the world of the gods. The student who follows the path can, finding the right way like picking the right flower from many blooms. See the body as foam and mirage, break Mara's arrow, and death loses its hold on that person.

But death grabs the distracted person who gathers pleasures like flowers. It takes him like a flood sweeping a sleeping village before he even gets enough. Live like a bee that takes nectar without hurting the flower. Watch your own mistakes, not everyone else's faults. Pretty words without matching action are flowers with no smell. Words backed by real action have scent and fruit. Many good things can still come from one life, like many wreaths from one heap of flowers.

The smell of virtue travels where ordinary perfume cannot. Sandalwood fades, but good conduct reaches farther and lasts longer in people's memory. Those who live awake and know truth leave no door open for Mara. Like a sweet lily blooming sweet on garbage beside the road, the enlightened student shines among people walking in darkness and fear.