Patience is the supreme austerity, endurance is the supreme — say the Buddhas; nibbana is the supreme. One is not a monk who harms others, one is not an ascetic who torments others.

Khantī paramaṃ tapo titikkhā — patience is the supreme austerity: khantī (patience, tolerance) and titikkhā (endurance, forbearance) are presented as paramam tapo — the supreme austerity. Better than fasting, vigils, or mortifications is patience with life’s difficulties and provocations.

Nibbānaṃ paramaṃ vadanti buddhā — nibbana is the supreme, say the Buddhas: the supreme goal of all training is nibbana. All Buddhas agree on this.

Na hi pabbajito parūpaghātī — one is not a monk who harms others: pabbajita is the renunciant, one who has “gone forth” from household life. But external renunciation without renunciation of violence does not deserve the name of monk.

Na samaṇo hoti paraṃ viheṭhayanto — one is not an ascetic who torments others: samaṇa is the wandering ascetic, the spiritual seeker. The Buddhist definition of ascetic categorically excludes harming others. This verse, together with 183, forms the ethical core of Buddhism.