The Great Virtue is to follow the Tao and only the Tao. The Tao is shadowy and intangible..Tao

 Verse 21

The Great Virtue is to follow the Tao and only the Tao.
The Tao is shadowy and intangible.

Intangible and evasive, and yet within it is a form.
Evasive and intangible, and yet within it is a substance.

Shadowy and dark, and yet within it is a vital force.
This vital force is real and can be relied upon.

From ancient times to the present
the Tao’s instructions have not been forgotten.
Through it can be perceived the beginning of the story of life.

How do I know how it was at the beginning of the story of life?
Because of what is within me.


Verse 22

Yield and overcome; bend and be straight.
Empty out and be full; wear out and be renewed.
Have little and gain; have much and be confused.

Therefore, the True Person embraces the One
and becomes a model for all.

Do not look only at yourself, and you will see much.
Do not justify yourself, and you will be distinguished.
Do not brag, and you will have merit.
Do not be prideful, and your work will endure.

It is because you do not strive that no one under heaven can strive with you.
The saying of the Old Ones, “Yield and Overcome,” is not an empty phrase.
True wholeness is achieved by blending with life.

Verse 23

To talk little is to follow nature.
A whirlwind does not last all morning.

A sudden shower does not last all day.
Who produces these things?

Heaven and earth!
Even heaven and earth cannot make

wild things last long.
How then can people hope to do so?

People of the Tao conform to the Tao.
People of Virtue conform to Virtue.

People who lose the way conform to the loss.
Those who conform to the Tao are welcomed into the Tao.

Those who conform to Virtue are welcomed into Virtue.
Those who conform to the loss are welcomed into the loss.
Those who do not trust enough will not be trusted.


Verse 24

The person on tiptoe is not steady.
The person with legs astride cannot walk.

Those who look only at themselves see little.
Those who justify themselves are not distinguished.
Those who brag have no merit.

The work of prideful people will not endure.
From the standpoint of the Tao, these things are
“excessive food and tumours of the body.”

As they bring sickness, followers of the Tao do not linger around them.


Verse 25

Something formless yet complete, existing before heaven and earth.
Silent and limitless, it stands alone and does not change.
Reaching everywhere, it does not tire.
Perhaps it is the Mother of all things under heaven.
I do not know its name so I call it “Tao.”

When I have to describe it I call it “great.”
Being great it flows.
It flows far away.
Having gone far away, it returns.

Therefore, the Tao is great.
Heaven is great.
Earth is great.
People are also great.
Thus, people constitute one of the
four great things of the universe.

People conform to the earth.
The earth conforms to heaven.
Heaven conforms to the Tao.
The Tao conforms to its own nature.


Verse 26

The solid must be the root of the light.
The still must be the master of the restless.

Therefore, wise people when travelling all day
do not lose sight of their baggage cart.

Although there are beautiful scenes to see,
they remain quietly in their own place.

Should a lord of ten thousand chariots
appear more frivolous than a simple traveller?

To be light is to lose the root.
To be restless is to lose the master.

Verse 27

A skilful traveller leaves no track.
A skilful speaker makes no slip.
A skilful reckoner needs no counting rod.

A skilfully made door requires no bolts, yet it cannot be opened.
A skilful binding has no cords or knots, yet it cannot be untied.

Therefore, the True Person
is skilful in assisting people,
and abandons nobody;
Is skilful in assisting things,
and abandons nothing.

This is called “Following the Inner Light.”
Therefore, the skilful person is the teacher
of the person without skill.
The person without skill is the material
for the skilful person.

If you do not respect the teacher,
if you do not care for the material,
you are on the road to confusion
and your cleverness will not save you.
This is an essential principle.


Verse 28

Develop the strength of a man, but live as gently as a woman.
Become a brook and receive all things under heaven.

If you are such a brook then Virtue will constantly flow into you
and you will become a simple child again.

Know the pure but live the life of the sullied.
Become a fountain to all things under heaven.

If you become such a fountain
then you will have abundant Virtue

and you will return to the state of the Uncarved Block.
When the Uncarved Block is cut up into pieces,

it is turned into specialised instruments.
But the True Person makes use of it whole

and becomes the master of the instruments.
Hence, it is said, “The finest carver cuts little.”


Verse 29

Whoever wishes to take over the world will not succeed.
The world is a sacred vessel and nothing should be done to it.

Whoever tries to tamper with it will mar it.
Whoever tries to grab it will lose it.
Hence, there is a time to go ahead and a time to stay behind.

There is a time to breathe easy and a time to breathe hard.
There is a time to be vigorous and a time to be gentle.

There is a time to gather and a time to release.
Therefore, the True Person avoids extremes, self-indulgence, and extravagance.


Verse 30

If you would assist leaders of people by way of the Tao,
you will oppose the use of armed force to overpower the world.

Those who use weapons will be harmed by them.
Where troops have camped only thorn bushes grow.

Bad harvests follow in the wake of a great army.
The skilful person strikes the blow and stops,
without taking advantage of victory.

Bring it to a conclusion but do not be vain.
Bring it to a conclusion but do not be boastful.
Bring it to a conclusion but do not be arrogant.
Bring it to a conclusion but only when there is no choice.
Bring it to a conclusion but without violence.

When force is used, youthful strength decays.
This is not the way of Tao.
And that which goes against the Tao will quickly pass away.






..................................Neelanjn