Selections from the Dhammapada

(Carter) 8. Whoever dwells seeing the nonpleasurable, in senses well restrained,And moderate in food, faithful, resolute in enterprise,Over him, indeed, Mara prevails not,Like the wind over a rocky crag.

(Easwaran) 8.But those who live without looking for pleasure, who eat temperately and control their senses, who are persevering and firm in faith, are like a mountain. As a strong wind cannot uproot a mountain, Mara cannot throw such a person down.

The selections from the Dhammapada seems like a familiar read as to me, it sounds similar to that of the Analects of Confucius.

The similarity lies in the theme of both writings, in which both writings talk about the ways in which one should live their life and how desire is seen to be a harbinger of bad things.

In class, we discussed that in Buddhism, all life is seen as 'dukkha' and that one should follow the eightfold path to destroy 'dukkha'.

The selected quote, although from two different translations, mentions the same concept of living life without seeking desire/pleasure.

'Over him, indeed, Mara prevails not, like wind over a rocky craig'.'As a strong wind cannot uproot a mountain, Mara cannot throw such a person down'.

It can be seen that both quotes mention that one should live life free of desire in order to prevail over Mara. Being free from desire is one of the central beliefs of Buddhism, which makes it feel like this writing was addressing the students/believers of Buddhism.