The Anger chapter opens with the instruction in its plainest form: abandon anger, give up conceit, transcend every fetter — suffering does not befall the one who owns nothing and clings to nothing (17.1). Its signature image is a runaway vehicle: the one who restrains arisen anger like a swerving chariot is the true charioteer — others merely hold the reins (17.2). And its strategy verse is among the most practical in the canon: conquer anger by non-anger, the bad by the good, the miser by giving, the liar by truth (17.3) — each vice starved by feeding its opposite.
The middle of the chapter turns to blame, with the Buddha's dry comfort to Atula: this is ancient, not new — they blame the silent, they blame the talkative, they blame the moderate; no one in the world goes unblamed (17.7), and no one wholly blamed or wholly praised has ever existed (17.8). The only praise worth seeking is that of the discerning, given after long observation of flawless conduct (17.9). The closing verses make restraint systematic: guard against anger of body, of speech, and of mind; abandoning misconduct in each, practice good conduct in each (17.11–17.14).
Key verses
One who restrains arisen anger like a swerving chariot — that one I call the true charioteer. Others merely hold the reins.
Conquer anger by non-anger. Conquer the bad by the good. Conquer the miser by giving. Conquer the liar by truth.
Never has there been, nor will there ever be, nor does there now exist — a person wholly blamed or wholly praised.
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