Dhammapada


The Dhammapada is one of the primary collections of teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is revered as the "Shakyamuni Buddha" and considered founder of the Buddhist traditions. It contains 423 verses in 26 categories, which, according to tradition, are answers to questions put to the Buddha on various occasions, most of which deal with ethics.

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Yammakavagga "The Pairs" (verses 1-20)

* Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox. (Verse 1)
o Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita
o Alternate translation: Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart. If you speak or act with a corrupted heart, then suffering follows you — as the wheel of the cart, the track of the ox that pulls it.
+ Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu
o Alternative translation: All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage... If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
+ Translator: F. Max Müller

* "He insulted me, hit me, beat me, robbed me" — for those who brood on this, hostility isn't stilled. "He insulted me, hit me, beat me, robbed me" — for those who don't brood on this, hostility is stilled. Hostilities aren't stilled through hostility, regardless. Hostilities are stilled through non-hostility: this, an unending truth. (Verses 3-5)
o Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu
o Alternative: "He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me,"— in those who harbour such thoughts hatred will never cease. "He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me," — in those who do not harbour such thoughts hatred will cease. For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule.
+ Translator: F. Max Müller

* As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind. (Verse 13)
o Translator: F. Max Müller

Appamadavagga "Mindfulness" (verses 21-32)

* Heedfulness is the path to the Deathless. Heedlessness is the path to death. The heedful die not. The heedless are as if dead already. (Verse 21)
o Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita
o Alternative: Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvana), thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who are in earnest do not die, those who are thoughtless are as if dead already.
+ Translator: F. Max Müller

* Earnest among the thoughtless, awake among the sleepers, the wise man advances like a racer, leaving behind the hack. (Verse 29)
o Translator: F. Max Müller

Cittavagga "The Mind" (verses 33-43)

* Just as a fletcher straightens an arrow shaft, even so the discerning man straightens his mind — so fickle and unsteady, so difficult to guard. (Verse 33)
o Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

* Hard to hold down, nimble, alighting wherever it likes: the mind. Its taming is good. The mind well-tamed brings ease. (Verse 35)
o Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu
o Alternative: It is good to tame the mind, which is difficult to hold in and flighty, rushing wherever it listeth; a tamed mind brings happiness.
+ Translator: F. Max Müller

Pupphavagga "Flowers" (verses 44-59)

* Death carries off a man who is gathering flowers and whose mind is distracted, as a flood carries off a sleeping village. (Verse 47)
o Translator: F. Max Müller

Balavagga "The Spiritually Immature" (verses 60-75)

* Long for the wakeful is the night. Long for the weary, a league. For fools unaware of True Dhamma, samsara is long. (Verse 60)
o Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

* If a traveller does not meet with one who is his better, or his equal, let him firmly keep to his solitary journey; there is no companionship with a fool. (Verse 61)
o Translator: F. Max Müller

Panditavagga "The Spiritually Mature" (verses 76-89)

* Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the storm, even so the wise are not affected by praise or blame.
o Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

Sahassavagga "The Thousands" (verses 100-115)

* Greater in battle than the man who would conquer a thousand-thousand men, is he who would conquer just one — himself. (Verse 103)
o Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

* Better it is to live one day wise and meditative than to live a hundred years foolish and uncontrolled. (Verse 111)
o Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

Dandavagga "Violence" (verses 129-145)

* All tremble at the rod, all are fearful of death. Drawing the parallel to yourself, neither kill nor get others to kill. (Verse 129)
o Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu
o Alternative: All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death; remember that you are like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter.
+ Translator: F. Max Müller

Jaravagga "Old Age" (verses 146-156)

* How is there laughter, how is there joy, as this world is always burning? Why do you not seek a light, ye who are surrounded by darkness? (Verse 146)
o Translator: F. Max Müller
o Alternative: What laughter, why joy, when constantly aflame? Enveloped in darkness, don't you look for a lamp?
+ Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

* Behold this body — a painted image, a mass of heaped up sores, infirm, full of hankering — of which nothing is lasting or stable! (Verse 147)
o Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita
o Alternative: Look at the beautified image, a heap of festering wounds, shored up: ill, but the object of many resolves, where there is nothing lasting or sure.
+ Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

* Worn out is this body, a nest of diseases, dissolving. This putrid conglomeration is bound to break up, for life is hemmed in with death.
o Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

* Looking for the maker of this tabernacle, I shall have to run through a course of many births, so long as I do not find (him); and painful is birth again and again. But now, maker of the tabernacle, thou hast been seen; thou shalt not make up this tabernacle again. All thy rafters are broken, thy ridge-pole is sundered; the mind, approaching the Eternal (visankhara, nirvana), has attained to the extinction of all desires. (Verses 153-154)
o Translator: F. Max Müller

Attavagga "The Self" (verses 157-166)

* One truly is the protector of oneself; who else could the protector be? With oneself fully controlled, one gains a mastery that is hard to gain. (Verse 160)
o Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

Lokavagga: "The World" (verses 167-178)

* This world is blind! There are so few Who see things as they truly are. Come, take a good look at this world, Pretty like a king's chariot. Though fools become immersed in it, For the wise there's no attachment. See how much it's like a bubble! See how much it's like a mirage! The king of death does not see one Who regards the world in this way. Rouse yourself! And don't be lazy. Follow the good ways of dhamma. (Verses 168-174)
o Translator: Andrew Olendzki

Buddhavagga "The Buddha" (verses 179-196)

* To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas. (Verse 183)
o Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

Sukhavagga "Happiness" (verses 197-208)

* Let us live happily then, not hating those who hate us! among men who hate us let us dwell free from hatred! (Verse 197)
o Translator: F. Max Müller

* Victory begets enmity; the defeated dwell in pain. Happily the peaceful live, discarding both victory and defeat. (Verse 201)
o Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

* There is no fire like lust and no crime like hatred. There is no ill like the aggregates (of existence) and no bliss higher than the peace (of Nibbana). (Verse 202)
o Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

Maggavagga "The Path" (verses 273-289)

* Of paths, the eightfold is best. Of truths, the four sayings. Of qualities, dispassion. Of two-footed beings, the one with the eyes to see. (Verse 273)
o Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

* "All conditioned things are impermanent" — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification. (Verse 277)
o Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita
o Alternative: All created things perish,' he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way to purity.
+ Translator: F. Max Müller

Tanhavagga "Craving" (verses 334-359)

* Let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of the present, and cross over to the farther shore of existence. With mind wholly liberated, you shall come no more to birth and death. (Verse 348)
o Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

Brahmanavagga "The Brahmana" (verses 383-423)

* A man does not become a Brahmana by his platted hair, by his family, or by birth; in whom there is truth and righteousness, he is blessed, he is a Brahmana. (Verse 393)
o Translator: F. Max Müller

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