The Dhammapada (P?li; Sinhala: ?; Prakrit languages: Dhammapada;[1]traditional Chinese: ; simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Japanese: ; romaji: danmapada; Korean: / ; beobgugyeong/damma pada Vietnamese: Kinh Pháp Cú; Burmese: ) is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures.[2] The original version of the Dhammapada is in the Khuddaka Nikaya, a division of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism.
The Buddhist scholar and commentator Buddhaghosa explains that each saying recorded in the collection was made on a different occasion in response to a unique situation that had arisen in the life of the Buddha and his monastic community. His translation of the commentary, the Dhammapada Atthakatha, presents the details of these events and is a rich source of legend for the life and times of the Buddha.[3]
The title, "Dhammapada," is a compound term composed of dhamma and pada, each word having a number of denotations and connotations. Generally, dhamma can refer to the Buddha's "doctrine" or an "eternal truth" or "righteousness" or all "phenomena";[4] and, at its root, pada means "foot" and thus by extension, especially in this context, means either "path" or "verse" (cf. "prosodic foot") or both,[5] English translations of this text's title have used various combinations of these and related words.[6][7]
According to tradition, the Dhammapada's verses were spoken by the Buddha on various occasions.[8] "By distilling the complex models, theories, rhetorical style and sheer volume of the Buddha's teachings into concise, crystalline verses, the Dhammapada makes the Buddhist way of life available to anyone...In fact, it is possible that the very source of the Dhammapada in the third century B.C.E. is traceable to the need of the early Buddhist communities in India to laicize the ascetic impetus of the Buddha's original words."[9] The text is part of the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka, although over half of the verses exist in other parts of the Pali Canon.[10] A 4th or 5th century CE commentary attributed to Buddhaghosa includes 305 stories which give context to the verses.
Although the P?li edition is the best-known, a number of other versions are known:[11]
Comparing the Pali Dhammapada, the Gandhari Dharmapada and the Udanavarga, Brough (2001) identifies that the texts have in common 330 to 340 verses, 16 chapter headings and an underlying structure. He suggests that the three texts have a "common ancestor" but underlines that there is no evidence that any one of these three texts might have been the "primitive Dharmapada" from which the other two evolved.[20]
The Dhammapada is considered one of the most popular pieces of Theravada literature.[2] A critical edition of the Dhammapada was produced by Danish scholar Viggo Fausbøll in 1855, becoming the first Pali text to receive this kind of examination by the European academic community.[21]
The Pali Dhammapada contains 423 verses in 26 chapters (listed below in Pali and English).[22][23][24]
Sr. No. | Chapter Title in Pali | Chapter Title Transliteration | Chapter Title in English |
---|---|---|---|
I. | Yamaka-vaggo | The Twin-Verses (see excerpt below) | |
II. | Appam?da-vaggo | On Earnestness | |
III. | ? | Citta-vaggo | Thought |
IV. | ? | Puppha-vaggo | Flowers |
V. | B?la-vaggo | The Fool | |
VI. | Paita-vaggo | The Wise Man | |
VII. | Arahanta-vaggo | The Venerable | |
VIII. | ? | Sahassa-vaggo | The Thousands |
IX. | P?pa-vaggo | Evil | |
X. | Daa-vaggo | Punishment (see excerpt below) | |
XI. | Jar?-vaggo | Old Age | |
XII. | Atta-vaggo | Self | |
XIII. | Loka-vaggo | The World | |
XIV. | ? | Buddha-vaggo | The Buddha -- The Awakened (see excerpt below) |
XV. | Sukha-vaggo | Happiness | |
XVI. | Piya-vaggo | Pleasure | |
XVII. | Kodha-vaggo | Anger | |
XVIII. | ? | Mala-vaggo | Impurity |
XIX. | Dhammaha-vaggo | The Just | |
XX. | Magga-vaggo | The Way (see excerpt below) | |
XXI. | Pakiaka-vaggo | Miscellaneous | |
XXII. | Niraya-vaggo | The Downward Course | |
XXIII. | N?ga-vaggo | The Elephant | |
XXIV. | ? | Ta?h?-vaggo | Thirst (see excerpt below) |
XXV. | Bhikkhu-vaggo | The Mendicant | |
XXVI. | ? | Br?hma?a-vaggo | The Br?hmana |
The following English translations are from Müller (1881). The Pali text is from the Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project (SLTP) edition.[23]
Ch. I. Twin Verses (Yamaka-vaggo) | |||
1. | 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. | Manopubba?gam? dhamm? manoseh? manomay? Manas? ce paduhena bh?sati v? karoti v? Tato na? dukkhamanveti cakka?'va vahato pada?. | |
2. | 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 a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. | Manopubba?gam? dhamm? manoseh? manomay? Manas? ce pasannena bh?sati v? karoti v? Tato na? sukhamanveti ch?y?'va anap?yin?. | |
5. | For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is an eternal rule. | Na hi verena ver?ni sammant?dha kud?cana? Averena ca sammanti esa dhammo sanantano. | |
Ch. V. Balavagga | |||
70. | Even though, month after month, the fool (living in austerity) takes his food sparingly with the tip of a grass blade, he is not worth even one-sixteenth part of those who have comprehended the Truth (i.e., the ariyas).[25] | ||
Ch. X. Punishment (Daa-vaggo) | |||
131. | He who seeks his own happiness by hurting or killing beings, never finds happiness and will not escape from his sufferings . | Sukhak?m?ni bh?t?ni yodaena vihi?sati Attano sukhames?no pecca so na labhate sukha?. | |
132. | He who seeks his own happiness not by hurting or killing beings but by purifying oneself; will find happiness and ends all sufferings. | Sukhak?m?ni bh?t?ni yoda??ena na hi?sati Attano sukhames?no pecca so labhate sukha?. | |
133. | Do not speak harshly to anyone; those who are spoken to will answer you in the same way. Indeed, Angry speech is painful and retaliation may overtake you. | M?'voca pharusa? kañci vutt? pa?ivadeyyu ta? Dukkh? hi s?rambhakath? pa?ida? phuseyyu ta?. | |
Ch. XII: Self (Atta-vaggo) | |||
157. | If a man hold himself dear, let him watch himself carefully; during one at least out of the three watches a wise man should be watchful. | ||
158. | Let each man direct himself first to what is proper, then let him teach others; thus a wise man will not suffer. | ||
159. | If a man make himself as he teaches others to be, then, being himself well subdued, he may subdue (others); one's own self is indeed difficult to subdue. | ||
160. | One is one's own refuge, what other refuge can there be With self well subdued, a man finds a refuge such as few can find. | ||
161. | The evil done by oneself, self-begotten, self-bred, crushes the foolish, as a diamond breaks a precious stone. | ||
162. | He whose wickedness is very great brings himself down to that state where his enemy wishes him to be, as a creeper does with the tree which it surrounds. | ||
163. | Bad deeds, and deeds hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do; what is beneficial and good, that is very difficult to do. | ||
164. | The foolish man who scorns the rule of the venerable (Arahat), of the elect (Ariya), of the virtuous, and follows false doctrine, he bears fruit to his own destruction, like the fruits of the Katthaka reed. | ||
165. | By oneself the evil is done, by oneself one suffers; by oneself evil is left undone, by oneself one is purified. Purity and impurity belong to oneself, no one can purify another. | ||
166. | Let no one forget his own duty for the sake of another's, however great; let a man, after he has discerned his own duty, be always attentive to his duty. | ||
Ch. XIII: World | |||
167. | Rouse yourself, be diligent, in Dhamma faring well. Who dwells in Dhamma's happy in this birth and the next. | ||
Ch. XIV: The Buddha (The Awakened) (Buddha-vaggo) | |||
183. | Not to commit any sin, to do good, and governance of one's mind, that is the teaching of (all) the Awakened. | Sabbap?passa akara?a? kusalassa upasampad? Sacittapariyodapana? eta? buddh?na s?sana?. | |
Ch. XX: The Way (Magga-vaggo) | |||
276. | You yourself must make an effort. The Tathagatas (Buddhas) are only preachers. The thoughtful who enter the way are freed from the bondage of Mara. | Tumhehi kicca? ?tappa? akkh?t?ro tath?gat? Pa?ipann? pamokkhanti jh?yino m?rabandhan?. | |
277. | 'All created things perish,' he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way that leads to purity. | Sabbe sa?kh?r? anicc?'ti yad? paññ?ya passati Atha nibbindati dukkhe esa maggo visuddhiy?. | |
278. | 'All created things are griefs and pains,' he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way that leads to purity. | Sabbe sa?kh?r? dukkh?'ti yad? paññ?ya passati Atha nibbindati dukkhe esa maggo visuddhiy?. | |
279. | 'All forms are unreal,' he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way that leads to purity. | Sabbe dhamm? anatt?'ti yad? paññ?ya passati Atha nibbindati dukkhe esa maggo visuddhiy?. | |
Ch. XXIV: Thirst (Ta?h?-vaggo) | |||
343. | Men, driven on by thirst, run about like a snared hare; let therefore the mendicant drive out thirst, by striving after passionlessness for himself. | Tasi??ya purakkhat? paj? parisappanti saso'va b?dhito Tasm? tasi?a? vinodaye bhikkhu ?ka?kh? vir?gamattano. | |
350. | If a man delights in quieting doubts, and, always reflecting, dwells on what is not delightful (the impurity of the body, &c.), he certainly will remove, nay, he will cut the fetter of Mara. | Vitakkupasame ca yo rato asubha? bh?vayati sad? sato Esa kho vyantik?hiti esa checchati m?rabandhana?. |
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In a similar vein, Hinüber (2000), p. 45, para. 90 remarks: "The contents of the [Dhammapada] are mainly gnomic verses, many of which have hardly any relation to Buddhism."More than half the verses may be found also in other canonical texts. The compiler of the [Dhammapada] however certainly did not depend solely on these canonical texts but also made use of the great mass of pithy sayings which formed a vast floating literature in India.