Dhammapada
- Language:
- English
- Translation:
- Max Müller
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Recorded or compiled by others
- Condition of the text:
- No scanning noise detected (automatic measure over the whole text, not checked by hand)
- Extent:
- ~11,600 words · 55 passages
Cite this work
- APADhammapada. (n.d.). The Dhammapada [Dhammapada] (Max Müller, Trans.). Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/dhammapada/the-dhammapada
- MLADhammapada. The Dhammapada [Dhammapada]. Translated by Max Müller. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/dhammapada/the-dhammapada.
- ChicagoDhammapada. The Dhammapada [Dhammapada]. Translated by Max Müller. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/dhammapada/the-dhammapada.
Reference to the edition that SigPhi reproduces: SigPhi is its digital reproduction, not its publisher. The edition's year is not in the metadata (hence "n.d."), and the translator appears only when recorded.
What it is about
The Dhammapada: 423 verses, the most widely read Buddhist text.
Context and history
Part of the Pali canon, it gathers sayings attributed to the Buddha on the mind, anger, old age and the path. It has been memorised for two millennia, which is why it survives so well. English translation; the Pali original is not in the catalogue.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
85. Few are there among men who arrive at the other shore (become Arhats); the other people here run up and down the shore. 86. But those who, when the law has been well preached to them, follow the law, will pass across the dominion of death, however difficult to overcome. 87, 88. A wise man should leave the dark state (of ordinary life), and follow the bright state (of the Bhikshu). After going from his home to a homeless state, he should in his retirement look for enjoyment where there seemed to be no enjoyment. Leaving all pleasures behind, and calling nothing his own, the wise man should purge himself from all the troubles of the mind. 89. Those whose mind is well grounded in the (seven) elements of knowledge, who without clinging to anything, rejoice in freedom from attachment, whose appetites have been conquered, and who are full of light, are free (even) in this world. Chapter VII. The Venerable (Arhat). 90. There is no suffering for him who has finished his journey, and abandoned grief, who has freed himself on all sides, and thrown off all fetters. 91. They depart with their thoughts well-collected, they are not happy in their abode; like swans who have left their lake, they leave their house and home. 92. Men who have no riches, who live on recognised food, who have perceived void and unconditioned freedom (Nirvana), their path is difficult to understand, like that of birds in the air. 93. He whose appetites are stilled, who is not absorbed in enjoyment, who has perceived void and unconditioned freedom (Nirvana), his path is difficult to understand, like that of birds in the air. 94. The gods even envy him whose senses, like horses well broken in by the driver, have been subdued, who is free from pride, and free from appetites. 95. Such a one who does his duty is tolerant like the earth, like Indra's bolt; he is like a lake without mud; no new births are in store for him. 96.…
Themes in this work
Quotes
“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.”
“Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule.”
“Not to commit any sin, to do good, and to purify one's mind, that is the teaching of (all) the Awakened.”