The Dhammapada

by Eknath Easwaran

To know that happiness cannot come from anything outside, and that all things that come into being have to pass away: this is right understanding, the beginning of wisdom.

What do I not teach? Whatever is fascinating to discuss, divides people against each other, but has no bearing on putting an end to sorrow. What do I teach? Only what is necessary to take you to the other shore.”

1 Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it.

2 Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.

5 For hatred can never put an end to hatred; love alone can. This is an unalterable law.

6 People forget that their lives will end soon. For those who remember, quarrels come to an end.

8 As the strongest wind cannot shake a mountain, Mara cannot shake those who are self-disciplined and full of faith.

The deluded, imagining trivial things to be vital to life, follow their vain fancies and never attain the highest knowledge.

15 Those who are selfish suffer here and hereafter; they suffer in both worlds from the results of their own actions. 16 But those who are selfless rejoice here and rejoice hereafter. They rejoice in both worlds from the results of their own actions.

Those who are selfish suffer in this life and in the next. They suffer seeing the results of the evil they have done, and more suffering awaits them in the next life.

25 If you meditate earnestly, through spiritual disciplines you can make an island for yourself that no flood can overwhelm.

27 Do not fall into ways of sloth and lust. Those who meditate earnestly attain the highest happiness.

In the Sutta Nipata (1092–94) a youth named Kappa asks: “Tell me about an island where all this suffering will be no more.” And the Buddha replies: Kappa, for those struggling in midstream, in great fear of the flood, of growing old and of dying – for all those I say, an island exists where there is no place for impediments, no place for clinging: the island of no going beyond. I call it nirvana, the complete destruction of old age and dying.

41 Remember that this body will soon lie in the earth without life, without value, useless as a burned log.

More than those who hate you, more than all your enemies, an undisciplined mind does greater harm. 43 More than your mother, more than your father, more than all your family, a well-disciplined mind does greater good.

Do not give your attention to what others do or fail to do; give it to what you do or fail to do.

53 Many garlands can be made from a heap of flowers. Many good deeds can be done in this life.

The word samsara in verse 60, which refers to the cycle of birth and death, means literally “that which is moving intensely,”

67 That deed is selfish which brings remorse and suffering in its wake.

Go forth, therefore, brethren, on your journey, for the joy of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world. Teach the dharma which is beautiful at the beginning, beautiful in the middle, and beautiful at the end. Let not any two of you go together.

One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand men on the battlefield. 104–105 Be victorious over yourself and not over others.

The Buddha taught that for an action to produce karma, it has to be accompanied by a conscious will, which presupposes the capacity of free choice.

Actively asserting the responses that do not come naturally – forgiveness, patience, compassion in the face of hatred – is the only way to avoid gradually succumbing to evil

Let no one think lightly of good and say to himself, “Joy will not come to me.” Little by little a person becomes good, as a pot is filled by drops of water.

No harm comes to those who do no harm. 125

Not in the sky, not in the ocean, not in mountain canyons is there a place anywhere in the world where a person can hide from his evil deeds. 128 Not in the sky, not in the ocean, not in mountain canyons is there a place where one can hide from death.

If, hoping to be happy, you strike at others who also seek happiness, you will be happy neither here nor hereafter. 132 If, hoping to be happy, you do not strike at others who are also seeking happiness, you will be happy here and hereafter.

Speak quietly to everyone, and they too will be gentle in their speech. Harsh words hurt, and come back to the speaker.

If your mind is still, like a broken gong, you have entered nirvana, leaving all quarrels behind you.

The selfish, doing harm, do not know what is in store for them. They are burned as if by fire by the results of their own deeds.

goodness does not grow old with the passage of time.

self-will is extinguished;

life is full of suffering, the cause of that suffering is selfishness, and selfishness can be removed by practicing the Eightfold Path.

By offering no metaphysical supports, the Buddha prompts us to plunge deep in meditation and see for ourselves what we discover.

Evil deeds, which harm oneself, are easy to do; good deeds are not so easy.

165 By oneself is evil done; by oneself one is injured. Do not do evil, and suffering will not come. Everyone has the choice to be pure or impure. No one can purify another.

Nagarjuna captures the essence of this state when he proclaims, There is no difference at all between samsara and nirvana; There is no difference at all between samsara and nirvana. –S.R.

Don’t follow wrong laws; don’t be thoughtless; don’t believe false doctrines. Don’t follow the way of the world.

When those who are foolish become wise, they give light to the world like the full moon breaking through the clouds. 173 When their good deeds overcome the bad, they give light to the world like the moon breaking free from behind the clouds.

In this dark world, few can see.

the Buddha-to-be evolves spiritually into the Buddha by making the hard, unnatural effort to put others’ welfare and safety before his own, in life after life, placing himself for an even greater leap next time. The

Driven by fear, people commonly seek reassurance from the world outside them; but in this transient world there is no refuge that is safe (188–189). The Three Refuges require one to turn inward, depending increasingly on oneself alone, for that is the path to freedom from fear.

Lord Krishna says, “Whenever dharma declines and the purpose of life is forgotten, I manifest myself. I am born in age after age to protect the good, to destroy evil, and to reestablish dharma.”

die. Mahatma Gandhi said once that we can talk about a supreme reality either as the Lawgiver (dharmakarta) or as the Law (dharma). Similarly,

the Buddha can be looked upon as embodied in the dharma that he taught: the law that all of life is one and indivisible.

Avoid all evil, cultivate the good, purify your mind: this sums up the teaching of the Buddhas.

Do not find fault with others, do not injure others, but live in accordance with the dharma. Be moderate in eating and sleeping, and meditate on the highest. This sums up the teaching of the Buddhas.

Even celestial pleasures cannot quench the passions.

Driven by fear, people run for security to mountains and forests, to sacred spots and shrines. 189 But none of these can be a safe refuge, because they cannot free the mind from fear. 190 Take refuge in the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha and you will grasp the Four Noble Truths: 191 suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering, and the Noble Eightfold Path that takes you beyond suffering. 192 That is your best refuge, your only refuge. When you reach it, all sorrow falls away.

To try to hold on to anything – a thing, a person, an event, a position – merely exposes us to its loss.