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The Dhammapada originated in a time, culture, and spiritual tradition very different from what is familiar to most Western readers today. We might be alerted to this difference if we compare the beginning of the Dhammapada with the opening lines of the Bible, which emphasize God’s role as Creator and, by extension, our reliance on God’s power. In contrast, the first two verses of the Dhammapada emphasize the power of the human mind in shaping our lives, and the importance and effectiveness of a person’s own actions and choices.
Ethical and mental purity—important ideals in the Dhammapada—cannot be achieved through the intervention of others: “By oneself alone is one purified” (verse 165).
The second, ultimate, and uniquely Buddhist goal described by the Dhammapada is liberation. This is a form of spiritual freedom that involves a radical personal change. It consists of a purification, often described forcefully in these verses as the elimination or destruction of one’s mental defilements, attachments, and hindrances. Since these mental forces keep a person bound to the cycles of rebirth, when they are overcome the practitioner is liberated from these cycles. For those who don’t share the Buddhist belief in rebirth, it is hard to appreciate the central importance that Buddhism
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First, Nirvana may be indescribable in terms of our experience and language. Second, the experience of the ultimate may not be one thing. Rather, it may be like the condition of prisoners released from prison: each ex-prisoner shares the same freedom from incarceration, but the individual prisoners may vary widely in how they live with that freedom.
While initial appearances may sometimes suggest a world-negating message, I believe that the issue in the Dhammapada is neither negating or affirming the world. The issue is becoming free of clinging to the world. For those who take on this challenge, the resulting freedom helps us live in the world as wisely as possible, which includes experiencing joy.
All experience is preceded by mind, Led by mind, Made by mind. Speak or act with a corrupted mind, And suffering follows
All experience is preceded by mind, Led by mind, Made by mind. Speak or act with a peaceful mind, And happiness follows
Hatred never ends through hatred. By non-hate alone does it end. This is an ancient truth.
Those who consider the inessential to be essential And see the essential as inessential Don’t reach the essential, Living in the field of wrong intention.
Seeing one’s own defiled acts brings grief and affliction.
Seeing one’s own pure acts brings joy and delight.
One who recites many teachings But, being negligent, doesn’t act accordingly,
Like a cowherd counting others’ cows, Does not attain the benefits of the contemplative life. One who recites but a few teachings Yet lives according to the Dharma, Abandoning passion, ill will, and delusion, Aware and with mind well freed, Not clinging in this life or the next, Attains the benefits of the contemplative life.
Glory grows for a person who is Energetic and mindful, Pure and considerate in action, Restrained and vigilant, And who lives the Dharma.
Through effort, vigilance, Restraint, and self-control, The wise person can become an island No flood will overwhelm. (25) Unwise, foolish people Give themselves over to negligence. The wise Protect vigilance as the greatest treasure. (26)
The mind, hard to control, Flighty—alighting where it wishes— One does well to tame. The disciplined mind brings happiness.
The watched mind brings happiness.
Far-ranging, solitary, Incorporeal and hidden Is the mind. Those who restrain it Will be freed from Māra’s bonds.
Whatever an enemy may do to an enemy, Or haters, one to another, Far worse is the harm From one’s own wrongly directed mind.
Neither mother nor father, Nor any other relative can do One as much good As one’s own well-directed mind.
The person obsessed With gathering flowers, Insatiable for sense pleasures, Is under the sway of Death.
As a bee gathers nectar And moves on without harming The flower, its color, or its fragrance, Just so should a sage walk through a village.
As a sweet-smelling lotus Pleasing to the heart May grow in a heap of rubbish Discarded along the highway, So a disciple of the Fully Awakened One Shines with wisdom Amid the rubbish heap Of blind, common people.
A fool suffers, thinking, “I have children! I have wealth!” One’s self is not even one’s own. How then are children? How then is wealth?
No deed is good That one regrets having done, That results in weeping And a tear-streaked face.
A deed is good That one doesn’t regret having done, That results in joy And delight.
Like someone pointing to treasure Is the wise person Who sees your faults and points them out. Associate with such a sage. Good will come of it, not bad, If you associate with one such as this.
Certainly it is better to conquer Oneself than others. For someone who is self-restrained And always lives with mastery, Neither a god, a gandhabba, Nor Māra and Brahmā together Could turn conquest into defeat.
For the person who shows respect And always reveres worthy people, Four things increase: Life span, beauty, happiness, and strength.
Better than one hundred years lived Lazily and lacking in effort Is one day lived With vigor and exertion.
Be quick to do good, Restrain your mind from evil. When one is slow to make merit, One’s mind delights in evil.
A hand that has no wounds Can carry poison; Poison does not enter without a wound. There are no evil consequences
You will not find a spot in the world— Not in the sky, not in the ocean, Not inside a mountain cave— Where you will be free from your evil karma.
No nakedness or matted hair, No filth, dust, or dirt, No fasting or sleeping on bare ground, No austerities in a squatting posture Purify a mortal who has not overcome doubt.
Even though well adorned, If one lives at peace, Calmed, controlled, assured, and chaste, Having given up violence toward all beings, Then one is a brahmin, a renunciant, a monastic.
Irrigators guide water; Fletchers shape arrows; Carpenters fashion wood; The well-practiced tame themselves.
As one instructs others, So should one do oneself: Only the self-controlled should restrain others. Truly, it’s hard to restrain oneself.
Oneself, indeed, is one’s own protector. What other protector could there be?
Evil is done by oneself alone; By oneself is one defiled. Evil is avoided by oneself; By oneself alone is one purified. Purity and impurity depend on oneself; No one can purify another.
Don’t give up your own welfare For the sake of others’ welfare, however great. Clearly know your own welfare And be intent on the highest good.
Do not follow an inferior way; Don’t live with negligence. Do not follow a wrong view; Don’t be engrossed in the world.
Come, look on this world As a beautified royal chariot. Fools flounder in it, But the discerning do not cling.
Fools don’t praise generosity; Misers don’t go to the world of gods. The wise rejoice in generosity And so find happiness in the hereafter.
It is difficult to be born a human; Difficult is the life of mortals; It is difficult to hear the true Dharma; Difficult is the arising of buddhas. (182) Doing no evil, Engaging in what’s skillful, And purifying one’s mind: This is the teaching of the buddhas.
Not disparaging others, not causing injury, Practicing restraint by the monastic rules, Knowing moderation in food, Dwelling in solitude, And pursuing the higher states of mind, This is the teaching of the buddhas.
Victory gives birth to hate; The defeated sleep in anguish. Giving up both victory and defeat, Those who have attained peace sleep happily.
Health is the foremost possession, Contentment, the foremost wealth,
Trust, the foremost kinship, And Nirvana, the foremost happiness.
It’s good to see the noble ones; Their company is always a delight. Free from the sight of fools, One would constantly be happy.
One who keeps company with fools Will grieve for a long, long time. Living with fools is painful, As is living with foes. Living with the wise is delightful, Like relatives gathered together.
