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=                             Dhammapada                             =
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                            Introduction
======================================================================
The 'Dhammapada' (; ) is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in
verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist
scriptures. 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.


                             Etymology
======================================================================
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"; at its root,
'pada' means "foot"  and thus by extension, especially in this
context, means either "path" or "verse" (cf. "prosodic foot") or both.
English translations of this text's title have used various
combinations of these and related words.


                              History
======================================================================
According to tradition, the Dhammapada's verses were spoken by the
Buddha on various occasions. Glenn Wallis states: "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."
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.Geiger
(2004), p. 19, para. 11.2 writes:
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."  A 4th or 5th century CE
commentary attributed to Buddhaghosa includes 305 stories which give
context to the verses.

The Pāli Dhammapada is one of the most popular pieces of Theravada
literature. It is the oldest available manuscripts date to 1500 CE. A
compiler is not named. A critical edition of the Dhammapada in Latin
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.


Parallels
===========
Although the Pāli edition is the best-known, a number of other
versions are known:
* "Gāndhārī Dharmapada" - a version possibly of Dharmaguptaka or
Kāśyapīya originBrough (2001), pp. 44-45, summarizes his findings and
inferences as:
:"... We can with reasonable confidence say that the Gāndhārī text did
not belong to the schools responsible for the Pali Dhammapada, the
Udānavarga, and the Mahāvastu; and unless we are prepared to dispute
the attribution of any of these, this excludes the Sarvāstivādins and
the Lokottaravāda-Mahāsānghikas, as well as the Theravādins (and
probably, in company with the last, the ).  Among possible claimants,
the Dharmaguptakas and  must be considered as eligible, but still
other possibilities cannot be ruled out." in Gāndhārī written in
Kharosthi script
* "Patna Dharmapada" - a version in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, most
likely of the Sāmatiya sect
* "Udānavarga" - a seemingly related Mula-Sarvastivada or Sarvastivada
textHinüber (2000), p. 45, para. 89, notes:
:More than half of [the Dhammapada verses] have parallels in
corresponding collections in other Buddhist schools, frequently also
in non-Buddhist texts.  The interrelation of these different versions
has been obscured by constant contamination in the course of the text
transmission.  This is particularly true in case of one of the
Buddhist Sanskrit parallels.  The Udānavarga originally was a text
corres[p]onding to the Pāli Udāna....  By adding verses from the Dhp
[Dhammapada] it was transformed into a Dhp parallel in course of time,
which is a rare event in the evolution of Buddhist literature. in
** 3 Sanskrit versions
** a Tibetan translation, which is popular in traditional Tibetan
Buddhism
* "Mahāvastu" - a Lokottaravāda text with parallels to verses in the
Pāli Dhammapada's 'Sahassa Vagga' and 'Bhikkhu Vagga'.
* "FaJuJing 法句经" - 4 Chinese works; one of these appears to be an
expanded translation of the Pali version; this has not traditionally
been very popular.
** The 'Faju jing -' translated and compiled by Weizhinan in 224 CE
** The 'Faju piyu jing -' compiled by Faju and Fali between 290-306 CE
** The 'Chuyao jing' '-' translated by Zhu Fonian in 383 CE
** The 'Faju yaosong jing' '-' translated by Tianxizai between 980-999
CE

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.Brough (2001), pp. 23-30.  After considering the hypothesis
that these texts might lack a "common ancestor," Brough (2001), p. 27,
conjectures:
:On the evidence of the texts themselves it is much more likely that
the schools, in some manner or other, had inherited from the period
before the schisms which separated them, a definite tradition of a
Dharmapada-text which ought to be included in the canon, however
fluctuating the contents of this text might have been, and however
imprecise the concept even of a 'canon' at such an early period. The
differing developments and rearrangements of the inherited material
would have proceeded along similar lines to those which, in the
Brahmanical schools, produced divergent but related collections of
texts in the different Yajur-veda traditions.
He then continues:
:... [When] only the common material [is] considered, a comparison of
the Pali Dhammapada, the Gandhari text, and the Udanavarga, has
produced no evidence whatsoever that any one of these has any superior
claim to represent a 'primitive Dharmapada' more faithfully than the
others.  Since the contrary appears to have been assumed from time to
time, it is desirable to say with emphasis that the Pali text is 'not'
the primitive Dharmapada.  The assumption that it was would make its
relationship to the other texts altogether incomprehensible.


                            Organization
======================================================================
The Pali Dhammapada contains 423 verses in 26 chapters (listed in Pali
and English):Brough (2001) orders the chapters of the Gandhari
Dharmapada as follows:   [Parenthesized question marks are part of
Brough's titles.]

Cone (1989) orders the chapters of the Patna Dharmapada as follows:
!Ch.    !Pali   !English
1       |'Yamaka-vaggo' The Pairs ('see excerpt below')
2       |'Appamda-vaggo'        Heedfulness
3       |'Citta-vaggo'  The Mind
4       |'Puppha-vaggo' Flowers
5       |'Bla-vaggo'    Fools ('excerpt')
6       |'Paita-vaggo'  The Wise
7       |'Arahanta-vaggo'       The Arahats
8       |'Sahassa-vaggo'        The Thousands
9       |'Ppa-vaggo'    Wickedness
10      |'Daa-vaggo'    The Stick ('excerpt')
11      |'Jar-vaggo'    Old Age
12      |'Atta-vaggo'   The Self ('excerpt')
13      |'Loka-vaggo'   The World ('excerpt')
14      |'Buddha-vaggo' The Buddha ('excerpt')
15      |'Sukha-vaggo'  Happiness
16      |'Piya-vaggo'   Love
17      |'Kodha-vaggo'  Anger
18      |'Mala-vaggo'   Stains
19      |'Dhammaha-vaggo'       One who stands by Dhamma
20      |'Magga-vaggo'  The Path ('excerpt')
21      |'Pakiaka-vaggo'        Miscellaneous
22      |'Niraya-vaggo' The Underworld
23      |'Nga-vaggo'    The Elephant
24      |'Taṇhā-vaggo'       Craving ('excerpt')
25      |'Bhikkhu-vaggo'        Monastics
26      |'Brahmin-vaggo'        Brahmins


Many of the themes within the Dhammapada are dichotomous. For example,
contrasts between joy and suffering, virtuous action and misconduct,
and truth and deceit recur throughout the text.


                              Excerpts
======================================================================
The following Pali verses and corresponding English translations are
from Ānandajoti (2017), which also contains explanatory footnotes.
cellspacing="20"


Chapter 1: Pairs (''Yamakavaggo'')
====================================
colspan="3"     The translation of this simile is debated. Suddhaso
Bhikku interprets the simile as "just as a track follows a wheel." He
argues that other interpretations involve adding words that are not a
direct translation of the original text. Specifically, 'cakkaṁ' means
wheel, 'va' means as, 'vahato' means following, and 'padaṁ' means
track, path, or foot.


                        English translations
======================================================================
See also online translations listed in External links.

* Daniel Gogerly, printed the first English translation of
'Dhammapada', comprising verses 1-255 in 1840 in Ceylon.
* Tr F. Max Müller, from Pali, 1870; reprinted in 'Sacred Books of the
East', volume X, Clarendon/Oxford, 1881; reprinted in 'Buddhism', by
Clarence Hamilton; reprinted separately by Watkins, 2006; reprinted
2008 by Red and Black Publishers, St Petersburg, Florida, ; the first
complete English translation; (there was a Latin translation by V.
Fausböll in 1855).
* Tr J. Gray, American Mission Press, Rangoon, 1881
* Tr J. P. Cooke & O. G. Pettis, Boston (Massachusetts?), 1898
* 'Hymns of Faith', tr Albert J. Edmunds, Open Court, Chicago, &
Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., London, 1902
* Tr Norton T. W. Hazeldine, Denver, Colorado, 1902
* 'The Buddha's Way of Virtue', tr W. D. C. Wagiswara & K. J.
Saunders, John Murray, London, 1912
* Tr Silacara, Buddhist Society, London, 1915
* Tr Suriyagoda Sumangala, in 'Ceylon Antiquary', 1915
* Tr A. P. Buddhadatta, Colombo Apothecaries, 1920?
* 'The Buddha's Path of Virtue', tr F. L. Woodward, Theosophical
Publishing House, London & Madras, 1921
* In 'Buddhist Legends', tr E. W. Burlinghame, Harvard Oriental
Series, 1921, 3 volumes; reprinted by Pali Text Society
[http://www.palitext.com], Bristol; translation of the stories from
the commentary, with the Dhammapada verses embedded
* Tr R. D. Shrikhande and/or P. L. Vaidya (according to different
bibliographies; or did one publisher issue two translations in the
same year?), Oriental Book Agency, Poona, 1923; includes Pali text
* "Verses on Dhamma", in 'Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon', volume
I, tr C. A. F. Rhys Davids, 1931, Pali Text Society, Bristol; verse
translation; includes Pali text
* Tr N. K. Bhag(w?)at, Buddha Society, Bombay, 1931/5; includes Pali
text
* 'The Way of Truth', tr S. W. Wijayatilake, Madras, 1934
* Tr Irving Babbitt, Oxford University Press, New York & London,
1936; revision of Max Müller
* Tr K. Gunaratana, Penang, Malaya, 1937
* 'The Path of the Eternal Law', tr Swami Premananda, Self-Realization
Fellowship, Washington DC, 1942
* Tr Dhammajoti, Maha Bodhi Society, Benares, 1944
* Comp. Jack Austin, Buddhist Society, London, 1945
* 'Stories of Buddhist India', tr Piyadassi, 2 volumes, Moratuwa,
Ceylon, 1949 & 1953; includes stories from the commentary
* (see article) Tr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Oxford University Press,
London, 1950; includes Pali text
* 'Collection of Verses on the Doctrine of the Buddha', comp
Bhadragaka, Bangkok, 1952
* Tr T. Latter, Moulmein, Burma, 1950?
* Tr W. Somalokatissa, Colombo, 1953
* Tr Narada, John Murray, London, 1954
* Tr E. W. Adikaram, Colombo, 1954
* Tr A. P. Buddhadatta, Colombo, 1954; includes Pali text
* Tr Siri Sivali, Colombo, 1954
* Tr ?, Cunningham Press, Alhambra, California, 1955
* Tr C. Kunhan Raja, Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar/Madras,
1956; includes Pali text
* Free rendering and interpretation by Wesley La Violette, Los
Angeles, 1956
* Tr Buddharakkhita, Maha Bodhi Society, Bangalore, 1959; 4th edn,
Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1996; includes Pali
text
* Tr Suzanne Karpelès, serialized in 'Advent' (Pondicherry, India),
1960-65; reprinted in 'Questions and Answers', Collected Works of the
Mother, 3, Pondicherry, 1977
* 'Growing the Bodhi Tree in the Garden of the Heart', tr Khantipalo,
Buddhist Association of Thailand, Bangkok, 1966; reprinted as 'The
Path of Truth', Bangkok, 1977
* Tr P. Lal, New York, 1967/70
* Tr Juan Mascaró, Penguin Classics, 1973
* Tr Thomas Byrom, Shambhala, Boston, Massachusetts, & Wildwood
House, London, 1976 ()
* Tr Ananda Maitreya, serialized in 'Pali Buddhist Review', 1 & 2,
1976/7; offprinted under the title 'Law Verses', Colombo, 1978;
revised by Rose Kramer (under the Pali title), originally published by
Lotsawa Publications in 1988, reprinted by Parallax Press in 1995
* 'The Buddha's Words', tr Sathienpong Wannapok, Bangkok, 1979
* 'Wisdom of the Buddha', tr Harischandra Kaviratna, Pasadena, 1980;
includes Pali text
* 'The Eternal Message of Lord Buddha', tr Silananda, Calcutta, 1982;
includes Pali text
* Tr Chhi Med Rig Dzin Lama, Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies,
Sarnath, India, 1982; tr from the modern Tibetan translation by
dGe-'dun Chos-'phel; includes Pali & Tibetan texts
* Tr & pub Dharma Publishing, Berkeley, California, 1985; tr from
the modern Tibetan translation by dGe-'dun Chos-'phel
* Commentary, with text embedded, tr Department of Pali, University of
Rangoon, published by Union Buddha Sasana Council, Rangoon (date
uncertain; 1980s)
* Tr Daw Mya Tin, Burma Pitaka Association, Rangoon, 1986; probably
currently published by the Department for the Promotion and
Propagation of the Sasana, Rangoon, and/or Sri Satguru, Delhi
* 'Path of Righteousness', tr David J. Kalupahana, Universities Press
of America, Lanham, Maryland, c. 1986
* Tr Raghavan Iyer, Santa Barbara, 1986; includes Pali text
* (see article) Tr Eknath Easwaran, Arkana, London, 1986/7(); reissued
with new material Nilgiri Press 2007, Tomales, CA ()
* Tr John Ross Carter & Mahinda Palihawadana, Oxford University
Press, New York, 1987; the original hardback edition also includes the
Pali text and the commentary's explanations of the verses; the
paperback reprint in the World's Classics Series omits these
* Tr U. D. Jayasekera, Colombo, 1992
* 'Treasury of Truth', tr Weragoda Sarada, Taipei, 1993
* Tr Thomas Cleary, Thorsons, London, 1995
* 'The Word of the Doctrine', tr K. R. Norman, 1997, Pali Text
Society, Bristol; the PTS's preferred translation
* Tr Anne Bancroft?, Element Books, Shaftesbury, Dorset, &
Richport, Massachusetts, 1997
* The Dhammapada: The Buddha's Path of Wisdom, tr Buddharakkhita,
Buddhist Publication Society, 1998. ()
* 'The Way of Truth', tr Sangharakshita, Windhorse Publications,
Birmingham, 2001
* Tr F. Max Müller (see above), revised Jack Maguire, SkyLight Pubns,
Woodstock, Vermont, 2002
* Tr Glenn Wallis, Modern Library, New York, 2004 ();
'[https://books.google.com/books?id=uuAEIUzh9J0C The Dhammapada:
Verses on the Way]'
* Tr Gil Fronsdal, Shambhala, Boston, Massachusetts, 2005 ()
*  Tr Bhikkhu Varado, Inward Path, Malaysia, 2007;
'[http://www.suttas.net/english/suttas/khuddaka-nikaya/dhammapada/index.php
Dhammapada in English Verse]'


                          Musical settings
======================================================================
*  Ronald Corp's 2010 a cappella choral setting of Francis Booth's
translation, released on Stone Records

*   Dhammapada - Sacred Teachings of the Buddha. Hariprasad Chaurasia
& Rajesh Dubey. 2018 - Freespirit Records


                              Sources
======================================================================
* Ānandajoti, Bhikkhu (2007).
'[http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Buddhist-Texts/C3-Comparative-Dhammapada/index.htm
A Comparative Edition of the Dhammapada]'. U. of Peradeniya.
[http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net Ancient Buddhist Texts]
Retrieved 25 Nov 2008.
* Ānandajoti, Bhikkhu (2017).
'[https://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Texts-and-Translations/Dhammapada/index.htm
Dhammapada: Dhamma Verses],' 2nd edition.
[https://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/ Ancient Buddhist Texts]
Retrieved 1 May 2022.
* Brough, John (2001). 'The Gāndhārī Dharmapada'. Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited.
* Buswell, Robert E. (ed.) (2003). 'Encyclopedia of Buddhism'.
MacMillan Reference Books. .
* Cone, Margaret (transcriber) (1989).
"[http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Buddhist-Texts/C5-Patna/index.htm
Patna Dharmapada]" in the 'Journal of the Pali Text Society' (Vol.
XIII), pp. 101-217.  Oxford: PTS. Online text interspersed with Pali
parallels compiled by Ānandajoti Bhikkhu (2007).
[http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net Ancient Buddhist Texts]
Retrieved 06-15-2008.
* Easwaran, Eknath (2007) (see article). 'The Dhammapada'. Nilgiri
Press. .
* Fronsdal, Gil (2005). 'The Dhammapada'. Boston: Shambhala. .
* Geiger, Wilhelm (trans. by Batakrishna Ghosh) (1943, 2004). 'Pāli
Literature and Language'. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers.
.
* Harvey, Peter (1990, 2007). 'An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings,
History and Practices'. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
* Hinüber, Oskar von (2000). 'A Handbook of Pāli Literature'. Berlin:
Walter de Gruyter. .
* Müller, F. Max (1881). 'The Dhammapada' (Sacred Books Of The East,
Vol. X). Oxford University Press.
* Ñāamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) & Bhikkhu Bodhi (ed.) (2001). 'The
Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima
Nikāya'. Boston: Wisdom Publications. .
* Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). 'The Pali
Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary'. Chipstead: Pali Text Society.
[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/ Search inside the
Pali-English Dictionary], University of Chicago


Translations
==============
* [https://www.wisdomlib.org/buddhism/book/dhammapada-illustrated
Dhammapada, illustrated edition] (1993) With stories and commentary,
by Ven. Weagoda Sarada Maha Thero [Includes glossary]
* by Max Müller (1881) from Wikisource
* by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1950)
[https://books.google.com/books?id=YSZ-QQAACAAJ Reprint, Oxford
University Press] (1996)
* [http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/dhamma/dham-hp.htm by
Harischandra Kaviratna] (1980)
* [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.intro.budd.html
by Buddharakkhita] (1985)
([http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/scrndhamma.pdf pdf] has intro by
Bhikkhu Bodhi)
*
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060418154616/http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/dhammapada.htm
by John Richards] (1993)
*
[https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-5xsS5pSi8sQDrKnc/The%20Dhammapada_djvu.txt
by Thomas Byrom] (1993)
* by Eknath Easwaran (1996)
* [https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Dhp/index_Dhp.html by
Thanissaro] (1997)
* [http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/dhammapada/
by Gil Fronsdal - Reading by Chapter from 'The Dhammapada: A New
Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations'] - 2006
*
[http://www.suttas.net/english/suttas/khuddaka-nikaya/dhammapada/index.php
by Bhikkhu Varado and Samanera Bodhesako] (2008)
* [http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/BDLM/en/lesson/pali/lesson_pali3.htm
Detailed word-by-word translation of the Dhammapada], including
explanation of grammar
* [https://www2.hf.uio.no/polyglotta/index.php?page=volume&vid=80
Multilingual edition of Dhammapada in the Bibliotheca Polyglotta]
*
[http://nanda.online-dhamma.net/tipitaka/sutta/khuddaka/dhammapada/dhp-contrast-reading/dhp-contrast-reading-en/
Parallel Reading (paragraph granularity) of The Buddha's Path of
Wisdom-- Dhammapada (Dhp.)]


Voice recordings
==================
* [http://amberstar.libsyn.com/webpage/category/The%20Dhammapada
Readings (mp3) from the Dhammapada], translated and read by Gil
Fronsdal
*


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