Dhammapada

Dating to the fifth century B.C.E., the Dhammapada is one of the most influential canonical texts in the Buddhist world. It is such a beloved classic that new translations of it appear regularly and novices, especially in Burma and Sri Lanka, recite the 26 chapters of verse from memory. The 423 stanzas are a distillation of hundreds of discourses that are attributed to the Buddha and appear in other scriptural works. These talks were delivered to all levels of society—to kings and queens as well as to merchants, laborers, mothers, and even criminals. Although the collection is based on the Buddha's teaching, people of other spiritual traditions will find its advice universal, for its aphorisms are conducive to living a harmonious life.

Various scholars suggest different translations of the title. Dhamma (in the ancient Pali language) or Dharma (in Sanskrit) is “the Truth,” “the Law,” or “the Norm”—what the Buddha discovered and proclaimed about the nature of existence. Pada is “sections,” “parts,” or “way.” Thus, Dhammapada can be rendered as “The Way of Truth” or “Words of the Truth.” Its verses serve two basic purposes: to imbue readers or listeners with a particular view of life, its difficulties, and their solution and to impart certain spiritual and ethical values.

As a primer of foundational Buddhism, the Dhammapada emphasizes the centrality of the mind in creating sorrow and happiness, the ephemeral nature of worldly or material pleasures, the role of personal responsibility, and the law of cause and effect (karma). It points to the Buddhist path as one that a wise person follows and a fool ignores. For example, the wise do not associate with low persons and bad friends, but with the best people and admirable friends.

The Buddha was radical in redefining nobility not as birth into the highest caste but as specific qualities of character and behavior (such as truthfulness, generosity, and patience), all earned through spiritual purification and self-mastery. Such noble development is not the result of repression, stringent asceticism, coercion by religious authorities, dependence on external forces or powers, or rites and rituals in worship of a deity. Instead, the Buddha highlighted conscious restraint from unwholesome mental, physical, and verbal action and conscious cultivation of a clear, steady, balanced mind and a heart filled with compassion and loving kindness. Through our own efforts, we can achieve peace of mind and inner freedom regardless of outer circumstances.

The verses of the Dhammapada suggest how to attain such peace. For example, Chapter 10 calls for nonviolence. It asks us to stand in someone else's shoes before acting. Knowing that everyone treasures life and trembles when threatened with a beating or death, would we kill or get others to kill for us? Similarly, if we speak harshly to anyone or cause conflict with our words, that verbal abuse will come back to haunt us in the pain of retaliation. The Buddha's message is that [Page 117]respect and sensitivity to others lead to harmony within and without. Even when someone verbally abused him, he always responded courteously and wisely.

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