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DHAMMAPADA(cid:13)
A TRANSLATION(cid:13)
DHAMMAPADA(cid:13)
A TRANSLATION(cid:13)
Thanissaro Bhikkhu(cid:13)
(GeoffreyD eGraff)(cid:13)
PRINTED FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION(cid:13)
DHAMMA DANA PUBLICATIONS(cid:13)
BARRE CENTER FOR BUDDHIST STUDIES(cid:13)
BARRE, MASSACHUSETTS(cid:13)
COPYRIGH©T THANISSAROB HIKKHU 1998(cid:13)
This bookm ayb ec opiedo r reprinted/or/redeis tribution(cid:13)
withoutp ermissiofnro m thep ublisher.(cid:13)
Otherwisea ll rightsr eserved.(cid:13)
CovePr hoto© GregoryM . Smith. Usedw ith permission.(cid:13)
Printed in the United States of America.(cid:13)
Libraryo f CongresCs ataloging-in-PublicatDioant ap ending.(cid:13)
Third edition, revised, 2003(cid:13)
CONTENTS(cid:13)
PREFACE i(cid:13)
INTRODUCTION iii(cid:13)
i: PAIRS i(cid:13)
ii: HEEDFULNESS 7(cid:13)
in: THE MIND 10(cid:13)
iv: BLOSSOMS 13(cid:13)
v : FOOLS 18(cid:13)
vi: THE WISE 23(cid:13)
vii: ARAHANTS 27(cid:13)
vni: THOUSANDS 30(cid:13)
ix : EVIL 34(cid:13)
x: THE ROD 38(cid:13)
xi: AGING 42(cid:13)
xii: SELF 45(cid:13)
xin : WORLDS 48(cid:13)
xiv : AWAKENED 51(cid:13)
xv : HAPPY 56(cid:13)
xvi: DEAR ONES 59(cid:13)
xvn : ANGER 62(cid:13)
xvin: IMPURITIES 66(cid:13)
xix : THE JUDGE 71(cid:13)
xx : THE PATH 76(cid:13)
xxi: MISCELLANY 81(cid:13)
xxn: HELL 85(cid:13)
xxm: ELEPHANTS 89(cid:13)
xxiv: CRAVING 93(cid:13)
xxv: MONKS 100(cid:13)
xxvi: BRAHMANS 106(cid:13)
HISTORICAL NOTES 119(cid:13)
END NOTES 137(cid:13)
GLOSSARY l6l(cid:13)
ABBREVIATIONS l66(cid:13)
BIBLIOGRAPHY 167(cid:13)
PREFACE(cid:13)
Anothert ranslationo f theD hammapada.(cid:13)
Many other Englisht ranslationsa rea lreadya vail-
able-the fingerso f at leastf ivep eoplew ouldb en eeded(cid:13)
to countt hem-so I supposteh at a newt ranslationh as(cid:13)
to bej ustified,t o proveth at it'sn ot "just"a nothero ne.I n(cid:13)
doings o,t hough,I 'd rathern ot criticizet he effortso f(cid:13)
earliert ranslatorsfo, r I owet hema greatd eal Instead,(cid:13)
I'll ask you to readt he Introduction and Historical(cid:13)
Notes,t o gain an ideao f what is distinctivea boutt he(cid:13)
approachI havet aken,a nd the translationi tself,w hich I(cid:13)
hopew ill stando n its own meritsT. he originailm pulse(cid:13)
for makingth e translationc amefr om my convictionth at(cid:13)
the text deservedt o be offered freely as a gift of(cid:13)
DhammaA. s I knewo f no existingtr anslationasv ailable(cid:13)
asg ifts,I madem y own.(cid:13)
The explanatormy ateriali s designedto meetw ith(cid:13)
the needs of two sorts of readers: those who want to read(cid:13)
the text asa text,i n the contexot f the religioush istory(cid:13)
of Buddhism-viewed from the outside-and those(cid:13)
whow antt o readt het ext asa guidet o thep ersonaclo n-
duct of their lives. Although there is no clear line(cid:13)
dividingt heseg roupst,h e Introductionis aimedm orea t(cid:13)
the secondg roup,a ndt he HistoricalN otesm orea t the(cid:13)
first. The End Notes and Glossaryc ontainm aterialt hat(cid:13)
should be of interest to both. Verses marked with an(cid:13)
asterisk in the translation are discussed in the End(cid:13)
Notes. Pali terms-as well as English terms usedi n a(cid:13)
speciasl enses,u cha s effluenet,n lightenoende f,a brication,(cid:13)
stressa,n d Unbinding-whenth ey appeairn moret han(cid:13)
onev ersea, ree xplaineidn theG lossary.(cid:13)
In addition to the previoust ranslatorsa nd editors(cid:13)
from whosew ork I haveb orrowedI, owea speciadl ebt(cid:13)
of gratitudet o JeanneL arsenf or her help in honing(cid:13)
downt he languagoef the translationA. lso,J ohnB ullitt,(cid:13)
CharlesH alliseyK, arenK ing, AndrewO lendzki,R uth(cid:13)
Stiles,C lark Strand, PaulaT rahan,a nd JaneY udelman(cid:13)
offeredm anyh elpfulc ommenttsh at improvedth eq ual-
ity of theb ooka sa wholeA. ny mistaketsh at remaino, f(cid:13)
coursea,r em yo wnr esponsibility.(cid:13)
Thanissaro Bhikkhu(cid:13)
Metta ForestM onastery(cid:13)
ValleyC enterC, A 92082-1409(cid:13)
December, 1997(cid:13)
II(cid:13)
