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The
Dhammapada is the best known and most widely esteemed text in the Pali
Tipitaka, the sacred scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. The work is included in
the Khuddaka Nikaya ("Minor Collection") of the Sutta Pitaka, but its
popularity has raised it far above the single niche it occupies in the
scriptures to the ranks of a world religious classic. Composed in the ancient
Pali language, this slim anthology of verses constitutes a perfect compendium
of the Buddha's teaching, comprising between its covers all the essential
principles elaborated at length in the forty-odd volumes of the Pali Canon.
According
to the Theravada Buddhist tradition, each verse in the Dhammapada was
originally spoken by the Buddha in response to a particular episode. Accounts
of these, along with exegesis of the verses, are preserved in the classic
commentary to the work, compiled by the great scholiast Bhadantacariya
Buddhaghosa in the fifth century C.E. on the basis or material going back to
very ancient times. The contents of the verses, however. transcend the limited
and particular circumstances of their origin, reaching out through the ages to
various types of people in all the diverse situations of life. For the simple
and unsophisticated the Dhammapada is a sympathetic counselor; for the
intellectually overburdened its clear and direct teachings inspire humility and
reflection; for the earnest seeker it is a perennial source of inspiration and
practical instruction. Insights that flashed into the heart of the Buddha have
crystallized into these luminous verses of pure wisdom. As profound expressions
of practical spirituality, each verse is a guideline to right living. The
Buddha unambiguously pointed out that whoever earnestly practices the teachings
found in the Dhammapada will taste the bliss of emancipation.
Due
to its immense importance, the Dhammapada has been translated into numerous
languages. In English alone several translations are available, including
editions by such noted scholars as Max Muller and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. However,
when presented from a non-Buddhist frame of reference, the teachings of the
Buddha inevitably suffer some distortion. This, in fact, has already happened
with our anthology: an unfortunate selection of renderings has sometimes
suggested erroneous interpretations, while footnotes have tended to be
judgmental.
The
present translation was originally written in the late 1950's. Some years
earlier, while consulting a number of English-language editions of the
Dhammapada, it was observed that the renderings were either too free and
inaccurate or too pedantic, and it was therefore felt that a new translation
avoiding these two extremes would serve a valuable purpose. The finished result
of that project, presented here, is a humble attempt by a practicing follower
of the Buddha to transmit the spirit and content, as well as the language and
style, of the original teachings.
In
preparing this volume I have had access to numerous editions and translations
of the Dhammapada into various languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali,
Sinhala, Burmese and Nepali. I particularly benefited from the excellent
translations of the work by the late Venerable Narada Mahathera of Vajirarama,
Colombo. Sri Lanka, and Professor Bhagwat of Poona, India; To them I acknowledge
my debt. A few verses contain riddles, references or analogies that may not be
evident to the reader. The meanings of these are provided either in parenthesis
or notes, and for their interpretation I have relied on the explanations given
in Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa's commentary. Verses discussed in the notes are
indicated in the text by an asterisk at the end of the verse.
A
first edition of this translation was published in 1959 and a second in 1966,
both by the Maha Bodhi Society in Bangalore, India. For this third edition, the
translation has undergone considerable revision. The newly added subtitle,
"The Buddha's Path of Wisdom," is not literal, but is fully
applicable on the ground that the verses of the Dhammapada all originate from
the Buddha's wisdom and lead the one who follows them to a life guided by that
same wisdom.
I
am grateful to the editors of the Buddhist Publication Society for their
helpful suggestions. and to the Society itself for so generously undertaking
the publication of this work.
I
make this offering of Dhamma in grateful memory of my teachers, parents and
relatives, departed and living. May they find access in the Buddha's
Dispensation and attain Nibbana!
May
all beings be happy !
Acharya
Buddharakkhita
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