Tipitaka » Sutta Pitaka » Khuddaka Nikaya »
Dhammapada
- Preface
- Acharya Buddharakkhita
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