The Dhammapada (Pāli; Prakrit: Dhamapada; Sanskrit Dharmapada; sometimes translated into English as Path of the Dharma) is a versified Buddhist scripture traditionally ascribed to the Buddha himself. It is one of the best-known texts from the Theravada canon.

History

The Dhammapada, from the Pāli Tipitaka, is considered one of the most popular pieces of Theravada literature.

According to tradition, the Dhammapada's verses were spoken by the Buddha on various occasions. Most verses deal with ethics. 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. A 4th or 5th century CE commentary attributed to Buddhaghosa includes 305 stories which give context to the verses.

Although the Pāli edition is the best-known, a number of other versions are known:

• a version possibly of Dharmaguptaka or Kāśyapīya origin in Gandhari written in Kharosthi script
• sections of a Lokottaravada version (contained in the Mahāvastu).
• a version in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, known as the Patna Dharmapada, most likely Sammatiya
• a seemingly related Mula-Sarvastivada or Sarvastivada text known as the Udānavarga in
• 3 Sanskrit versions
• a Tibetan translation, which is popular in traditional Tibetan Buddhism
• 4 Chinese works entitled Fajiu jing; one of these appears to be an expanded translation of the Pali version; this has not traditionally been very popular.

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.

Organization

The Pali Dhammapada contains 423 verses in 26 chapters (listed below in English and, in parentheses, Pali).English chapter titles based on Müller (1881).

Excerpts

The following English translations are from Müller (1881). The Pali text is from the Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project (SLTP) edition.Pali retrieved 2008-03-28 from "Bodhgaya News" (formerly, La Trobe U.) starting at http://www.bodhgayanews.net/tipitaka.php?title=&record=7150, and from "MettaNet - Lanka" at http://www.mettanet.org/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/5Khuddaka-Nikaya/02Dhammapada/index.html.