Dhammapada, Dhamma Verses (KN 2)

13
Dhammapadaṁ 1
Dhamma Verses
Namo tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammāsambuddhassa
Reverence to him, the Gracious One, the Worthy One, the Perfect Sambuddha
Yamakavaggo
1. The Chapter about the Pairs
Manopubbaṅgamā dhammā, manoseṭṭhā manomayā,
Mind precedes thoughts, mind is their chief, (their quality is) 2 made by mind, 3
manasā ce paduṭṭhena bhāsati vā karoti vā,
if with a base mind one speaks or acts,
tato naṁ dukkham-anveti cakkaṁ va vahato 4 padaṁ. [1]
through that suffering follows him like a wheel (follows) 5 the ox’s foot. 6
1
The title is extracted from the end title in the original text. It is rather unexpected that
Dhammapadaṁ is a singular, as this is a collection, and we might have expected Dhammapadā or
Dhammapadāni, plural. For the translation I have opted to give it in plural form.
The introductory verse to the Gāndhārī Dharmapada gives the title of that collection in the
singular also.
The so-called Patna Dhammapada has the plural Dhammapadā in the end-title, but it does not
seem to be used as a title of the collection, despite the given name.
I take it that pada here means a word, a verse, a sentence; not, as some translations have it, a
path. The compound is quite rare, but it occurs a number of times in this text, and this is the
meaning it has when it occurs at vv. 45, 46, and 102.
2
This meaning of this line has to be understood by reference to the whole verse, which is an
ethical statement about the quality of mind bringing suitable returns. I believe many
mistranslations have occurred by treating it as a descriptive, quasi-Abhidhammic, statement
about the relationship between mind and mental objects.
3
In parallel versions the reading is always given as manojavā, impelled (or driven) by mind, which
might seem more congruous with the early teaching. This reading also occurs in Peṭakopadesa,
PTS p. 164, which reads in the context of this verse: Manojavā ti yattha mano gacchati tattha ime
dhammā gacchantī ti manojavā; impelled by mind means wherever the mind goes there these
thoughts go, (therefore) impelled by mind is said.
4
It is curious that vahatu, an ox, is not found in PED or CPED.
5
We see here and it many other places that the verb is made to work twice; in Pāḷi the meaning is
clear, but in English we have to restate the verb, otherwise it is ambiguous.
6
This verse evidently belongs with the following one, and must have been composed together, but
the commentary assigns very different occasions to their composition. The same could be said
about many others pairs of verses, and not only in this Chapter.