Dhammapada, a Collection of Verses; Being One of the Canonical Books of the Buddhists
1881
Dhammapada, a Collection of Verses; Being One of the Canonical Books of the Buddhists
1881
Translated by F. Max (Friedrich Max) Müller
Here is a voice that has spoken across twenty-five centuries, direct and unflinching. The Dhammapada preserves 423 verses attributed to the Buddha, each one a precise incision into the nature of suffering, desire, and the possibility of freedom. These are not abstract sermons but responses to real moments: a monk struggling with anger, a wandering ascetic questioning the path, a crowd seeking wisdom. Each verse cuts through complexity. 'All that we are is the result of what we have thought,' opens one of the most famous passages. The mind, the text insists, is everything. What we harbor in secret shapes our world.Translated by the great scholar F. Max Muller in 1881, this edition brings the Pali original to English readers with fidelity and clarity. The verses organize themselves into twenty-six chapters, moving from the twin powers of mind and matter through streams, flowers, and the ultimate goal: Nirvana, the cessation of suffering. This is not philosophy for its own sake. It is a manual for transformation, for anyone willing to examine their own thoughts with honesty. The Dhammapada endures because it asks nothing less than that we change.
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“A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.””
— Unknown
“Conquer the angry one by not getting angry; conquer the wicked by goodness; conquer the stingy by generosity, and the liar by speaking the truth.[]””
— Unknown
“Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.””
— Unknown
“Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.””
— Unknown
“If you find no one to support you on the spiritual path, walk alone. There is no companionship with the immature.””
— Unknown
“The one who has conquered himself is a far greater hero than he who has defeated a thousand times a thousand men.””
— Unknown
“You are what you think. All that you are arises from your thoughts. With your thoughts you make your world.””
— Unknown
“A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him.Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted! ””
— Unknown
“Many do not realize that we here must die. For those who realize this, quarrels end.””
— Unknown
