Summary: The Paṇḍitavagga ("The Wise") is the sixth chapter of the dhammapada, fourteen verses (Dhp 76–89) on the paṇḍita — the wise, astute, or spiritually discerning person — as a moral and soteriological archetype. The vagga moves from the practical value of honest critics and good company (Dhp 76–78) through self-taming and equanimity (Dhp 79–83), ethical integrity (Dhp 84), the crossing to the far shore (Dhp 85–86), renunciation (Dhp 87–88), and closes with the arahant image (Dhp 89). As the structural counterpart to the preceding Bālavagga (Dhp 60–75), this vagga gives the positive profile: what the wise person cultivates, how they behave, and where such practice leads.
Themes
- Seek the honest critic (Dhp 76): The paṇḍita who points out your faults is like a guide to hidden treasure (nidhīnaṁva). Staying close to such a vajjadassin (fault-seer) makes things better, not worse — a deliberate inversion of the usual preference for flattery.
- Good company and instruction (Dhp 77–78): The theme of kalyāṇamittatā (spiritual friendship) — advise, instruct, restrain from wrongdoing. Associate with good friends (kalyāṇa mitte) and the best of persons (purisuttama); avoid bad companions. Being loved by the good and disliked by the bad (Dhp 77) is a canonical mark of the honest teacher.
- Delight in the teaching (Dhp 79): Dhammapīti (joy in the Dhamma) produces peaceful, confident sleep. The paṇḍita always delights in the Dhamma proclaimed by the Noble One (ariyappavedite dhamme).
- Self-taming through craft similes (Dhp 80): Irrigators guide water, fletchers straighten arrows, carpenters shape timber — attānaṁ damayanti paṇḍitā (the astute tame themselves). Self-mastery (dama) is the uniquely human craft.
- Equanimity in praise and blame (Dhp 81–82): Unmoved like a solid rock (ekaghano) in the wind of nindāpasaṁsā (blame and praise); clear like a deep lake (rahado gambhīro) when hearing the teachings. Physical stability and inner transparency are the dual marks.
- Non-cajoling and even-mindedness (Dhp 83): True persons (sappurisā) give up everything; the noble (santo) do not cajole for what they desire; the astute show no uccāvaca (up-and-down, elation-and-depression) when touched by happiness or suffering.
- Virtue, wisdom, justice — never by unjust means (Dhp 84): The wise never seek success by adhammic means — not for oneself, for another, for children, wealth, or nation. The closing triad sīlavā paññavā dhammiko (virtuous, wise, just) is the positive standard; see also virtue sila.
- Few cross to the far shore (Dhp 85–86): The majority run on the near shore (tīra); only those who practice the well-explained Dhamma (sammadakkhāte dhamme) cross maccudheyyaṁ (Death's dominion). These two verses frame the vagga's programme as soteriologically purposeful, not merely ethical.
- Renunciation: dark and bright qualities (Dhp 87–88): Kaṇha dhamma (dark qualities) are to be abandoned; sukka dhamma (bright qualities) cultivated. The astute leave home (oka) for the homeless (anoka) state — the seclusion hard to enjoy (viveke yattha dūramaṁ); owning nothing (akiñcano), they cleanse themselves of cittaklesa (mental corruptions).
- Awakening factors and liberation (Dhp 89): The vagga's final verse describes the arahant directly: minds rightly developed in the sambodhiyaṅga (seven awakening factors), delighting in non-grasping (anupādāya), defilements ended (khīṇāsavā), quenched in this world (te loke parinibbutā). This verse bridges directly to the Arahantavagga (Dhp 90–99).
Verses
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Verse 76
Pali (dhp76:1–76:6)
Nidhīnaṁva pavattāraṁ,
yaṁ passe vajjadassinaṁ;
Niggayhavādiṁ medhāviṁ,
tādisaṁ paṇḍitaṁ bhaje;
Tādisaṁ bhajamānassa,
seyyo hoti na pāpiyo.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp76:1–76:6)
Regard one who sees your faults
as a guide to a hidden treasure.
Stay close to one so wise and astute
who corrects you when you need it.
Sticking close to such an impartial person,
things get better, not worse.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
වරද දක්නා සුළුවූ, නිග්රහකොට කියන්නාවූ විදර්ශනා ඥානයෙන් යුක්තවූ යම් කළ්යාණ මිත්රයෙකු නිධානය (තිබූ තැන) කියන්නක්හු වැනි කොට දක්නේවේද එබඳු පණ්ඩිතයා සේවනය කරන්නේය. එබන්දා (පණ්ඩිතයා) සෙවුනාහට වැඩක්ම වන්නේය. අවැඩක් නොවන්නේය.
Key terms: nidhīnaṁva (hidden treasure), vajjadassin (fault-seer), niggayhavādin (one who corrects), medhāvin (astute), paṇḍita (wise)
Verse 77
Pali (dhp77:1–77:4)
Ovadeyyānusāseyya,
asabbhā ca nivāraye;
Satañhi so piyo hoti,
asataṁ hoti appiyo.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp77:1–77:4)
Advise and instruct;
curb wickedness:
for you shall be loved by the good,
and disliked by the bad.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් කළ්යාණ මිත්රයෙක් අවවාද කෙරේද, අනුශාසනා කෙරේද, අකුශල ධර්මයන් වළකාද මෙබඳු ඒ පුද්ගලතෙම (බුද්ධාදී) සත්පුරුෂයන්ට ප්රිය වන්නේය. අසත්පුරුෂයන්ට අප්රිය වන්නේය.
Key terms: ovadeyya (advise), anusāseyya (instruct), asabbhā (wickedness), santo (the noble/good) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 78
Pali (dhp78:1–78:4)
Na bhaje pāpake mitte,
na bhaje purisādhame;
Bhajetha mitte kalyāṇe,
bhajetha purisuttame.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp78:1–78:4)
Don’t mix with bad friends,
nor with the worst of men.
Mix with spiritual friends,
and with the best of men.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
පාපමිත්රයන් සේවනය නොකරන්නේය. අධම පුරුෂයන් සේවනය නොකරන්නේය. කළ්යාණ මිත්රයන් සේවනය කරන්නේය. උත්තම පුරුෂයන් සේවනය කරන්නේය.
Key terms: kalyāṇa mitte (good/spiritual friends), purisādhama (the worst of persons), purisuttama (best of persons) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 79
Pali (dhp79:1–79:4)
Dhammapīti sukhaṁ seti,
vippasannena cetasā;
Ariyappavedite dhamme,
sadā ramati paṇḍito.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp79:1–79:4)
Through joy in the teaching you sleep at ease,
with clear and confident heart.
An astute person always delights in the teaching
proclaimed by the Noble One.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
නවලොව්තුරා දහම්රස වළඳන මහණතෙම සුවසේ වසන්නේය. ප්රාඥතෙම විශෙෂයෙන් ප්රසන්නවූ සිතින් යුක්තව (බුද්ධාදී) ආර්යයන් විසින් දක්නාලද්දාවූ ධර්මයෙහි හැම කල්හිම ඇලෙන්නේය.
Key terms: dhammapīti (joy in the teaching), vippasanna (serene, confident), ariyappavedita (proclaimed by the Noble One) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 80
Pali (dhp80:1–80:4)
Udakañhi nayanti nettikā,
Usukārā namayanti tejanaṁ;
Dāruṁ namayanti tacchakā,
Attānaṁ damayanti paṇḍitā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp80:1–80:4)
Irrigators guide water,
fletchers straighten arrows,
carpenters carve timber,
the astute tame themselves.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
දියාළුවෝ (සිත් පිත් නැති) දිය ගෙණ යන්නාහ. හී වඩුවෝ (සිත් පිත් නැති) හීදඬු නමන්නාහ. වඩුවෝ දඬු නමන්නාහ. නුවණැත්තාහු සිත දමනය කරන්නාහ.
Key terms: nettikā (irrigators), usukārā (fletchers), tacchakā (carpenters), dama (taming, self-mastery); the three craft-similes culminate in attānaṁ damayanti paṇḍitā — "the astute tame themselves" Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 81
Pali (dhp81:1–81:4)
Selo yathā ekaghano,
vātena na samīrati;
Evaṁ nindāpasaṁsāsu,
na samiñjanti paṇḍitā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp81:1–81:4)
As the wind cannot stir
a solid mass of rock,
so too blame and praise
do not affect the wise.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම්සේ ඝනවූ ගල් පර්වතයක් (සතර දිගින්) හමන සුළඟින් කම්පා නොවේද, එපරිද්දෙන්ම නුවණැත්තෝ නින්දා ප්රශංසා දෙක්හි කම්පා නොවන්නාහුය.
Key terms: ekaghano (solid mass), nindāpasaṁsā (blame and praise) — the eight worldly conditions (lokadhamma) that the rock-steady wise person is unmoved by Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 82
Pali (dhp82:1–82:4)
Yathāpi rahado gambhīro,
vippasanno anāvilo;
Evaṁ dhammāni sutvāna,
vippasīdanti paṇḍitā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp82:1–82:4)
Like a deep lake,
clear and unclouded,
so clear are the astute
when they hear the teachings.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම්සේ ගැඹුරුවූ මහමුහුද විශෙෂයෙන් ප්රසන්නද නොකැළඹුනේද එපරිද්දෙන්ම නුවණැත්තෝ ධර්මයන් අසා මැනවින් පහදිති.
Key terms: rahado gambhīro (deep lake), vippasanna/anāvila (clear/undisturbed) — the depth-clarity image mirrors the rock-stability of Dhp 81 Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 83
Pali (dhp83:1–83:4)
Sabbattha ve sappurisā cajanti,
Na kāmakāmā lapayanti santo;
Sukhena phuṭṭhā atha vā dukhena,
Na uccāvacaṁ paṇḍitā dassayanti.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp83:1–83:4)
True persons give up everything,
they don’t cajole for the things they desire.
Though touched by sadness or happiness,
the astute appear neither depressed nor elated.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
උතුම් පුරුෂයෝ සියලු දෙයෙහි නොඇලෙති. සත්පුරුෂයෝ (සිව්පසය ලබාගන්නා පිණිස) සිත්ගන්නා වචන නොකියති. පණ්ඩිතයෝ සුවදුක් විඳිනා කල උස් පහත් ගති නොදක්වති.
Key terms: sappurisā (true/noble persons), santo (the peaceful/noble), kāmakāmā (one who covets sensual pleasures), lapayanti (cajole/chatter flatteringly), uccāvacaṁ (up-and-down, elation-and-depression) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 84
Pali (dhp84:1–84:4)
Na attahetu na parassa hetu,
Na puttamicche na dhanaṁ na raṭṭhaṁ;
Na iccheyya adhammena samiddhimattano,
Sa sīlavā paññavā dhammiko siyā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp84:1–84:4)
Never wish for success by unjust means,
for your own sake or that of another,
desiring children, wealth, or nation;
rather, be virtuous, wise, and just.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
(පණ්ඩිත පුරුෂතෙම) තමා හෙතුකොට ගෙණද, පව් නොකරන්නේය. අනුන් හෙතුකොට ගෙණද පව් නොකරන්නේය. පව් කිරීමෙන් ලැබියයුතු පුතෙකුද, පව් කිරීමෙන් ලැබියයුතු ධනයද, පව් කිරීමෙන් ලැබියයුතු රටකුදු කැමති නොවන්නේය. අධර්මයෙන් තමාට ලැබියයුතු දේ යමෙක් නොකැමති වේද හෙතෙම සිල්වත්ය ප්රඥාවත්ය, ධාර්මිකය.
Key terms: adhammena (by unjust/immoral means), samiddhi (success, prosperity), sīlavā paññavā dhammiko (virtuous, wise, just) — the triad that closes the verse Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 85
Pali (dhp85:1–85:4)
Appakā te manussesu,
ye janā pāragāmino;
Athāyaṁ itarā pajā,
tīramevānudhāvati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp85:1–85:4)
Few are those among humans
who cross to the far shore.
The rest just run around
on the near shore.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මනුෂ්යයන් අතුරෙන් යම්කෙනෙක් (පාරයයි කියනලද) නිවණට යන්නේද ඒ ජනයෝ ස්වල්පයහ. නැවත ඔවුන් කෙරෙන් අන්යවූ (හෙවත් නිවණට නොයන සුළුවූ) මේ ජනයා මෙතෙරටම දුවන්නේය.
Key terms: pāragāmino (those going to the far shore), tīra (near shore), pajā (people/folk) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 86
Pali (dhp86:1–86:4)
Ye ca kho sammadakkhāte,
dhamme dhammānuvattino;
Te janā pāramessanti,
maccudheyyaṁ suduttaraṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp86:1–86:4)
When the teaching is well explained,
those who practice accordingly
will cross over
Death’s dominion so hard to pass.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම්කෙනෙක් වනාහි මනාකොට දෙසන ලද්දාවූ ධර්මයෙහි ධර්මය අනුව පවතිත්ද, ඒ ජනයෝ (ක්ලේශ) මාරයාගේ ආඥා පවත්වන්නාවූ වෙසෙසින්ම එතෙරවිය නොහැකි (ත්රෛභූමක වෘත්තය ඉක්මවා නිර්වාණයයි කියන ලද) පාරයට (මෙතරට) පැමිණෙන්නාහ.
Key terms: sammadakkhāta (well-explained), dhammānuvattino (those who practice in accordance with the Dhamma), maccudheyya (Death's dominion/realm) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 87
Pali (dhp87:1–87:4)
Kaṇhaṁ dhammaṁ vippahāya,
Sukkaṁ bhāvetha paṇḍito;
Okā anokamāgamma,
Viveke yattha dūramaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp87:1–87:4)
Rid of dark qualities,
an astute person should develop the bright.
Leaving home behind
for the seclusion so hard to enjoy,
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
නුවණැති මහණතෙම (කාය දුශ්චරිතාදී) අකුශල ධර්මය දුරුකොට, ගිහිගෙයින් නික්ම ගේ නැති ප්රව්රජ්යාවට පැමිණ (කාය සුචරිතාදී) කුශල ධර්මය වඩන්නේය. නුවණැත්තෝ කාමයන් හැර, කිසිත් නැතිව, සිත කිලිටිවලින් සෝදා එහි ඇල්ම කැමති වන්නේය.
Key terms: kaṇha dhamma (dark qualities), sukka dhamma (bright qualities), oka/anoka (home/homeless), viveka (seclusion, withdrawal) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 88
Pali (dhp88:1–88:4)
Tatrābhiratimiccheyya,
hitvā kāme akiñcano;
Pariyodapeyya attānaṁ,
cittaklesehi paṇḍito.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp88:1–88:4)
try to find satisfaction there,
having left behind sensual pleasures.
Owning nothing, an astute person
would cleanse themselves of mental corruptions.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
නුවණැති මහණතෙම (කාය දුශ්චරිතාදී) අකුශල ධර්මය දුරුකොට, ගිහිගෙයින් නික්ම ගේ නැති ප්රව්රජ්යාවට පැමිණ (කාය සුචරිතාදී) කුශල ධර්මය වඩන්නේය. නුවණැත්තෝ කාමයන් හැර, කිසිත් නැතිව, සිත කිලිටිවලින් සෝදා එහි ඇල්ම කැමති වන්නේය.
Key terms: akiñcano (owning nothing, having no possessions), cittaklesa (mental corruptions/defilements), pariyodapeyya (would cleanse/purify) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 89
Pali (dhp89:1–89:6)
Yesaṁ sambodhiyaṅgesu,
sammā cittaṁ subhāvitaṁ;
Ādānapaṭinissagge,
anupādāya ye ratā;
Khīṇāsavā jutimanto,
te loke parinibbutā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp89:1–89:6)
Those whose minds are rightly developed
in the awakening factors;
who, letting go of attachments,
delight in not grasping:
with defilements ended, brilliant,
they are quenched in this world.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් ක්ෂීණාශ්රව කෙණෙකුන්ගේ සිත බොධ්යංග ධර්මයන් විෂයෙහි මනාකොට වඩන ලදද, යම් ක්ෂීණාශ්රව කෙනෙක් කිසි උපාදානයක් මමය මාගේයයි නොගෙණ ග්රහණයක් නැත්තාවූ නිර්වාණයෙහි ඇලුනාහුද, දිලිසෙන ඒ ක්ෂීණාශ්රවයෝ (ස්කන්ධාදී) ලෝකයෙහි පිරිනිවියා නම් වෙති.
Key terms: sambodhiyaṅga (seven awakening factors), ādānapaṭinissagga (relinquishing of acquisitions/attachments), anupādāna (non-grasping), khīṇāsava (one whose defilements have ended), parinibbuta (quenched, fully liberated) — the vagga's culminating verse, bridging to dhammapada 07 arahantavagga Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Textual notes
- Dhp 87 and Dhp 88 form a continuous sentence in the Pali; the verse break creates a natural enjambment. Sujato's translation preserves this by beginning Dhp 88 mid-sentence.
- The kaṇha/sukka (dark/bright) distinction in Dhp 87 is not the Abhidhamma akusala/kusala dichotomy per se, though they overlap; the canonical register is more directly volitional and practical.
Related pages
- dhammapada — parent text
- dhammapada 05 balavagga — preceding vagga (the fool, the structural counterpart)
- dhammapada 07 arahantavagga — following vagga (Dhp 89 directly anticipates it)
- fool and wise bala pandita — the bāla/paṇḍita concept page
- arahant — the arahant concept page; Dhp 89 is its secondary canonical locus
- virtue sila — Dhp 84's sīlavā and Dhp 110's sīla emphasis
- mahakappina — vatthu attribution for Dhp 79 (commentary)
- sariputta — vatthu attribution for Dhp 95 and Dhp 97 in the following vagga