Summary: The Daṇḍavagga ("Violence" or "The Rod") is the tenth chapter of the dhammapada, seventeen verses (Dhp 129–145) on non-violence, retaliation, conscience, and true self-taming. The vagga begins by universalizing vulnerability — all fear punishment and death, all love life — and from that shared condition derives the principle of restraint (Dhp 129–132). It then widens the meaning of daṇḍa from literal force to harsh speech, conflict, aging, karmic rebound, and false austerity, before ending with a positive image of discipline: the truly virtuous are those who tame themselves, not those who merely display ascetic marks. The chapter forms a natural pair with the preceding Pāpavagga: that vagga explains the ripening of evil; this one shows how violence and retaliation are to be abandoned in the first place.
Themes
- Self-comparison as the basis of non-violence (Dhp 129–130): because all beings fear punishment and death, and love life, one should act by attānaṁ upamaṁ katvā — taking oneself as the measure. The ethical principle is empathetic symmetry rather than tribal rule. See non hatred avera.
- Harm rebounds on the one who seeks happiness through harm (Dhp 131–132): the one who injures beings while searching for their own pleasure does not obtain happiness after death; refraining from harm is itself the path toward well-being. The logic is explicitly kammic and pairs with kamma action and fruit.
- Violence includes speech and conflict (Dhp 133–134): the chapter shifts from physical daṇḍa to verbal aggression — harsh speech, retaliatory speech, and sārambha (contention, conflict). The image of the broken gong points to the cessation of reactive noise.
- Old age and death wield the rod over all (Dhp 135–136): as a cowherd drives cattle with a stick, so old age and death drive beings onward. The fool does not understand the evil they do until it burns them back. The chapter thus links existential vulnerability and moral ignorance.
- The ten punishments of violent wrong (Dhp 137–140): attacking the innocent leads swiftly to one of ten bad outcomes: pain, loss, bodily destruction, illness, madness, trouble from rulers, slander, loss of relatives, destruction of wealth, burning of one's house — and finally hell. Dhp 137–140 form one continuous warning unit.
- Outer austerity is not purification (Dhp 141): nudity, matted hair, mud, fasting, lying on the ground, dust, or squatting austerities do not purify one who is still full of doubt. The chapter turns decisively from display to inner transformation.
- The real ascetic lays down the rod (Dhp 142): one may be well-dressed and still be a true renunciant if peaceful, tamed, committed to the holy life, and having nidhāya daṇḍaṁ — laid down violence toward all beings. Here the chapter restates non-violence as the criterion of sanctity, not externals.
- Conscience, urgency, and self-taming (Dhp 143–145): the person restrained by hirī (conscience, moral shame) recoils from blame like a good horse from the whip; with faith, virtue, energy, concentration, discernment, knowledge-and-conduct, and mindfulness one abandons suffering; irrigators, fletchers, and carpenters shape material things, while the truly disciplined shape themselves.
Verses
<!-- Stacked-block format: Pali + English + Sinhala per verse, stable #dhp-N anchors. -->
Verse 129
Pali (dhp129:1–129:4)
Sabbe tasanti daṇḍassa,
sabbe bhāyanti maccuno;
Attānaṁ upamaṁ katvā,
na haneyya na ghātaye.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp129:1–129:4)
All tremble at the rod,
all fear death.
Treating others like oneself,
neither kill nor incite to kill.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
සියලු සත්වයෝම වධබන්ධනාදියට තැතිගන්නාහ. සියල්ලෝම මරණයට බියවෙති. තමා උපමාකොට හිංසා නොකරන්නේය. අනුන් ලවා හිංසා නොකරවන්නේය.
Key terms: daṇḍa (rod, punishment, force), maccu (death), attānaṁ upamaṁ katvā (taking oneself as the comparison), haneyya/ghātaye (kill / cause to kill) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 130
Pali (dhp130:1–130:4)
Sabbe tasanti daṇḍassa,
sabbesaṁ jīvitaṁ piyaṁ;
Attānaṁ upamaṁ katvā,
na haneyya na ghātaye.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp130:1–130:4)
All tremble at the rod,
all love life.
Treating others like oneself,
neither kill nor incite to kill.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
සියලු සත්වයෝම වධබන්ධනාදියට බිය වෙති. සියල්ලන්ටම ජීවිතය ප්රියය. තමා උපමාකොට හිංසා නොකරන්නේය. අනුන් ලවාද හිංසා නොකරවන්නේය.
Key terms: jīvitaṁ piyaṁ (life is dear), attānaṁ upamaṁ katvā (self-comparison) — the ethical core repeated from Dhp 129 Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 131
Pali (dhp131:1–131:4)
Sukhakāmāni bhūtāni,
yo daṇḍena vihiṁsati;
Attano sukhamesāno,
pecca so na labhate sukhaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp131:1–131:4)
Creatures love happiness,
so if you harm them with a stick
in search of your own happiness,
after death you won’t find happiness.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් පුද්ගලයෙක් තමාහට සුව කැමතිවූයේ සුව කැමති සත්වයන් දණ්ඩනයෙන් පෙළාද, හෙතෙම පරලොව සුව නොලබන්නේය.
Key terms: sukhakāmāni bhūtāni (creatures desiring happiness), vihiṁsati (injures, harms), pecca (after death, hereafter) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 132
Pali (dhp132:1–132:4)
Sukhakāmāni bhūtāni,
yo daṇḍena na hiṁsati;
Attano sukhamesāno,
pecca so labhate sukhaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp132:1–132:4)
Creatures love happiness,
so if you don’t harm them with a stick
in search of your own happiness,
after death you will find happiness.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යමෙක් තමහට සුව කැමතිවූයේ සුව කැමති සත්වයන් දඬුවමින් නොපෙළාද ඒ පුද්ගලතෙම පරලොව සුව ලබන්නේය.
Key terms: na hiṁsati (does not harm), attano sukhamesāno (seeking one's own happiness), labhate sukhaṁ (obtains happiness) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 133
Pali (dhp133:1–133:4)
Māvoca pharusaṁ kañci,
vuttā paṭivadeyyu taṁ;
Dukkhā hi sārambhakathā,
paṭidaṇḍā phuseyyu taṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp133:1–133:4)
Don’t speak harshly,
they may speak harshly back.
For aggressive speech is painful,
and the rod may spring back on you.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
කිසිවකුට පරුෂ වචනයක් නොකියව. (තා විසින් පරුෂ වචන) කියන ලද්දාවූ අන්යයෝ තට පෙරළා කියති. එසේම, එකටෙක කථාව දුක්ය. තට පෙරළා දඬුවම් ලැබෙයි.
Key terms: pharusaṁ (harsh, rough), sārambhakathā (aggressive/contentious speech), paṭidaṇḍa (counter-blow, retaliatory punishment) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 134
Pali (dhp134:1–134:4)
Sace neresi attānaṁ,
kaṁso upahato yathā;
Esa pattosi nibbānaṁ,
sārambho te na vijjati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp134:1–134:4)
If you still yourself
like a broken gong,
you reach extinguishment
and know no conflict.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ඉදින් (වටින්) කැඩූ ලොහොතලියක් මෙන් තාගේ සිත නිශ්ශබ්ද කෙළෙහි නම් නිවණට පැමිණියා නම් වෙහි. තට පෙරළා දෙසීම් නොවන්නේය.
Key terms: neresi attānaṁ (still/quiet oneself), kaṁso upahato (a broken gong), nibbānaṁ (extinguishment, quenching), sārambha (conflict, contention) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 135
Pali (dhp135:1–135:4)
Yathā daṇḍena gopālo,
gāvo pājeti gocaraṁ;
Evaṁ jarā ca maccu ca,
āyuṁ pājenti pāṇinaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp135:1–135:4)
As a cowherd drives the cows
to pasture with the rod,
so too old age and death
drive life from living beings.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම්සේ ගොපලුතෙම දඬුයෙන් හරකුන් තණ බිමට පමුණුවාද, එපරිද්දෙන්ම ජරාවද මරණයද යන (මොහු දෙදෙන) සත්වයන්ගේ ජීවිතය ගෙන යන්නේය.
Key terms: gopālo (cowherd), pājeti (drives on), jarā (old age), maccu (death), āyu (life-span) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 136
Pali (dhp136:1–136:4)
Atha pāpāni kammāni,
karaṁ bālo na bujjhati;
Sehi kammehi dummedho,
aggidaḍḍhova tappati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp136:1–136:4)
The fool does not understand
the evil that they do.
But because of those deeds, that simpleton
is tormented as if burnt by fire.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
තවද පව්කම් කරන්නාවූ අනුවණ තෙම (එය) දනියි. ඒ නුවණ නැත්තේ ස්වකීය පාපකර්මයන් ගින්නෙන් දනලද්දක්හු මෙන් තැවෙයි.
Key terms: pāpāni kammāni (evil deeds), bālo (fool), dummedha (witless one), aggidaḍḍha (burnt by fire) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 137
Pali (dhp137:1–137:4)
Yo daṇḍena adaṇḍesu,
appaduṭṭhesu dussati;
Dasannamaññataraṁ ṭhānaṁ,
khippameva nigacchati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp137:1–137:4)
One who violently attacks
the peaceful and the innocent
swiftly falls
to one of ten bad states:
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යමෙක් දඬුවම් නොකළ යුතු, ද්වේෂ නොකරණ පුද්ගලයන් විෂයෙහි අපරාධ කෙරේද, හෙතෙම දශවිධ දුක්ඛ කාරණයන් අතුරෙන් එක්තරා දුක්ඛකාරණයකට වහාම පැමිණෙන්නේය.
Key terms: adaṇḍesu (those who should not be punished / the non-violent), appaduṭṭhesu (the innocent, unoffending), dasannam aññataraṁ ṭhānaṁ (one of ten states) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 138
Pali (dhp138:1–138:4)
Vedanaṁ pharusaṁ jāniṁ,
sarīrassa va bhedanaṁ;
Garukaṁ vāpi ābādhaṁ,
cittakkhepaṁ va pāpuṇe.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp138:1–138:4)
harsh pain; loss;
the breakup of the body;
serious illness;
mental distress;
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
දැඩිවූ (කායික) වේදනාවකට හෝ ධනහානියකට හෝ ශරීර භෙදයකට හෝ නැවත බලවත් රෝගයකට හෝ උන්මාදයට හෝ පැමිණෙන්නේය.
Key terms: vedanā (painful feeling), jāni (loss), sarīrassa bhedanaṁ (breakup of the body), ābādha (serious illness), cittakkhepa (mental derangement, distress) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 139
Pali (dhp139:1–139:4)
Rājato vā upasaggaṁ,
Abbhakkhānaṁ va dāruṇaṁ;
Parikkhayaṁ va ñātīnaṁ,
Bhogānaṁ va pabhaṅguraṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp139:1–139:4)
hazards from rulers;
vicious slander;
loss of kin;
destruction of wealth;
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
රජුන් කෙරෙහි වන්නාවූ උවදුරකට හෝ දරුණුවූ (අභ්යඛ්යානයකට) චෝදනාවකට හෝ නෑයන්ගේ විනාශයට හෝ භෝගයන්ගේ විනාශයට හෝ පැමිණෙන්නේය.
Key terms: rājato upasagga (trouble from the ruler), abbhakkhāna (slander, false accusation), parikkhaya ñātīnaṁ (loss of relatives), bhogānaṁ pabhaṅguraṁ (destruction of wealth) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 140
Pali (dhp140:1–140:4)
Atha vāssa agārāni,
aggi ḍahati pāvako;
Kāyassa bhedā duppañño,
nirayaṁ sopapajjati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp140:1–140:4)
or else their home
is consumed by fire.
When their body breaks up, that witless person
is reborn in hell.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ඔහුගේ ගෙවල් පාවක (ශුද්ධකරන්නා) නම්වූ ගින්න දවයි. ඒ අඥාන පුද්ගලතෙම මරණින් මතු නරකට පැමිණෙන්නේය.
Key terms: agārāni (houses, home), pāvako (fire), kāyassa bhedā (at the breakup of the body), niraya (hell) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 141
Pali (dhp141:1–141:4)
Na naggacariyā na jaṭā na paṅkā,
Nānāsakā thaṇḍilasāyikā vā;
Rajojallaṁ ukkuṭikappadhānaṁ,
Sodhenti maccaṁ avitiṇṇakaṅkhaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp141:1–141:4)
Not nudity, nor matted hair, nor mud,
nor fasting, nor lying on bare ground,
nor wearing dust and dirt, or squatting on the heels,
will cleanse a mortal not free of doubt.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
තරණය නොකළ සංකා ඇති මිනිසා නග්නව (නිර්වස්ත්රව) කරණ තපස්ද ශුද්ධ නොකෙරෙයි. ජටාවෝ ශුද්ධ නොකෙරෙති. ඇඟ මඩ ගැල්වීමද ශුද්ධ නොකෙරෙයි. අහර නොවළඳා කරණ තපස්ද ශුද්ධ නොකෙරෙයි. ආගන්තුක ධූලි දැරීම ශරීරයෙහි දැලි ඉලීම යන මේද උක්කුටුකයෙන්ම (වකගැසී) හිඳ කරණ තපස්ද යන මොහුද ශුද්ධ නොකෙරෙති.
Key terms: naggacariyā (naked asceticism), jaṭā (matted hair), paṅkā (mud), thaṇḍilasāyikā (lying on bare ground), ukkuṭikappadhānaṁ (squatting austerity), avitiṇṇakaṅkhaṁ (not gone beyond doubt) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 142
Pali (dhp142:1–142:4)
Alaṅkato cepi samaṁ careyya,
Santo danto niyato brahmacārī;
Sabbesu bhūtesu nidhāya daṇḍaṁ,
So brāhmaṇo so samaṇo sa bhikkhu.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp142:1–142:4)
Dressed up they may be, but if they live well—
peaceful, tamed, committed to the spiritual path,
having laid aside violence towards all creatures—
they are a brahmin, an ascetic, a mendicant.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
සැරසුනු පුද්ගල තෙමේද ඉදින් ධර්මයෙහි යෙදී පවතීද, ශාන්තද, දැමුනේවීද, (සිව්මග නියමයෙන්) නියතද බඹසර ඇත්තේද, සියලු සතුන් කෙරෙහි දණ්ඩනය (හිංසා) බහා තබා වෙසේද හෙතෙම බ්රාහ්මණයයි කියයුතුය. හෙතෙම ශ්රමණයයිද කියයුතුයි. භික්ෂුයයිද කියයුතුවේ.
Key terms: alaṅkato (adorned, dressed up), samaṁ careyya (live rightly / evenly), santo danto niyato brahmacārī (peaceful, tamed, committed, living the holy life), nidhāya daṇḍaṁ (having laid down the rod), brāhmaṇo / samaṇo / bhikkhu (true holy person) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 143
Pali (dhp143:1–143:4)
Hirīnisedho puriso,
koci lokasmi vijjati;
Yo niddaṁ apabodheti,
asso bhadro kasāmiva.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp143:1–143:4)
Can a person constrained by conscience
be found in the world?
Who shies away from blame,
like a fine horse from the whip?
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
කසය වළහන්නාවූ උතුම් අසෙකු මෙන් යම් මහණෙක්තෙම නින්දාව ප්රබොධ නොකෙරේද, (පවෙහි) ලජ්ජාවෙන් (අකුශල විතර්කයන්) දුරු කරණ කිසි පුරුෂයෙක් තෙම ලෝකයෙහි ඇත්තේය.
Key terms: hirīnisedho (restrained by conscience / moral shame), apabodheti (shies away from, is stirred from), asso bhadro (fine horse), kasā (whip) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 144
Pali (dhp144:1–144:6)
Asso yathā bhadro kasāniviṭṭho,
Ātāpino saṁvegino bhavātha;
Saddhāya sīlena ca vīriyena ca,
Samādhinā dhammavinicchayena ca;
Sampannavijjācaraṇā patissatā,
Jahissatha dukkhamidaṁ anappakaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp144:1–144:6)
Like a fine horse under the whip,
be keen and full of urgency.
With faith, ethics, and energy,
immersion, and investigation of principles,
accomplished in knowledge and conduct, mindful,
give up this vast suffering.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
කසයෙන් පහරණලද උතුම් අශ්වයෙකු මෙන් වීර්යයවත් වවු. සසර කලකිරීම් ඇත්තාහු වවු. ශ්රද්ධාවෙන්ද ශීලයෙන්ද වීර්ය්යයෙන්ද සමාධියෙන්ද විදර්ශනා ප්රඥාවෙන් (ධර්මානුකූල විසඳීමෙන්) ද සමන්විතව සම්පූර්ණවූ විජ්ජාචරණ ඇතිව බොහෝවූ මේ සංසාර දුක දුරුකරවු.
Key terms: ātāpino (ardent, energetic), saṁvegino (full of urgency, spiritual shock), saddhā/sīla/vīriya/samādhi/dhammavinicchaya (faith, virtue, energy, concentration, investigation of phenomena), sampannavijjācaraṇā (accomplished in knowledge and conduct), patissatā (mindful) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 145
Pali (dhp145:1–145:4)
Udakañhi nayanti nettikā,
Usukārā namayanti tejanaṁ;
Dāruṁ namayanti tacchakā,
Attānaṁ damayanti subbatā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp145:1–145:4)
While irrigators guide water,
fletchers shape arrows,
and carpenters carve timber—
those true to their vows tame themselves.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
දියාලුවෝ දිය ගෙන යත්මය. ඊ වඩුවෝ ඊ නමත්. වඩුවෝ දඬු නමත්. මනාවත් පිළිවෙත් ඇත්තෝ තමා (සිත) දමනය කරත්.
Key terms: nettikā (irrigators), usukārā (fletchers), tacchakā (carpenters), damayanti (tame), subbatā (true to vows, well-disciplined) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Textual notes
- Dhp 129 and Dhp 130 are an intentional pair. The first uses maccu (death), the second jīvitaṁ piyaṁ (life is dear), but both end with the same attānaṁ upamaṁ katvā formula. The duplication is rhetorical, not redundant: fear and love of life are the same ethical datum seen from two angles.
- Dhp 137–140 form a single syntactic unit split across four verses: the wrongdoer swiftly falls into one of ten bad states, then the next three verses enumerate them. The English layout can make these look like separate proverbs unless the continuity is noticed.
- Dhp 141 and Dhp 142 are a deliberate contrast: external austerities do not purify one who is still doubtful, while genuine restraint and harmlessness make one a true ascetic even when outwardly adorned.
- The word daṇḍa ranges from literal rod or punishment to a wider field of force, coercion, retaliation, and injury. The vagga exploits that breadth rather than using the term in only one sense.
Related pages
- dhammapada — parent text
- dhammapada 09 papavagga — preceding vagga on evil and its ripening
- dhammapada 11 jaravagga — following vagga on aging
- non hatred avera — non-hatred and the self-comparison principle
- kamma action and fruit — violence and retaliation as kammic rebound
- virtue sila — the ethical discipline assumed by Dhp 142–145
- arahant — Dhp 142's real holy person and Dhp 145's self-taming converge with arahant ideals
- heedfulness appamada — Dhp 143–144's urgency and mindfulness
- mahamoggallana — associated with the Dhp 137 vatthu tradition (commentary)