Summary: The Kodhavagga ("Anger") is the seventeenth chapter of the dhammapada, fourteen verses (Dhp 221–234) on abandoning anger (kodha), conceit (māna), and the defilements that bind beings to suffering. It opens with a call to renounce anger and conceit and escape every fetter, using the charioteer simile for one who checks anger as it surges (Dhp 221–222). The middle verses present a fourfold victory of virtue over vice — non-anger, goodness, generosity, and truth — and address the inevitability of blame and praise, urging equanimity and flawless conduct (Dhp 223–230). The chapter closes with the classic three-door discipline of body, speech, and mind, culminating in the perfectly restrained wise one (Dhp 231–234).
Themes
- Abandoning anger and conceit as the gateway to freedom (Dhp 221–222): the chapter opens with a direct command to give up kodha (anger), get rid of māna (conceit), and escape every fetter. Verse 222 sharpens this with the charioteer simile: one who checks anger as it surges is a true charioteer, while others merely hold the reins.
- The fourfold victory of virtue over vice (Dhp 223–224): verse 223 sets out a paired logic — defeat anger with kindness, villainy with virtue, stinginess with giving, and lies with truth. Verse 224 narrows this to three practices (truthfulness, non-anger, and giving even a little) as the means to enter the presence of the gods.
- Harmlessness, wakefulness, and the deathless (Dhp 225–226): the harmless sages, always restrained in body, go to the state that does not fall (accutaṁ ṭhānaṁ). The wakeful, training day and night and focused on extinguishment, see their defilements come to an end.
- The inevitability of blame and praise, and the measure of a true person (Dhp 227–230): addressed to Atula, these verses acknowledge that no one in the world escapes blame entirely — the silent, the talkative, and the moderate speaker are all criticized. The response is not despair but aspiration: the discerning, after watching day by day, praise the sage of impeccable conduct, endowed with ethics and wisdom, and such a one is praised even by the gods and Brahmā.
- The three-door restraint formula (Dhp 231–234): the chapter closes with a tight structural triad — guard against bodily, verbal, and mental agitation; be restrained in body, speech, and mind; give up bad conduct and practice good conduct through each door. Verse 234 gathers the three into the dhīra (wise one) who is suparisaṁvuta — well-restrained in every way.
Verses
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Verse 221
Pali (dhp221:1–221:4)
Kodhaṁ jahe vippajaheyya mānaṁ,
Saṁyojanaṁ sabbamatikkameyya;
Taṁ nāmarūpasmimasajjamānaṁ,
Akiñcanaṁ nānupatanti dukkhā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp221:1–221:4)
Give up anger, get rid of conceit,
and escape every fetter.
Sufferings don’t befall one who has nothing,
not clinging to name and form.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ක්රොධය දුරු කරන්නේය. මානය විශේෂයෙන්ම පහකරන්නේය. සියලු දශවිධ සංයොජනය (බැඳුම්) ඉක්මවන්නේය. නාම රූප දෙක්හි ඇලුම් නොකරන්නාවූ (රාගාදි) කෙලෙසුන් නැති (හෙයින්) ඒ පුද්ගලයා (කායික චෛතසික) දුක්ඛයෝ අනුව නොපවත්නාහ.
Key terms: kodha (anger), māna (conceit), saṃyojana (fetter), nāmarūpa (name and form), akiñcana (having nothing) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 222
Pali (dhp222:1–222:4)
Yo ve uppatitaṁ kodhaṁ,
rathaṁ bhantaṁva vāraye;
Tamahaṁ sārathiṁ brūmi,
rasmiggāho itaro jano.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp222:1–222:4)
When anger surges like a lurching chariot,
keep it in check.
That’s what I call a charioteer;
others just hold the reins.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් පුද්ගලයෙක් තෙම ඒකාන්තයෙන් උපන්නාවූ ක්රෝධය භ්රමණය වන රථයක් මෙන් වළකාද, ඒ පුද්ගලයා මම රථාචාර්යයයි කියමි. අන්යවූ සාරථී ජන තෙම රැහැණ ගන්නා නම් වෙයි.
Key terms: uppajjita (arisen / surged), kodha (anger), sārathi (charioteer), rasmiggāha (rein-holder) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 223
Pali (dhp223:1–223:4)
Akkodhena jine kodhaṁ,
asādhuṁ sādhunā jine;
Jine kadariyaṁ dānena,
saccenālikavādinaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp223:1–223:4)
Defeat anger with kindness,
villainy with virtue,
stinginess with giving,
and lies with truth.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ක්රොධ ඇති පුද්ගලයා ක්රොධ නොකිරීමෙන් දිනන්නේය. නපුරු ගුණ ඇත්තාහු මනා ගුණයෙන් දිනන්නේය. තද මසුරා දීමෙන් දිනන්නේය. බොරු කියන්නා සත්යයෙන් දිනන්නේය.
Key terms: akkodha (non-anger / kindness), sādhu (good / virtue), kadariya (stinginess), dāna (giving), sacca (truth), alikavādin (liar) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 224
Pali (dhp224:1–224:4)
Saccaṁ bhaṇe na kujjheyya,
dajjā appampi yācito;
Etehi tīhi ṭhānehi,
gacche devāna santike.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp224:1–224:4)
Speak the truth, do not be angry,
and give when asked, if only a little.
By these three means,
you may enter the presence of the gods.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
සත්ය වචනයක්ම කියන්නේය. අනුන්ට නොකිපෙන්නේය. ඉල්වන ලදුයේ (දෙය ධර්මය) ස්වල්ප කල්හිදු (එයින්) මඳ දෙයකුදු දෙන්නේය. මේ තුන් කාරණයෙන් දෙවියන්ගේ සමීපයට (ප්රතිසන්ධි වශයෙන්) යන්නේය.
Key terms: sacca (truth), kujjheyya (one becomes angry), dāna (giving), devāna santike (near the gods) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 225
Pali (dhp225:1–225:4)
Ahiṁsakā ye munayo,
niccaṁ kāyena saṁvutā;
Te yanti accutaṁ ṭhānaṁ,
yattha gantvā na socare.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp225:1–225:4)
Those harmless sages,
always restrained in body,
go to the state that does not pass,
where there is no sorrow.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් (අශෛක්ෂ) මුනිකෙනෙක් (අනුන්ට) හිංසාවක් නොකෙරෙත්ද, නිතොර කයින් සංවෘතයෝ (සංවරද) ඔහු යම් තැනකට ගොස් (සත්වයෝ) ශෝක නොකෙරෙත්ද, චුති රහිතවූ ඒ ස්ථානයට යෙති.
Key terms: ahiṃsaka (harmless), muni (sage), saṃvuta (restrained), accuta (not falling / deathless), socati (sorrows) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 226
Pali (dhp226:1–226:4)
Sadā jāgaramānānaṁ,
ahorattānusikkhinaṁ;
Nibbānaṁ adhimuttānaṁ,
atthaṁ gacchanti āsavā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp226:1–226:4)
Always wakeful,
practicing night and day,
focused only on extinguishment,
their defilements come to an end.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
හැම කල්හිම (ක්ලේශ නිද්රාවෙන්) නොනිදන්නාවූ දිවාරාත්රියෙහි (ත්රිවිධ ශික්ෂාවෙන්) හික්මෙන්නාවූ (ක්ලේශ) පරි නිර්වාණයෙහි ඇලුණවුන්ගේ (යෝගාවචරයන්ගේ) ආශ්රවයෝ නැසීමට යන්නාහ.
Key terms: jāgaramāna (wakeful), ahoratta (day and night), anusikkhin (practicing / training), nibbāna (extinguishment), adhimutta (focused / intent upon), āsava (defilement) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 227
Pali (dhp227:1–227:6)
Porāṇametaṁ atula,
netaṁ ajjatanāmiva;
Nindanti tuṇhimāsīnaṁ,
nindanti bahubhāṇinaṁ;
Mitabhāṇimpi nindanti,
natthi loke anindito.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp227:1–227:6)
It’s always been this way, Atula,
it’s not just today.
They blame you when you’re silent,
they blame you when you speak a lot,
and even when you speak just right:
no-one in the world escapes blame.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
අතුලය, (නින්දා ප්රශංසා යන) මෙය පුරාතනය, මෙය අදවූ දෙයක්ම නොවෙයි. තුෂ්ණීම්භූතව හුන්නහුටද නින්දා කෙරෙති. බොහෝ කොට කියන්නහුටද නින්දා කෙරෙති. මඳකොට කියන්නහුටද නින්දා කෙරෙති. මේ (සත්ව) ලෝකයෙහි නින්දා නොකරණ ලද්දෙක් නැති.
Key terms: nindā (blame), tuṇhi (silent), bahubhāṇin (one who speaks much), mitabhāṇin (moderate speaker), anindita (unblamed) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 228
Pali (dhp228:1–228:4)
Na cāhu na ca bhavissati,
na cetarahi vijjati;
Ekantaṁ nindito poso,
ekantaṁ vā pasaṁsito.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp228:1–228:4)
There never was, nor will be,
nor is there today,
someone who is wholly praised
or wholly blamed.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ඒකාන්තයෙන් නින්දා කරණ ලද පුරුෂයෙක් හෝ ඒකාන්තයෙන් ප්රශංසා කරණ ලද පුරුෂයෙක් හෝ අතීතයෙහිද නොවීය. අනාගතයෙහිද නොවන්නේය. දැන් වර්තමාන කාලයෙහිද නැත්තේය.
Key terms: ekanta (wholly / entirely), nindita (blamed), pasaṃsita (praised) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 229
Pali (dhp229:1–229:4)
Yañce viññū pasaṁsanti,
anuvicca suve suve;
Acchiddavuttiṁ medhāviṁ,
paññāsīlasamāhitaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp229:1–229:4)
If, after watching them day in day out,
discerning people praise
that sage of impeccable conduct,
endowed with ethics and wisdom;
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ඉදින් ප්රාඥයෝ දවස දවස විමසා යමෙකුට ප්රශංසා කෙරෙද්ද, සිදුරු නැති දිවි පැවතුම් ඇති, (විදර්ශනා) ඥානයෙන් යුක්තවූ ප්රඥාවෙන් හා ශීලයෙන්ද යුක්ත ඔහු.
Key terms: viññū (discerning person), acchiddavutti (impeccable conduct), medhāvin (sage / wise one), paññā (wisdom), sīla (ethics), samādhi (concentration) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 230
Pali (dhp230:1–230:4)
Nikkhaṁ jambonadasseva,
ko taṁ ninditumarahati;
Devāpi naṁ pasaṁsanti,
brahmunāpi pasaṁsito.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp230:1–230:4)
like a pendant of Black Plum River gold,
who is worthy to criticize them?
Even the gods praise them,
and by the Divinity, too, they’re praised.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
දඹරත්රන් පිඩකට මෙන් ඔහුට නින්දා කරන්ට කවරෙක් සුදුසුද, දෙවියෝද ඒ මහණහුට ප්රශංසා කෙරෙති. බ්රහ්මයා විසිනුදු ප්රශංසා කරණ ලද්දේම වේ.
Key terms: jambonada (Black Plum River gold), nindituṃ (to criticize), devā (gods), brahmā (the Divinity) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 231
Pali (dhp231:1–231:4)
Kāyappakopaṁ rakkheyya,
kāyena saṁvuto siyā;
Kāyaduccaritaṁ hitvā,
kāyena sucaritaṁ care.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp231:1–231:4)
Guard against ill-tempered deeds,
be restrained in body.
Giving up bad bodily conduct,
conduct yourself well in body.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ත්රිවිධ කාය දුශ්චරිතය රක්නේය. කයින් සංවරයෙහි පිහිටියෙක් වන්නේය. කායදුශ්චරිතය දුරුකොට කායද්වාරයෙන් සුචරිතය පුරන්නේය.
Key terms: kāyappakopa (bodily agitation / ill-temper), saṃvuta (restrained), kāyaduccarita (bad bodily conduct), kāyasucarita (good bodily conduct) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 232
Pali (dhp232:1–232:4)
Vacīpakopaṁ rakkheyya,
vācāya saṁvuto siyā;
Vacīduccaritaṁ hitvā,
vācāya sucaritaṁ care.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp232:1–232:4)
Guard against ill-tempered words,
be restrained in speech.
Giving up bad verbal conduct,
conduct yourself well in speech.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
(චතුර්විධ) වාග් දුශ්චරිතය රකිනේය. වචනයෙන් සංවරයෙහි පිහිටියෙක් වන්නේය. වාග් දුශ්චරිතය දුරුකොට වාග්ද්වාරයෙන් සුචරිතය පුරන්නේය.
Key terms: vacīpakopa (verbal agitation / ill-temper), vācāya saṃvuta (restrained in speech), vacīduccarita (bad verbal conduct), vacīsucarita (good verbal conduct) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 233
Pali (dhp233:1–233:4)
Manopakopaṁ rakkheyya,
manasā saṁvuto siyā;
Manoduccaritaṁ hitvā,
manasā sucaritaṁ care.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp233:1–233:4)
Guard against ill-tempered thoughts,
be restrained in mind.
Giving up bad mental conduct,
conduct yourself well in mind.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
(ත්රිවිධ) මනෝ දුශ්චරිතය රක්නේය. සිතින් සංවරයෙහි පිහිටියෙක් වන්නේය. මනෝ දුශ්චරිතය දුරුකොට සිතින් සුචරිත පුරන්නේය.
Key terms: manopakopa (mental agitation / ill-temper), manasā saṃvuta (restrained in mind), manoduccarita (bad mental conduct), manosucarita (good mental conduct) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 234
Pali (dhp234:1–234:4)
Kāyena saṁvutā dhīrā,
atho vācāya saṁvutā;
Manasā saṁvutā dhīrā,
te ve suparisaṁvutā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp234:1–234:4)
An attentive one is restrained in body
restrained also in speech,
in thought, too, they are restrained:
they are restrained in every way.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් ප්රාඥ කෙනෙක් කයින් සංවෘතයෝද වචනයෙන් සංවෘතයෝද සිතින් සංවෘතයෝද ඒ ප්රාඥයෝ ඒකාන්තයෙන් මනාව සංවර වූයෝය.
Key terms: dhīra (wise / attentive one), suparisaṁvuta (well-restrained in every way) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Textual notes
- Dhp 221–222 form an opening pair: verse 221 gives the broad instruction to abandon anger, conceit, and fetters and not to cling to name and form, while verse 222 gives the charioteer simile for one who checks anger as it surges.
- Dhp 223–224 are closely linked: verse 223 presents four victories, and verse 224 narrows the practical instruction to truthfulness, non-anger, and giving when asked.
- Dhp 227–230 on blame and praise are a distinct unit addressed to Atula. The progression moves from the universality of blame (Dhp 227–228), through the measured praise of the discerning (Dhp 229), to the sage compared with refined gold and praised by gods and Brahmā (Dhp 230).
- Dhp 231–233 present the triad of body, speech, and mind restraint, each with the same structural pattern, while Dhp 234 gathers them into the suparisaṁvuta — "well-restrained in every way."
- No registered high-risk passage is in scope.
Related pages
- dhammapada — parent text
- dhammapada 16 piyavagga — preceding vagga on what is dear
- dhammapada 18 malavagga — following vagga on stains
- kodha — anger, the opening theme of Dhp 221–223
- virtue sila — ethical conduct, central to Dhp 229 and the restraint verses
- dāna — giving, central to Dhp 223–224
- truths sacca — truth, central to Dhp 223–224
- kamma action and fruit — action, reflected in the body, speech, and mind restraint sequence
- nibbana — extinguishment, the focus of Dhp 226
- restraint — restraint of body, speech, and mind in Dhp 231–234
- heedfulness appamada — wakefulness and steady training in Dhp 226