Summary: The Cittavagga ("Chapter on the Mind") takes up citta (the mind / heart) as the primary object of training. Across eleven verses the Buddha describes the mind's restless, fast-moving, subtle character, likens it to a fish out of water and an arrow that must be straightened, and declares its trained form the direct antidote to Māra's dominion. More than any other Dhammapada chapter, this vagga establishes the psychological core of the path: nothing external — neither kin nor enemy — can harm or help a person more than their own mind rightly or wrongly directed (Dhp 42–43).
Themes
- The untrained mind is restless, flighty, hard to guard (Dhp 33–36): like a shaking arrow the fletcher must straighten; like a fish cast ashore; hard to see, hard to restrain
- Guarding the mind defeats Māra (Dhp 37, 40): the mind wanders alone, bodiless, "lying in the heart-cave"; restraining it severs the fetters of death; fortify the mind like a citadel and attack Māra with the sword of paññā
- Unsteady confidence blocks wisdom (Dhp 38–39): the wavering heart does not perfect paññā; the arahant's mind, free of lust and aversion and beyond merit-and-demerit, fears nothing
- The body's fragility vs the mind's power (Dhp 40–41): the body breaks like a pot and will soon lie on the earth as a worthless log — what remains is the mind, which must be trained
- Self-inflicted and self-liberating mind (Dhp 42–43): a wrongly directed mind harms one more than any enemy; a rightly directed mind benefits one more than any parent — the locus classicus for the Buddhist psychology of moral causation
Verses
Verse 33
Pali (dhp33:1–33:4)
Phandanaṁ capalaṁ cittaṁ,
dūrakkhaṁ dunnivārayaṁ;
Ujuṁ karoti medhāvī,
usukārova tejanaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato
The mind quivers and shakes,
hard to guard, hard to curb.
The discerning straighten it out,
like a fletcher straightens an arrow.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
සැලෙන්නාවූ, එක් අරමුණක නොසිටින්නා (චපල) වූ නොරැක්ක හැක්කාවූ, (තුන්) දුසිරිතින් නොවැළකිය හැක්කාවූ, සිත ප්රාඥවූ පුරුෂතෙම හීදණ්ඩක් (ඇද මැඩ ඉදිකරන්නාවූ) හී වඩුවා මෙන්, සෘජු කරන්නේය.
Key terms: citta, capala (restless, fickle), medhāvī (the discerning) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Meghiyattheravatthu — the elder Meghiya, who went against the Buddha's advice to meditate in a pleasant mango grove and was overwhelmed by unwholesome thoughts, returned to report the Buddha's teaching on the five conditions for mind-maturation (parallel: AN 9.3 (cited; not yet ingested) and Ud 4.1). Verse 34 shares this vatthu. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 34
Pali (dhp34:1–34:4)
Vārijova thale khitto,
okamokataubbhato;
Pariphandatidaṁ cittaṁ,
māradheyyaṁ pahātave.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato
Like a fish pulled from the sea
and cast upon the shore,
this mind flounders about,
trying to throw off Māra's dominion.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මේ සිත ජල (සංඛ්යාත) වාසස්ථානයෙන් නගන ලද්දාවූ ගොඩදමන ලද්දාවූ, මත්ස්යයකු මෙන් සැලෙන්නේය. ක්ලේශ වෘත්තය (මරගෙය) පහකටයුතුයි.
Key terms: citta, māradheyya (Māra's dominion) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): shares Meghiyattheravatthu with Dhp 33. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 35
Pali (dhp35:1–35:4)
Dunniggahassa lahuno,
yatthakāmanipātino;
Cittassa damatho sādhu,
cittaṁ dantaṁ sukhāvahaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato
Hard to hold back, flighty,
alighting where it will;
it's good to tame the mind;
a tamed mind leads to bliss.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
නිග්රහ (දඬුවම්) කරන්ට නොපිළිවන්වූ, ලඝුවූ, යම් කැමති අරමුණක වැටෙනසුළුවූ, චිත්තයාගේ දමනය කිරීම මැනවි, සිත දමනය කරන ලද්දේ සුව ඵලවන්නේය.
Key terms: citta, damatha (taming, discipline), sukha Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Aññatarabhikkhuvatthu — a certain bhikkhu of disturbed mind was taught by the Buddha to contemplate the mind's restlessness and bring it under control. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 36
Pali (dhp36:1–36:4)
Sududdasaṁ sunipuṇaṁ,
yatthakāmanipātinaṁ;
Cittaṁ rakkhetha medhāvī,
cittaṁ guttaṁ sukhāvahaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato
So hard to see, so subtle,
alighting where it will;
the discerning protect the mind,
a guarded mind leads to bliss.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
දක්නට නොපිළිවන්වූ, ඉතා සියුම්වූ, යම් කැමති අරමුණක් ගන්නාසුළුවූ සිත ප්රාඥතෙම රක්නේයි. සිත රක්නා ලද්දේ (ලොවී ලොව්තුරා) සැප ඵලවන්නේය.
Key terms: citta, sunipuṇa (very subtle), gutta (guarded), sukha Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Aññataraukkaṇṭhitabhikkhuvatthu — a certain discontented bhikkhu, disturbed by lust, whom the Buddha instructed with this verse on guarding the subtle mind. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 37
Pali (dhp37:1–37:4)
Dūraṅgamaṁ ekacaraṁ,
asarīraṁ guhāsayaṁ;
Ye cittaṁ saṁyamissanti,
mokkhanti mārabandhanā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato
The mind travels far, wandering alone;
incorporeal, it lies hidden in the heart.
Those who will restrain the mind
are freed from Māra's bonds.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
දුරට යන්නාවූ, හුදකලාවම පවත්නාවූ, ශරීරයක් නැත්තාවූ, (ශරීරය නැමැති) ගුහාවෙහි පවත්නාවූ, (හෙවත් හෘදය රූපය නිසා පවත්නාවූ) සිත යම්කෙනෙක් සංවරයෙහි පිහිටුවත්ද, ඔහු මාරබන්ධනයයි කියනලද ත්රෛභූමක වෘත්තයෙන් (මර බැම්මෙන්) මිදෙන්නාහුය.
Key terms: citta, ekacara (wandering alone), guhāsaya (dwelling in the cave/heart), Māra Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Saṅgharakkhitabhāgineyyattheravatthu — the novice nephew of the elder Saṅgharakkhita, who indulged in a long daydream of worldly success while fanning his uncle, was shown the mind's far-wandering nature and taught this verse. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 38
Pali (dhp38:1–38:4)
Anavaṭṭhitacittassa,
saddhammaṁ avijānato;
Pariplavapasādassa,
paññā na paripūrati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato
Those of unsteady mind,
who don't understand the true teaching,
and whose confidence wavers,
do not perfect their wisdom.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
අනවස්ථිතවූ (නිතර චංචලවන) සිත් ඇති සද්ධර්මය නොදන්නාවූ, ඉපිලෙන සැදැහැ ඇත්තාහට ප්රඥාතොම නොපිරෙන්නීය.
Key terms: citta, saddhamma (true teaching), pasāda (confidence / faith), paññā (wisdom) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Cittahatthattheravatthu — Cittahattha, who ordained and disrobed six times as his mind wavered between household life and the Sangha; on the seventh ordination he attained arahantship. Verse 39 shares this vatthu. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 39
Pali (dhp39:1–39:4)
Anavassutacittassa,
ananvāhatacetaso;
Puññapāpapahīnassa,
natthi jāgarato bhayaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato
One whose mind is not festering,
whose heart is undamaged,
who's given up right and wrong,
alert, has nothing to fear.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
(රාගයෙන්) චංචලනොවූ සිත් ඇති, (ද්වේෂයෙන්) නොපහරණ ලද සිත් ඇති, (අර්හත් මාර්ගයෙන්) ප්රහීණකළ කුශලා කුශල ඇති ක්ෂීණාශ්රවයාහට කෙලෙසුන් කෙරෙන් භයක් නැත.
Key terms: anavassuta (not leaking, not lustful), puñña / pāpa (merit / demerit), jāgarato (the vigilant — cf. Dhp 23) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): shares Cittahatthattheravatthu with Dhp 38. (commentary — not canonical)
Note on doctrine: the phrase puññapāpapahīnassa ("one who has abandoned both merit and demerit") is doctrinally significant — the arahant is beyond the kammic mechanism of merit and demerit altogether, not merely meritorious. Cf. Sn 790, 4.10 and AN 4.239 (cited; not yet ingested).
Verse 40
Pali (dhp40:1–40:4)
Kumbhūpamaṁ kāyamimaṁ viditvā,
Nagarūpamaṁ cittamidaṁ ṭhapetvā;
Yodhetha māraṁ paññāvudhena,
Jitañca rakkhe anivesano siyā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato
Knowing this body breaks like a pot,
and fortifying the mind like a citadel,
attack Māra with the sword of wisdom,
guard your conquest, and never settle.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මේ ශරීරය මැටි බඳුනක් වැනි කොට දැන, මේ (විදර්ශනා) චිත්තය නුවරක් මෙන් (කෙලෙස් සතුරන් විසින් නොපැරදවිය හැකි කොට) තබා, ප්රඥා නැමැති ආයුධයෙන් (ක්ලෙශ) මාරයා පහරණේය. දිනන ලද්ද (හෙවත් උපදවන ලද්දාවූ තරුණ විදර්ශනාව) ද රක්නේය. (සමාපත්තියෙහි) ආලය නොකරන්නේය.
Key terms: kāya (body), citta, paññāvudha (sword of wisdom), Māra, anivesano (not settling, not clinging) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Pañcasatabhikkhuvatthu — five hundred bhikkhus who, after travelling to a remote forest and being frightened by tree-deities, returned to the Buddha and were given this verse as their meditation subject; all attained arahantship. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 41
Pali (dhp41:1–41:4)
Aciraṁ vatayaṁ kāyo,
pathaviṁ adhisessati;
Chuddho apetaviññāṇo,
niratthaṁva kaliṅgaraṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato
All too soon this body
will lie upon the earth,
bereft of consciousness,
tossed aside like a worthless log.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මේ කය නොබෝ කලකින්ම ඒකාන්තයෙන් පහවූ සිත් ඇත්තේ, ඉවත දමන ලදුයේ දිරාගිය දඬුකඩක් මෙන් පොළොව මත්තෙහි හෝනේය.
Key terms: kāya, viññāṇa (consciousness), anicca (impermanence — implicit) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Pūtigattatissattheravatthu — the elder Tissa, whose body had broken out in pustules so foul his fellow-monks abandoned him; the Buddha bathed him personally and spoke this verse at the moment of his death, at which Tissa attained arahantship. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 42
Pali (dhp42:1–42:4)
Diso disaṁ yaṁ taṁ kayirā,
verī vā pana verinaṁ;
Micchāpaṇihitaṁ cittaṁ,
pāpiyo naṁ tato kare.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato
A wrongly directed mind
would do you more harm
than a hater to the hated,
or an enemy to their foe.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
සොරෙක්, සොරකු දැක ඕහට යමක් (අන්යව්යසනයක්) කෙරේද බද්ධවෛර ඇති එකෙක් එසේම තමාකෙරෙහි (බද්ධ) වෛර ඇති එකක්හු දැක, යම් ඒ අවැඩක් ( ඕහට) කෙරේද, (එයට වඩා) වරදවා (දශඅකුශල කර්මපථයෙහි) පිහිටුවනලද සිත ඒ හේතුවෙන් ඔහු අතිශයින් ලාමක කරන්නේයි.
Key terms: citta, micchāpaṇihita (wrongly directed), vera, pāpa (harm, evil) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Nandagopālakavatthu — the cowherd Nanda, whose mind had turned to greed over fine food and who was killed by a hunter's stray arrow before he could take refuge in the Buddha's teaching; the Buddha spoke this verse on the self-harm of a wrongly directed mind. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 43
Pali (dhp43:1–43:4)
Na taṁ mātā pitā kayirā,
aññe vāpi ca ñātakā;
Sammāpaṇihitaṁ cittaṁ,
seyyaso naṁ tato kare.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato
A rightly directed mind
would do you more good
than your mother or father
or any other relative.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ඒ කාරණය මවු නොකරන්නීය. පියාද නොකරන්නේය, අනික් නෑයෝද නොකරන්නාහුය. (දශකුශල කර්ම පථයෙහි) මනාකොට පිහිටුවන ලද සිත, ඒ හේතුවෙන් ඒ පුද්ගලයා අතිශයින් උත්තම කරන්නේය.
Key terms: citta, sammāpaṇihita (rightly directed), seyyasa (more excellent, better) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Soreyyavatthu — the merchant Soreyya, whose idle lustful thought at the sight of the elder Mahākaccāna caused him to change sex to a woman; after a long narrative of repentance and ordination he became a male again and attained arahantship. The verse was given on the power of the mind, rightly or wrongly directed, to transform a person. (commentary — not canonical)
Textual notes
- Dhp 35 and 36 form a near-parallel pair (cittassa damatho sādhu, cittaṁ dantaṁ sukhāvahaṁ / cittaṁ rakkhetha medhāvī, cittaṁ guttaṁ sukhāvahaṁ), echoing the Yamakavagga's technique of paired verses. In both, the outcome is sukhāvaha — "bringing happiness."
- Dhp 37's asarīraṁ guhāsayaṁ ("incorporeal, lying in the cave") has been the subject of commentarial interpretation: the "cave" (guhā) is glossed as the heart-base (hadaya-vatthu) in the Theravāda Abhidhamma system (see Dhp-a ad loc., and Vism XIV.60 on hadaya-vatthu — (commentary / Abhidhamma), not a sutta-level doctrine).
- Dhp 42–43 are a matched pair often quoted as the locus classicus for the psychological priority of the mind in the Buddha's ethics. They complement Dhp 1–2 (from the Yamakavagga) — where Dhp 1–2 focus on the kammic outcome of intention, Dhp 42–43 focus on the psychological force of direction (paṇidhāna).
Related pages
- dhammapada — parent text
- citta — the central Pali term
- consciousness citta — the Abhidhamma analysis of mind/consciousness
- mental factors cetasika — the associated mental factors
- mano — cognate term; see mental causation mano pubbangama
- mara — named in Dhp 34, 37, 40 as the opponent
- dhammapada 02 appamadavagga — previous vagga
- dhammapada 04 pupphavagga — next vagga