Summary: The Attavagga ("The Self") is the twelfth chapter of the dhammapada, ten verses on guarding, training, and purifying oneself (Dhp 157-166). It begins with the astute person protecting the self as beloved (Dhp 157), develops the need to establish oneself before instructing others (Dhp 158-160), and closes by placing moral harm, purification, and one's true welfare in one's own responsibility (Dhp 161-166).
Themes
- Guarding oneself (Dhp 157): the chapter opens by treating attā (self) as piya (beloved) and therefore worthy of careful protection through wakefulness.
- Training before instruction (Dhp 158-159): the wise person first establishes oneself in what is suitable, then instructs others; the same standard one teaches must be applied to oneself.
- Self as refuge through taming (Dhp 160): the verse says that one is one's own nātha (lord / refuge), and that a rare refuge is gained by means of a well-tamed self.
- Self-made harm (Dhp 161-162): evil and immorality are described as self-destructive, like diamond grinding a lesser gem and a creeper choking a sal tree.
- The difficulty of good (Dhp 163): bad and harmful acts are easy, while what is beneficial and good is hardest to do.
- Wrong view and self-destruction (Dhp 164): scorning the guidance of the arahants and noble ones because of wicked view is compared to bamboo bearing fruit for its own destruction.
- Purity as personal responsibility (Dhp 165): purity and impurity are said to be paccatta (personal / individual); no one purifies another.
- One's own true welfare (Dhp 166): the closing verse warns not to neglect attadattha (one's own good) even for the sake of much good for others.
Verses
<!-- Stacked-block format: Pali + English + Sinhala per verse, stable #dhp-N anchors. -->
Verse 157
Pali (dhp157:1–157:4)
Attānañce piyaṁ jaññā,
rakkheyya naṁ surakkhitaṁ;
Tiṇṇaṁ aññataraṁ yāmaṁ,
paṭijaggeyya paṇḍito.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp157:1–157:4)
If you knew your self as beloved,
you’d look after it so well.
In one of the night’s three watches,
an astute person would remain alert.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ඉදින් ආත්මය තමහට ප්රියයයි දන්නේ නම් ඒ ආත්මය (තුන්වයස්හි) සුරක්ෂිත කොට රක්නේය. ප්රාඥතෙම තුන්වයසින් එක්තරා වයසක (අකුසලින් දුරුකොට ආත්මය රකින්නේය.)
Key terms: attā (self), piya (beloved), rakkheyya (would protect), yāma (watch of the night), paṭijaggeyya (would remain alert), paṇḍita (astute person / wise one) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 158
Pali (dhp158:1–158:4)
Attānameva paṭhamaṁ,
patirūpe nivesaye;
Athaññamanusāseyya,
na kilisseyya paṇḍito.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp158:1–158:4)
The astute would avoid being corrupted
by first grounding themselves
in what is suitable,
and then instructing others.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
පළමුකොට තමාම සුදුසු ගුණයෙක්හි පිහිටුවන්නේය. අනතුරුව අනිකක්හට අනුශාසනා කරන්නේය. එබඳු ප්රාඥතෙම නොකෙලෙසෙන්නේය.
Key terms: patirūpa (suitable / proper), nivesaye (would establish), anusāseyya (would instruct), kilisseyya (would be corrupted), paṇḍita (astute person / wise one) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 159
Pali (dhp159:1–159:4)
Attānañce tathā kayirā,
yathāññamanusāsati;
Sudanto vata dametha,
attā hi kira duddamo.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp159:1–159:4)
If one were to treat oneself
as one instructs another,
the well-tamed indeed would tame:
for the self, it seems, is hard to tame.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
අනිකෙකුහට යම්සේ අනුශාසනා කෙරේද? තමාටද ඉදින් එසේම කරන්නේය. ඒකාන්තයෙන් තෙමේ මනාව දමනය කරන්නේය. තෙමේ නම් දමනයට දුෂ්කරමය.
Key terms: sudanta (well-tamed), dametha (would tame), duddama (hard to tame), attā (self) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 160
Pali (dhp160:1–160:4)
Attā hi attano nātho,
ko hi nātho paro siyā;
Attanā hi sudantena,
nāthaṁ labhati dullabhaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp160:1–160:4)
One is indeed the lord of oneself,
for who else would be one’s lord?
By means of a well-tamed self,
one gains a lord that’s rare indeed.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
තෙමේම තමහට පිහිටවන්නේය. අන්යවූ කවරෙක් නම් පිහිට වන්නේද? මනාකොට දැමුනාවූ තමා විසින් (පරම) දුර්ලභවූ (අර්හත් ඵලයයි කියන ලද) ප්රතිෂ්ඨාව (පිහිට) ලබන්නේය.
Key terms: attā (self), nātha (lord / refuge / protector), sudanta (well-tamed), dullabha (rare / hard to gain) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 161
Pali (dhp161:1–161:4)
Attanā hi kataṁ pāpaṁ,
Attajaṁ attasambhavaṁ;
Abhimatthati dummedhaṁ,
Vajiraṁvasmamayaṁ maṇiṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp161:1–161:4)
For the evil that is done by oneself,
born and produced in oneself,
grinds down a simpleton,
as diamond grinds a lesser gem.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
තමා කෙරෙන්ම (ජනිතවූ) උපන්, තමා කෙරෙන්ම හටගත්, තමා විසින්ම කරණ ලද්දාවූ අකුශල කර්මය තෙම පාෂාණමයවූ මැණික (කඩ කඩ කරණ) විදුර මෙන් ඒ අඥානයා මඬනේය.
Key terms: pāpa (evil), attaja (born of self), attasambhava (produced in self), dummedha (simpleton / fool), abhimatthati (grinds down), vajira (diamond), maṇi (gem) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 162
Pali (dhp162:1–162:4)
Yassa accantadussilyaṁ,
māluvā sālamivotthataṁ;
Karoti so tathattānaṁ,
yathā naṁ icchatī diso.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp162:1–162:4)
One choked by immorality,
as a sal tree by a creeper,
does to themselves
what a foe only wishes.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යමෙකුගේ බොහෝවූ දුශ්ශීල භාවය සල්රුකක් වැළඳගෙණ සිටි මාලුවා වැලක මෙන් ඒ දුශ්ශීලයා වැළඳගෙණ සිටියේ වේද ඒ තමාගේ සතුරාට යම්සේ අනර්ථයක් කරනු කැමති වේද, ඒ (දුශ්ශීල) තෙමේද තමහට එසේම (අනර්ථව) කරන්නේය.
Key terms: accantadussīlya (extreme immorality), māluvā (creeper / vine), sāla (sal tree), disa (foe / enemy) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 163
Pali (dhp163:1–163:4)
Sukarāni asādhūni,
attano ahitāni ca;
Yaṁ ve hitañca sādhuñca,
taṁ ve paramadukkaraṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp163:1–163:4)
It’s easy to do bad things
harmful to oneself,
but good things that are helpful
are the hardest things to do.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් කර්මකෙනෙක් සාවද්ය හෙයින් අසාධූහු (අයහපත්) ද, අපායට පමුණුවන් හෙයින් තමහට අභිතයෝද (එබඳු අකුශලයෝ) සුවසේ කටහැක්කාහ. යම් කර්මයක් (සුගතියට පමුණුවන හෙයින්) තමහට හිතද (නිරවද්ය බැවින්) සාධු (යහපත්) ද ඒ කුශල කර්මය අතිශයින් දුෂ්කර (නොකටහැකි) යි.
Key terms: asādhu (bad), ahita (harmful), hita (beneficial), sādhu (good), paramadukkara (hardest to do) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 164
Pali (dhp164:1–164:6)
Yo sāsanaṁ arahataṁ,
ariyānaṁ dhammajīvinaṁ;
Paṭikkosati dummedho,
diṭṭhiṁ nissāya pāpikaṁ;
Phalāni kaṭṭhakasseva,
attaghātāya phallati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp164:1–164:6)
On account of wicked views—
scorning the guidance
of the perfected ones,
the noble ones living righteously—
the idiot begets their own self’s demise,
like the bamboo bearing fruit.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් (අඥාන) පුද්ගලයෙක් ලාමකවූ දෘෂ්ටිය නිසා නිකෙලෙස්වූ දැහැමින් ජීවත්වන සුළුවූ (බුද්ධාදී) ආර්යයන්ගේ අනුශාසනාව වළකාද උන ගසේ පීදීම මෙන් ආත්ම වධය පිණිස නිපදනේය.
Key terms: sāsana (guidance / instruction), arahant (perfected one), ariya (noble one), dhammajīvin (living by Dhamma), pāpikā diṭṭhi (wicked view), attaghāta (self-destruction), kaṭṭhaka (bamboo) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 165
Pali (dhp165:1–165:6)
Attanā hi kataṁ pāpaṁ,
attanā saṅkilissati;
Attanā akataṁ pāpaṁ,
attanāva visujjhati;
Suddhī asuddhi paccattaṁ,
nāñño aññaṁ visodhaye.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp165:1–165:6)
For it is by oneself that evil’s done,
one is corrupted by oneself.
It’s by oneself that evil’s not done,
one is purified by oneself.
Purity and impurity are personal matters,
no one can purify another.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
තමා විසින් අකුශල කර්මයක් කරණ ලද්දේ නම් තෙමේම් කෙලෙසෙන්නේය (හෙවත් තැවෙන්නේය.) තමා විසින් අකුශල කර්මයක් නොකරණ ලද්දේ නම් තෙමේම ශුද්ධ වන්නේය. ශුද්ධියද, අශුද්ධියයද තම තමන්ටමය. අනිකෙක් අනිකෙකු ශුද්ධකරන්නේ නොවේ.
Key terms: pāpa (evil), saṅkilissati (is corrupted), visujjhati (is purified), suddhi (purity), asuddhi (impurity), paccatta (personal / individual), visodhaye (would purify) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 166
Pali (dhp166:1–166:5)
Attadatthaṁ paratthena,
bahunāpi na hāpaye;
Attadatthamabhiññāya,
sadatthapasuto siyā.
Attavaggo dvādasamo.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp166:1–166:5)
Never neglect what is good for yourself
for the sake of another, however great.
Knowing well what is good for yourself,
be intent upon your heart’s goal.
>
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
බොහෝවූ පරාර්ථයෙන් ආත්මාර්ථයෙහි නොපිරිහෙලන්නේය. ආත්මාර්ථය මේයයි දැන ස්වාර්ථයෙහි (සිය වැඩෙහි) යුක්තවන්නේය.
Key terms: attadattha (one's own good), parattha (another's good), abhiññāya (having known directly / well), sadattha (one's own true goal), pasuta (intent upon / devoted to) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Textual notes
- Dhp 157-160 form the chapter's opening movement: protect oneself as beloved, establish oneself before advising others, apply one's own instruction to oneself, and gain refuge through a well-tamed self.
- Dhp 161-162 use two self-destructive images for bad conduct: evil done by oneself grinds down the foolish person, and immorality chokes the person like a creeper covering a sal tree.
- Dhp 164 uses the bamboo image for wrong view and self-destruction. The page does not expand the traditional Dhp-a story here; the commentary layer remains pending review.
- Dhp 165 is the chapter's clearest statement of personal moral responsibility: purity and impurity are paccatta (personal), and no one purifies another.
- Dhp 166 should be read within the chapter's self-training frame: the verse prioritizes one's own true welfare without adding a broader theory of altruism beyond the verse itself.
- This batch does not rewrite the canonical source blocks. The enrichment adds thematic framing, verse-level key terms, textual notes, and links while preserving the Pali, English, and Sinhala verse blocks generated from
raw/. - No registered high-risk passage is in scope.
Related pages
- dhammapada — parent text
- dhammapada 11 jaravagga — preceding vagga
- dhammapada 13 lokavagga — following vagga
- kamma — action, relevant to self-made harm and purification in Dhp 161-165
- kamma action and fruit — doctrinal concept of action and result
- virtue sila — moral conduct, opposite of the immorality in Dhp 162
- sila — Pali glossary entry for virtue / moral conduct
- panna — wisdom, related to the paṇḍita in Dhp 157-158
- arahant — the perfected ones named in Dhp 164
- fool and wise bala pandita — the wise/fool contrast in Dhp 157-163