Summary: The Lokavagga ("The World") is the thirteenth chapter of the dhammapada, twelve verses on the world as a field of negligence, wrong view, delusion, and rare escape (Dhp 167-178). It begins by warning against low conduct, negligence, and wrong view (Dhp 167), presents the world as a bubble, mirage, and decorated royal chariot (Dhp 170-171), and closes by ranking the fruit of stream-entry above rule over the earth, heaven, or all worlds (Dhp 178).
Themes
- Not increasing the world (Dhp 167): low conduct, negligence, and wrong view are rejected as ways of becoming a lokavaḍḍhana (one who increases / perpetuates the world).
- Good conduct in both worlds (Dhp 168-169): the paired verses call for wakefulness, good conduct, and living by Dhamma, with ease in this world and the next.
- Seeing through the world (Dhp 170): the world is to be viewed like a bubble and mirage; one who sees in this way is not seen by the King of Death.
- The decorated world and the discerning (Dhp 171): the world is compared to a decorated royal chariot where fools founder, while the discerning have no bond.
- From heedlessness to light (Dhp 172-173): the person who turns from heedlessness, or whose bad deed is covered by good, lights up the world like the moon freed from clouds.
- Rarity of clear seeing and escape (Dhp 174-175): few clearly see, few go to heaven, and the wise leave the world after defeating Māra and his legions.
- Speech, giving, and stream-entry (Dhp 176-178): false speech opens the way to every evil, generosity leads to happiness in the hereafter, and stream-entry surpasses every worldly attainment.
Verses
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Verse 167
Pali (dhp167:1–167:4)
Hīnaṁ dhammaṁ na seveyya,
pamādena na saṁvase;
Micchādiṭṭhiṁ na seveyya,
na siyā lokavaḍḍhano.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp167:1–167:4)
Don’t resort to lowly things,
don’t abide in negligence,
don’t resort to wrong views,
don’t perpetuate the world.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
හීනවූ (රූපාදී කාමගුණ) ධර්මයන් සේවනය නොකරන්නේය. ප්රමාදය හා එක්ව නොවසන්නේය. මිථ්යාදෘෂ්ටියද සේවනය නොකරන්නේය. ලොව වඩන්නෙක් නොවන්නේය.
Key terms: hīna dhamma (lowly things), pamāda (negligence / heedlessness), micchādiṭṭhi (wrong view), lokavaḍḍhana (one who increases / perpetuates the world) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 168
Pali (dhp168:1–168:4)
Uttiṭṭhe nappamajjeyya,
dhammaṁ sucaritaṁ care;
Dhammacārī sukhaṁ seti,
asmiṁ loke paramhi ca.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp168:1–168:4)
Get up, don’t be heedless,
live by principle, with good conduct.
For one of good conduct sleeps at ease,
in this world and the next.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ගෙපිළිවෙළින් පිඩු සිඟීමෙහි නොපමා වන්නේය. ඒ සුචරිත ධර්මය සකස්කොට කරන්නේය. ධර්මයෙහි හැසිරෙන මහණතෙම මෙලොව්හිද පරලොව්හිද සුවසේ වසන්නේය.
Key terms: uttiṭṭhe (get up / arise), nappamajjeyya (would not be heedless), sucarita (good conduct), dhammacārī (one who lives by Dhamma), asmiṁ loke paramhi ca (in this world and the next) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 169
Pali (dhp169:1–169:4)
Dhammaṁ care sucaritaṁ,
na naṁ duccaritaṁ care;
Dhammacārī sukhaṁ seti,
asmiṁ loke paramhi ca.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp169:1–169:4)
Live by principle, with good conduct,
don’t conduct yourself badly.
For one of good conduct sleeps at ease,
in this world and the next.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
සුචරිත ධර්මය මනාකොට පුරන්නේය. දුශ්චරිත ධර්මය නපුරුකොට නොපුරන්නේය. ධර්මයෙහි හැසිරෙන මහණතෙම මෙලොව්හිද පරලොව්හිද සුවසේ වසන්නේය.
Key terms: dhamma (Dhamma / principle), sucarita (good conduct), duccarita (bad conduct), dhammacārī (one who lives by Dhamma) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 170
Pali (dhp170:1–170:4)
Yathā pubbuḷakaṁ passe,
yathā passe marīcikaṁ;
Evaṁ lokaṁ avekkhantaṁ,
maccurājā na passati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp170:1–170:4)
Look upon the world
as a bubble
or a mirage,
then the King of Death won’t see you.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
දිය බුබුලක් යම්සේ බලාද මිරිඟු යම්සේ බලාද එපරිද්දෙන්ම ලෝකය (නුවණැසින්) බලන මහණහු මරණ රජතෙම නොදක්නේය.
Key terms: pubbuḷaka (bubble), marīcika (mirage), loka (world), avekkhanta (one who observes / looks upon), maccurājā (King of Death) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 171
Pali (dhp171:1–171:4)
Etha passathimaṁ lokaṁ,
cittaṁ rājarathūpamaṁ;
Yattha bālā visīdanti,
natthi saṅgo vijānataṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp171:1–171:4)
Come, see this world decked out
like a fancy royal chariot.
Here fools founder,
but the discerning are not chained.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යමක (ආත්මභාවයෙක්හි) අඥානයෝ (දෘෂ්ටිවශයෙන්) ගැලෙද්ද, නුවණැත්තවුන්ට ඇලීමෙක් නැද්ද විසිතුරුවූ රාජ රථයක් වැනිවූ මේ ආත්මභාවය එවු, බලවු.
Key terms: rājarathūpama (like a royal chariot), bāla (fool), visīdanti (founder / sink), saṅga (bond / attachment), vijānata (the discerning) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 172
Pali (dhp172:1–172:4)
Yo ca pubbe pamajjitvā,
pacchā so nappamajjati;
Somaṁ lokaṁ pabhāseti,
abbhā muttova candimā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp172:1–172:4)
He who once was heedless,
but turned to heedfulness,
lights up the world
like the moon freed from clouds.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් පුද්ගලයෙක් පෙර ප්රමාදව පසුව නොපමාවේද ඒ පුද්ගලතෙම වළාපටලයකින් මිදුනාවූ පූර්ණචන්ද්රයා මෙන් මේ ලෝකය ඥානාලෝකයෙන් බබුලුවන්නේය.
Key terms: pamajjitvā (having been heedless), nappamajjati (is not heedless), pabhāseti (lights up), abbhā mutta (freed from clouds), candimā (moon) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 173
Pali (dhp173:1–173:4)
Yassa pāpaṁ kataṁ kammaṁ,
kusalena pidhīyati;
Somaṁ lokaṁ pabhāseti,
abbhā muttova candimā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp173:1–173:4)
Someone whose bad deed
is supplanted by the good,
lights up the world,
like the moon freed from clouds.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් පුද්ගලයක්හු විසින් කරණලද අකුශල කර්මය (අර්හත්මාර්ග චිත්තය හා යෙදුනු චේතනායි කියන ලද කුශලයෙන්) මුවාවූයේද ඒ පුද්ගලතෙම වළාපටලකින් මිදුණු (පුන්) සඳ මෙන් මේ ලෝකය බබුලුවන්නේය.
Key terms: pāpa kamma (bad deed), kusala (good / wholesome), pidhīyati (is covered / supplanted), pabhāseti (lights up) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 174
Pali (dhp174:1–174:4)
Andhabhūto ayaṁ loko,
tanukettha vipassati;
Sakuṇo jālamuttova,
appo saggāya gacchati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp174:1–174:4)
Blind is the world,
few are those who clearly see.
Only a handful go to heaven,
like a bird freed from a net.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මේ ලෞකික මහජන තෙමේ (නුවණැස් නැති හෙයින්) අන්ධවූයේය. (මේ මහා ජනයා අතුරෙහි) ස්වල්පවූ සත්වයෙක් අනිත්යාදී වශයෙන් (පඤ්චස්කන්ධය) දක්නේය. දැලින් මිදුණු වටුවෙකු මෙන් ස්වල්පවූ සත්වයෙක්ම ස්වර්ගයට යන්නේය.
Key terms: andhabhūta (blind), vipassati (clearly sees), sakuṇa (bird), jāla (net), sagga (heaven) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 175
Pali (dhp175:1–175:4)
Haṁsādiccapathe yanti,
ākāse yanti iddhiyā;
Nīyanti dhīrā lokamhā,
jetvā māraṁ savāhiniṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp175:1–175:4)
Swans fly by the sun’s path,
psychic sages fly through space.
The attentive leave the world,
having vanquished Māra with his legions.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
හංසයෝ සූර්යය මාර්ගයෙහි යෙති. යොගීහු සෘද්ධියෙන් ආකාශයෙහි යෙති, ප්රාඥයෝ සේනාව සහිතවූ මාරයා පරදවා ලෝකයෙන් නික්මෙති.
Key terms: haṁsa (swan), ādiccapatha (sun's path), iddhi (spiritual power), dhīra (wise / steady one), māra (Māra), savāhinī (with an army) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 176
Pali (dhp176:1–176:4)
Ekaṁ dhammaṁ atītassa,
musāvādissa jantuno;
Vitiṇṇaparalokassa,
natthi pāpaṁ akāriyaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp176:1–176:4)
When a personage, spurning the hereafter,
transgresses in just one thing—
lying—
there is no evil they would not do.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
එකම (වාක්සත්ය) ධර්මය ඉක්මවූ, බොරු (බොහෝකොට) කියන සුලුවූ තරණය නොකළ පරලෝ ඇති සත්වයා විසින් නොකටහැකි අකුශලයෙක් නම් නැත.
Key terms: eka dhamma (one thing / one principle), musāvāda (false speech / lying), vitiṇṇaparaloka (one who has rejected the next world), pāpa (evil) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 177
Pali (dhp177:1–177:4)
Na ve kadariyā devalokaṁ vajanti,
Bālā have nappasaṁsanti dānaṁ;
Dhīro ca dānaṁ anumodamāno,
Teneva so hoti sukhī parattha.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp177:1–177:4)
The miserly don’t ascend to heaven,
it takes a fool to not praise giving.
The attentive celebrate giving,
and so find happiness in the hereafter.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මසුරෝ ඒකාන්තයෙන් දෙව්ලොවට නොයති, අඥාන ජනයෝ ඒකාන්තයෙන් දානයට ප්රසංශා නොකරති. දානය අනුමෝදන් වන්නාවූ ප්රඥාවූ ඒ පුරුෂතෙම වනාහි ඒ කුශල කර්මයෙන්ම පරලොවද සැප ඇත්තෙක් වන්නේය.
Key terms: kadariya (miserly one), devaloka (deva world), dāna (giving), dhīra (wise / steady one), anumodamāna (rejoicing in), parattha (in the hereafter) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 178
Pali (dhp178:1–178:5)
Pathabyā ekarajjena,
saggassa gamanena vā;
Sabbalokādhipaccena,
sotāpattiphalaṁ varaṁ.
Lokavaggo terasamo.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp178:1–178:5)
The fruit of stream-entry is better
than being the one king of the earth,
than going to heaven,
than lordship over all the world.
>
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මුළු පොළොව (සක්විති) රජකමටද ස්වර්ගයට යාමටද වඩා මේ සියලු ලෝකයෙහිද අධිපති භාවයටද වඩා සෝවාන් ඵලයම උතුමි.
Key terms: ekarajja (sole kingship), saggassa gamana (going to heaven), sabbalokādhipacca (lordship over all worlds), sotāpattiphala (fruit of stream-entry) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Textual notes
- Dhp 168-169 form a close pair: both end by saying that the Dhamma-practitioner sleeps at ease in this world and the next, while the opening lines shift from "get up, do not be heedless" to "live by Dhamma, with good conduct."
- Dhp 170-171 give two views of the world: first as fragile and deceptive like a bubble or mirage, then as attractive and dangerous like a decorated royal chariot.
- Dhp 172-173 share the moon freed from clouds image. The first verse applies it to one who turns from heedlessness; the second applies it to one whose bad deed is covered by good.
- Dhp 174-175 move from rarity to release: few clearly see, few escape the net, and the dhīra leave the world after defeating Māra.
- Dhp 176-178 close the chapter by contrasting moral collapse through lying, happiness through giving, and the superiority of stream-entry over worldly or heavenly power.
- 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 12 attavagga — preceding vagga
- dhammapada 14 buddhavagga — following vagga
- heedfulness appamada — heedfulness, central to Dhp 167-172
- kamma — action and its fruit, relevant to Dhp 173 and 176-177
- kamma action and fruit — doctrinal concept of action and result
- mara — Māra, defeated in Dhp 175
- panna — wisdom / discernment, relevant to Dhp 171 and 174
- sati — mindfulness, practical counterpart to non-negligence
- virtue sila — moral conduct praised in Dhp 168-169
- fool and wise bala pandita — contrast between fools and the discerning