Summary: The Pakiṇṇakavagga ("Miscellany") is the twenty-first chapter of the dhammapada, sixteen verses (Dhp 290–305) that gather practical instructions on renunciation, duty, recollection, and solitude. Though called "miscellaneous," the chapter has a clear inner movement: it begins by weighing lesser and greater happiness, contrasts negligence with mindful discipline, warns against literalizing difficult ascetic language, and then turns into a sustained portrait of the disciple of Gotama whose mind is shaped by recollection, harmlessness, and self-taming.
Themes
- Lesser happiness may be relinquished for greater happiness (Dhp 290): the dhīra (steady wise person) gives up a small pleasure when a greater happiness is seen.
- No lasting happiness comes through another's suffering (Dhp 291): one who seeks their own comfort by imposing pain on others remains entangled with vera (enmity), not freed from it.
- Negligence enlarges the taints; disciplined mindfulness diminishes them (Dhp 292–293): the chapter contrasts those who abandon what should be done with those who cultivate kāyagatā sati (mindfulness directed to the body), doing what is needful until the āsavā (taints) go to their end.
- Difficult verses should not be flattened into literal violence (Dhp 294–295): the "slaying mother and father" verses are deliberately arresting and should be handled with explicit caution; the traditional allegorical reading belongs to the commentarial layer, not to unmarked canonical paraphrase.
- The recollection sequence shapes the disciple of Gotama (Dhp 296–301): refreshed wakefulness is linked with sustained recollection of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha, together with mindfulness of the body, delight in harmlessness, and delight in cultivation.
- The gone-forth life is difficult but aimless wandering is worse (Dhp 302): both household life and going forth are described as hard; the point is not despair but clarity about what kind of "travel" actually leads beyond suffering.
- Faith, virtue, and visible goodness are legible from afar (Dhp 303–304): one who is saddha (faithful) and accomplished in sīla is honored wherever they go, while the good shine from afar like the Himalayas.
- Self-taming and forest-solitude close the chapter (Dhp 305): the miscellaneous instructions converge on one image — alone, tireless, taming oneself, one delights in the forest.
Verses
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Verse 290
Pali (dhp290:1–290:4)
Mattāsukhapariccāgā,
passe ce vipulaṁ sukhaṁ;
Caje mattāsukhaṁ dhīro,
sampassaṁ vipulaṁ sukhaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp290:1–290:4)
If by giving up material happiness
one sees abundant happiness,
the attentive would give up material happiness,
seeing the abundant happiness.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ස්වල්ප මාත්රවූ (යන්තම්) සුවය හැරීම හේතුකොටගෙණ, ඉදින් මහත්වූ නිර්වාණ සුවය දක්නේද, එහෙයින් උදාරවූ (නිර්වාණ) සුඛය දක්නා කැමැත්තාවූ ප්රාඥතෙම ඒ ස්වල්පවූ සුඛය හරණේය.
Key terms: mattāsukha (small or limited happiness), vipulaṁ sukhaṁ (abundant happiness), wise renunciation of the lesser for the greater Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 291
Pali (dhp291:1–291:4)
Paradukkhūpadhānena,
attano sukhamicchati;
Verasaṁsaggasaṁsaṭṭho,
verā so na parimuccati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp291:1–291:4)
Seeking their own happiness
by imposing suffering on others,
living intimate with enmity,
they’re not freed from enmity.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
පරහට දුක් දීමෙන් (යම් පුද්ගලයෙක්) තමහට සුව කැමති වේද, ඒ පුද්ගලතෙම වෛර සංසර්ගයෙන් මිශ්රවූයේ වෛරයෙන් නොමිදෙන්නේය.
Key terms: paradukkhūpadhāna (imposing suffering on others), vera (enmity), self-seeking that cannot escape hostility Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 292
Pali (dhp292:1–292:4)
Yañhi kiccaṁ apaviddhaṁ,
akiccaṁ pana karīyati;
Unnaḷānaṁ pamattānaṁ,
tesaṁ vaḍḍhanti āsavā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp292:1–292:4)
They dump what should be done,
and do what should not be done.
For the insolent and the negligent,
their defilements only grow.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යමක් (මහණුන් විසින්) කටයුතුවූද එය (යමෙකු විසින්) හරන ලදද, නොකළමනා දෙය වනාහි කරනු ලැබේද උස්වූ මාන නල ඇති (ස්මෘති විප්රවාහයෙන්) පමාවූ ඒ පුද්ගලයන්ට ආශ්රවයෝ වඩනාහුයි.
Key terms: kicca and akicca (what should and should not be done), unnaḷa (insolent, puffed-up), pamattā (negligent), āsavā (taints) increasing Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 293
Pali (dhp293:1–293:6)
Yesañca susamāraddhā,
niccaṁ kāyagatā sati;
Akiccaṁ te na sevanti,
kicce sātaccakārino;
Satānaṁ sampajānānaṁ,
atthaṁ gacchanti āsavā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp293:1–293:6)
Those that have properly undertaken
constant mindfulness of the body,
don’t cultivate what should not be done,
but always do what should be done.
Mindful and aware,
their defilements come to an end.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යමකුන් විසින් කායගතාසති භාවනා තොමෝ (කය ගැන සිහිය වැඩීම) සතතයෙන් මනාකොට වඩනා ලදද මහණුන් විසින් කටයුතු (සිල් පිරීම්) ආදියෙහි සතත (නිතොර) ක්රියා ඇති ඔහු (පරිෂ්කාර මණ්ඩනාදී) අකෘත්යය (අවැඩ) නොසෙව්නාහ. ඇත්තාවූ සම්පජානකාරීවූ (හොඳ කල්පනා ඇති) ඒ පුද්ගලයන්ගේ ආශ්රවයෝ ක්ෂයට යන්නාහ.
Key terms: susamāraddhā (well-undertaken), kāyagatā sati (mindfulness of the body), sātaccakārino (acting continuously, persistently), ending of the taints Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 294
Pali (dhp294:1–294:4)
Mātaraṁ pitaraṁ hantvā,
rājāno dve ca khattiye;
Raṭṭhaṁ sānucaraṁ hantvā,
anīgho yāti brāhmaṇo.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp294:1–294:4)
Having slain mother and father,
and two aristocratic kings,
and having wiped out <j>the kingdom with its tax collector,
the brahmin walks on untroubled.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මවද පියාද ක්ෂත්රිය රජුන් දෙදෙනාද නසා අනුවරයන් (අයකැමියා) සහිතවූ රටත් නසා ක්ෂීණාශ්රවතෙම නිදුක්ව නිවන් පුරයට යන්නේය.
Key terms: shocking "slaying" imagery, anīgha (untroubled), brāhmaṇa as liberated person; interpretive caution required on the literal wording Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 295
Pali (dhp295:1–295:4)
Mātaraṁ pitaraṁ hantvā,
rājāno dve ca sotthiye;
Veyagghapañcamaṁ hantvā,
anīgho yāti brāhmaṇo.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp295:1–295:4)
Having slain mother and father,
and two prosperous kings,
and a tiger as the fifth,
the brahmin walks on untroubled.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මවද (තෘෂ්ණාව) පියාද (අස්මිමානය) බ්රාහ්මණ රජුන් දෙදෙනාද නසා විචිකිච්ඡා නීවරණය (සැකය) පස් වනුකොට ඇති (නීවරණ) පස නසා ක්ෂීණාශ්රව තෙම නිදුක්ව නිවන් පුරයට යන්නේය.
Key terms: shocking "mother and father" imagery, sotthiya (prosperous or secure), veyaggha / tiger image, traditional allegorical handling belongs to commentary Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 296
Pali (dhp296:1–296:4)
Suppabuddhaṁ pabujjhanti,
sadā gotamasāvakā;
Yesaṁ divā ca ratto ca,
niccaṁ buddhagatā sati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp296:1–296:4)
The disciples of Gotama
always wake up refreshed,
who day and night
constantly recollect the Buddha.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් කෙනෙකුන් දවල්ද (ii) රාත්රියෙහිද නිතොර බුදුගුණ අරභයා උපදනා ස්මෘතිය (සිහිය) ඇද්ද ඒ බුද්ධ ශ්රාවකයෝ හැමකල්හිම යෙහෙන් නිදා පිබුදුනාහ.
Key terms: gotamasāvakā (disciples of Gotama), buddhagatā sati (recollection of the Buddha), refreshed wakefulness Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 297
Pali (dhp297:1–297:4)
Suppabuddhaṁ pabujjhanti,
sadā gotamasāvakā;
Yesaṁ divā ca ratto ca,
niccaṁ dhammagatā sati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp297:1–297:4)
The disciples of Gotama
always wake up refreshed,
who day and night
constantly recollect the teaching.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් කෙනෙකුන් දවල්ද (ii) රාත්රියෙහිද නිතොර දහම් ගුණය අරභයා උපදනා ස්මෘතිය (සිහිය) ඇද්ද ඒ බුද්ධ ශ්රාවකයෝ හැමකල්හිම යෙහෙන් නිදා පිබුදුනාහ.
Key terms: dhammagatā sati (recollection of the Dhamma), disciples of Gotama refreshed by recollecting the teaching Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 298
Pali (dhp298:1–298:4)
Suppabuddhaṁ pabujjhanti,
sadā gotamasāvakā;
Yesaṁ divā ca ratto ca,
niccaṁ saṅghagatā sati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp298:1–298:4)
The disciples of Gotama
always wake up refreshed,
who day and night
constantly recollect the Saṅgha.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් කෙනෙකුන් දවල්ද (ii) රාත්රියෙහිද නිතොර සඟ ගුණය අරභයා උපදනා ස්මෘතිය (සිහිය) ඇද්ද ඒ බුද්ධ ශ්රාවකයෝ හැමකල්හිම යෙහෙන් නිදා පිබුදුනාහ.
Key terms: saṅghagatā sati (recollection of the Saṅgha), refreshed wakefulness through recollection of the noble community Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 299
Pali (dhp299:1–299:4)
Suppabuddhaṁ pabujjhanti,
sadā gotamasāvakā;
Yesaṁ divā ca ratto ca,
niccaṁ kāyagatā sati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp299:1–299:4)
The disciples of Gotama
always wake up refreshed,
who day and night
are constantly mindful of the body.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් කෙනෙකුන් දවල්ද (ii) රාත්රියෙහිද නිතොර කය අරභයා උපදනා ස්මෘතිය (සිහිය) ඇද්ද ඒ බුද්ධ ශ්රාවකයෝ හැමකල්හිම යෙහෙන් නිදා පිබුදුනාහ.
Key terms: kāyagatā sati (mindfulness of the body), day-and-night embodied mindfulness Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 300
Pali (dhp300:1–300:4)
Suppabuddhaṁ pabujjhanti,
sadā gotamasāvakā;
Yesaṁ divā ca ratto ca,
ahiṁsāya rato mano.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp300:1–300:4)
The disciples of Gotama
always wake up refreshed,
whose minds day and night
delight in harmlessness.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් කෙනෙකුන්ගේ (ii) සිත දවල්ද රාත්රියෙහිද නිතොර කරුණා භාවනාවෙහි (වැඩීමෙහි) ඇලුනේද (iii) ඒ බුද්ධ ශ්රාවකයෝ හැම කල්හිම යෙහෙන් නිදා පුබුදිනාහ.
Key terms: ahiṁsā (harmlessness, non-harming), the mind delighting in non-violence Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 301
Pali (dhp301:1–301:4)
Suppabuddhaṁ pabujjhanti,
sadā gotamasāvakā;
Yesaṁ divā ca ratto ca,
bhāvanāya rato mano.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp301:1–301:4)
The disciples of Gotama
always wake up refreshed,
whose minds day and night
delight in meditation.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් කෙනෙකුන්ගේ (මෙහි 11 (ii) යෙදිය යුතුයි.) (මෛත්රී) භාවනාවෙහි ඇලුනේද (මෙහි 11(iii) යෙදිය යුතුයි.)
Key terms: bhāvanā (cultivation, meditation), the mind delighting in cultivation day and night Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 302
Pali (dhp302:1–302:6)
Duppabbajjaṁ durabhiramaṁ,
Durāvāsā gharā dukhā;
Dukkhosamānasaṁvāso,
Dukkhānupatitaddhagū;
Tasmā na caddhagū siyā,
Na ca dukkhānupatito siyā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp302:1–302:6)
Going forth is hard, it’s hard to be happy;
life at home is hard too, and painful,
it’s painful to stay when you’ve nothing in common.
A traveler is a prey to pain,
so don’t be a traveler,
don’t be prey to pain.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මහණ වීම දුෂ්කරයි. ශාසනයෙහි සිත් ඇලවීම දුෂ්කරයි. ආරාම වාසයද දුෂ්කරය. ගෘහ වාසයෝ දුෂ්කරයහ. අසමානවූ අදහස් ඇත්තවුන් හා එක්ව විසීම දුෂ්කරය. සංසාර නැමැති දීර්ඝ මාර්ගයට පැමිණිහු දුක්ඛයා විසින් අනුව යන්නාහු වෙති. එහෙයින් (සසර නැමැති) දුර මඟට නොපැමිණෙන්නේය. සංසාර දුක්ඛයා විසින් අනුව යන ලද්දේත් නොවන්නේය.
Key terms: duppabbajja (hard to go forth), durabhiramaṁ (hard to delight in), addhagū (traveler, wayfarer), pain in drifting without resolution Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 303
Pali (dhp303:1–303:4)
Saddho sīlena sampanno,
yasobhogasamappito;
Yaṁ yaṁ padesaṁ bhajati,
tattha tattheva pūjito.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp303:1–303:4)
One who is faithful, accomplished in ethics,
blessed with fame and wealth,
is honored in whatever place
they frequent.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
(ලෞකික ලොකොත්තර) ශ්රද්ධාවෙන් සමන්විතවූ ශීලයෙන් සමන්විතවූ, යසසින්ද භෝග සම්පත්තීන්ද යුක්තවූ, කුල පුත්රතෙම යම් යම් ප්රදේශයකට පැමිණියේ වෙයිද ඒ ඒ හැම තන්හිම පුදනු ලබන්නේයි.
Key terms: saddha (faithful), sīlena sampanno (accomplished in virtue), yasobhoga (fame and wealth), honor following visible goodness Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 304
Pali (dhp304:1–304:4)
Dūre santo pakāsenti,
himavantova pabbato;
Asantettha na dissanti,
rattiṁ khittā yathā sarā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp304:1–304:4)
The good shine from afar,
like the Himalayan peaks,
but the wicked are not seen,
like arrows scattered in the night.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
සාධූහු (හොඳ අය) දුර සිටියාහුද හිමාලය පර්වතය මෙන් (බුදු නුවණට) ප්රකට වෙති, මේ ලෝකයෙහි අසුධු පුද්ගලයෝ රාත්රියෙහි විදි සැර මෙන් නොපෙනෙන්නාහුය.
Key terms: santo (the good, the peaceful), shining from afar like the Himalayas, the unseen wicked scattered in darkness Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 305
Pali (dhp305:1–305:5)
Ekāsanaṁ ekaseyyaṁ,
eko caramatandito;
Eko damayamattānaṁ,
vanante ramito siyā.
Pakiṇṇakavaggo ekavīsatimo.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp305:1–305:5)
Sitting alone, sleeping alone,
tirelessly wandering alone;
one who tames themselves alone
would delight within a forest.
>
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
හුදෙකලාව ඉඳීම සෙවුනේය. හුදෙකලාව සයනය කිරීම (නිදීම) සෙවුනේය. (ජංඝා බලයෙන් පිඬු සිඟා ජීවත් වන බැවින්) කුසීත නොව, (සතර ඉරියව්වම) හුදෙකලාව හැසිරෙමින් තමා හුදෙකලාව දමනය කරන්නේ (මහණතෙම) අරණ්යයෙහිම ඇලෙන්නේය.
Key terms: sitting alone, sleeping alone, atandita (untiring), damayam attānaṁ (taming oneself), delight in the forest Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Textual notes
- Dhp 294–295 require unusually careful handling. The traditional Theravāda reading treats the violent imagery allegorically and explains the terms through defilements and obstacles, but that explanation belongs to the commentarial layer. On the text page itself, the safest editorial stance is to mark the difficulty, preserve the source block, and avoid presenting the allegory as if the verse itself had already spelled it out.
- Dhp 296–301 form a six-verse litany and should be read together rather than atomized. The repeated opening is not redundant filler: it presents the disciple's wakefulness as grounded in distinct but mutually reinforcing contemplative orientations.
- Dhp 302–305 juxtapose companionship and solitude without contradiction. The chapter first praises right recollection and visible goodness among disciples, then ends by valuing aloneness when it serves self-taming rather than isolation for its own sake.