Summary: The Buddhavagga ("The Buddha") is the fourteenth chapter of the dhammapada, eighteen verses on the Buddha, the path taught by Buddhas, true refuge, and the merit of honoring the awakened (Dhp 179-196). It moves from the tracklessness of one whose craving is gone (Dhp 179-180), through concise instructions on avoiding evil, cultivating good, restraint, moderation, and higher mind (Dhp 183-185), to the refuge of the Buddha, Dhamma, Saṅgha, and Four Noble Truths (Dhp 188-192).
Themes
- The Buddha as unconquerable and untraceable (Dhp 179-180): the Buddha's victory cannot be undone, and craving is absent as the "weaver" and "clinger" that would lead one on.
- Rarity and opportunity (Dhp 182, 193-194): human birth, life, hearing the true Dhamma, and the arising of Buddhas are presented as rare and fortunate.
- The instruction of the Buddhas (Dhp 183-185): the verses summarize not doing evil, embracing good, purifying the mind, patience, non-injury, restraint, moderation in food, seclusion, and commitment to higher mind.
- Sensual pleasures and craving (Dhp 186-187): sensual desires are not satisfied even by money or celestial pleasures, while the disciple of the fully awakened Buddha delights in the ending of craving.
- True and false refuge (Dhp 188-192): fearful resort to mountains, groves, parks, and shrines does not release from suffering; refuge in Buddha, Dhamma, Saṅgha, and seeing the Four Noble Truths is called secure and supreme.
- Veneration of the awakened (Dhp 195-196): honoring those who have transcended proliferation and grief, who are quenched and fearless, is said to yield immeasurable merit.
Verses
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Verse 179
Pali (dhp179:1–179:4)
Yassa jitaṁ nāvajīyati,
Jitaṁ yassa noyāti koci loke;
Taṁ buddhamanantagocaraṁ,
Apadaṁ kena padena nessatha.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp179:1–179:4)
He whose victory may not be undone,
a victory unrivaled in all the world;
by what track would you trace that Buddha,
who leaves no track in his infinite range?
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යමකු (බුදු කෙනෙකුන්) වසින් දිනනලද කේලශ සමූහය නපුරුකොට දිනන ලද්දේනම් නොවේද, ඒ බුදුන් විසින් දිනනලද කෙලෙස් ලෝකයෙහි කිසි එකද ක්ලේශයෙක් අනුව නොයේද (ii) කෙළවරක් නැති ගෝචර ඇති රාගාදී එකද කාරණයක් නැති (ii) ඒ බුදුන් කවර මඟකින් තොපගේ වසයට ගෙණයවුද,
Key terms: jita (victory, conquest), anantagocara (infinite range, limitless sphere), apada (trackless, leaving no track), nessatha (you would trace / lead) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 180
Pali (dhp180:1–180:4)
Yassa jālinī visattikā,
Taṇhā natthi kuhiñci netave;
Taṁ buddhamanantagocaraṁ,
Apadaṁ kena padena nessatha.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp180:1–180:4)
Of craving, the weaver, the clinger, he has none:
so where can he be traced?
By what track would you trace that Buddha,
who leaves no track in his infinite range?
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් සම්බුදු කෙනෙකුන් (කිසි භවයකට පමුණුවන්නට) ජාලිනී නම් වූ විසත්තිකා නම්වූ රූපතෘෂ්ණාදී තෘෂ්ණාවක් නැත්තේද (මෙහි මේ වර්ගයේ 1 (ii) ඡෙදය යෙදිය යුතුයි.)
Key terms: jālinī (the weaver — personification of craving), visattikā (the clinger, sticky one), taṇhā (craving), netave (to trace, to lead) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 181
Pali (dhp181:1–181:4)
Ye jhānapasutā dhīrā,
nekkhammūpasame ratā;
Devāpi tesaṁ pihayanti,
sambuddhānaṁ satīmataṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp181:1–181:4)
The attentive intent on absorption,
who love the peace of renunciation,
the Buddhas, ever mindful,
are envied by even the gods.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් ප්රාඥ කෙනෙක් ධ්යානයෙහි නියුක්තද, නෛෂ්ක්රම්යයෙහි ඇලුනාහුද ස්මෘතිමත්වූ ඒ සම්බුදුන්ට දෙවියෝද කැමතිවෙති.
Key terms: jhānapasuta (intent on absorption), dhīra (wise, steady one), nekkhamma (renunciation), upasama (peace, settling), sambuddha (fully awakened one), satīmata (mindful one) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 182
Pali (dhp182:1–182:4)
Kiccho manussapaṭilābho,
kicchaṁ maccāna jīvitaṁ;
Kicchaṁ saddhammassavanaṁ,
kiccho buddhānamuppādo.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp182:1–182:4)
It’s hard to gain a human birth;
the life of mortals is hard;
it’s hard to hear the true teaching;
the arising of Buddhas is hard.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මිනිසත් බව ලැබීම දුෂ්කරය, සත්වයන්ගේ ජීවිතය දුක්ය, ධර්ම ශ්රවණය දුර්ලභය, බුදුවරයන්ගේ ඉපදීම දුර්ලභය.
Key terms: paṭilābho (gaining, acquisition), maccāna (of mortals), saddhammassavana (hearing the true Dhamma), buddhānamuppādo (arising of Buddhas) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 183
Pali (dhp183:1–183:4)
Sabbapāpassa akaraṇaṁ,
kusalassa upasampadā;
Sacittapariyodapanaṁ,
etaṁ buddhāna sāsanaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp183:1–183:4)
Not to do any evil;
to embrace the good;
to purify one’s mind:
this is the instruction of the Buddhas.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
සියලු අකුශල කර්මයාගේ (පව්) නොකිරීමද, සියලු කුශල කර්මයාගේ (පින්) ඉපදවීමද තමාගේ සිත පිරිසිදු කිරීමද, යනමේ සියල්ල සියලු බුදුවරයන්ගේ අනුශාසනයයි.
Key terms: akaraṇa (not doing), kusalassa upasampadā (embracing the good), sacittapariyodapana (purification of one's own mind), sāsana (instruction, teaching) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 184
Pali (dhp184:1–184:4)
Khantī paramaṁ tapo titikkhā,
Nibbānaṁ paramaṁ vadanti buddhā;
Na hi pabbajito parūpaghātī,
Na samaṇo hoti paraṁ viheṭhayanto.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp184:1–184:4)
Patient acceptance is the ultimate fervor.
Extinguishment is the ultimate, say the Buddhas.
No true renunciate injures another,
nor does an ascetic hurt another.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ඉවසීමවූ ක්ෂාන්ති තොමෝ උතුම්වූ තපසෙක, සියලු බුදුවරයෝ නිර්වාණය උතුම්යයි කියති. පරහට හිංසා කරණ සුලුවූයේ පැවිද්දෙක් නොවෙයි, පරහට පීඩා කරන්නේ මහණෙක් නොවෙයි.
Key terms: khantī (patience, forbearance), tapo (austerity, fervor), titikkhā (endurance), nibbāna (extinguishment, unbinding), pabbajita (renunciate), samaṇa (ascetic) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 185
Pali (dhp185:1–185:6)
Anūpavādo anūpaghāto,
Pātimokkhe ca saṁvaro;
Mattaññutā ca bhattasmiṁ,
Pantañca sayanāsanaṁ;
Adhicitte ca āyogo,
Etaṁ buddhāna sāsanaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp185:1–185:6)
Not speaking ill nor doing harm;
restraint in the monastic code;
moderation in eating;
staying in remote lodgings;
commitment to the higher mind—
this is the instruction of the Buddhas.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
උපවාදයක් (බිණීමක්) නොකිරීමද, උපඝාතයක් (හිංසාවක්) නොකිරීමද, ප්රාතිමොක්ෂ සංවර ශීලයෙහි සංවරයද ආහාරයෙහි පමණ දන්නා බවද (ගමට) දුරුවූ සේනාසනයන්හි ඇල්මද (රූපාරූප අෂ්ට) සමාපත්තියෙහි සතතයෙන් යෙදීමද යන මේ සියල්ල සියලු බුදුවරයන්ගේ අනුශාසනයයි.
Key terms: anūpavāda (not speaking ill), anūpaghāto (not doing harm), pātimokkha (monastic code), saṁvara (restraint), mattaññutā (moderation, knowing the measure), panta (remote, secluded), adhicitta (higher mind), āyoga (commitment, application) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 186
Pali (dhp186:1–186:4)
Na kahāpaṇavassena,
titti kāmesu vijjati;
Appassādā dukhā kāmā,
iti viññāya paṇḍito.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp186:1–186:4)
Even if it were raining money,
you’d not be sated in sensual pleasures.
An astute person understands that sensual pleasures
offer little gratification and much suffering.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
කහවණු වැස්සෙනුදු (වස්තු, ක්ලේශ) කාමයන්හි තෘප්තියක් නැත. කාමයෝ ආශ්වාද රහිතයහ. (බොහෝ) දුක් ඇත්තාහ, නුවණැති මහණතෙම මෙසේ දැන
Key terms: kahāpaṇa (coin, money), titti (satiety, satisfaction), kāma (sensual pleasure), appassāda (little gratification), paṇḍita (wise person, astute one) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 187
Pali (dhp187:1–187:4)
Api dibbesu kāmesu,
ratiṁ so nādhigacchati;
Taṇhakkhayarato hoti,
sammāsambuddhasāvako.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp187:1–187:4)
Thus they find no delight
even in celestial pleasures.
A disciple of the fully awakened Buddha
delights in the ending of craving.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
හෙතෙම දිව්යවූ පඤ්චකාමයෙහිදු ඇල්මකට නොපැමිණෙන්නේය. ඒ බුද්ධ ශ්රාවකතෙම (තෘෂ්ණාව) ගෙවීමෙහි ඇලුනේ වන්නේය.
Key terms: dibba (celestial, divine), rati (delight, pleasure), taṇhakkhaya (ending of craving), sammāsambuddhasāvaka (disciple of the fully awakened Buddha) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 188
Pali (dhp188:1–188:4)
Bahuṁ ve saraṇaṁ yanti,
pabbatāni vanāni ca;
Ārāmarukkhacetyāni,
manussā bhayatajjitā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp188:1–188:4)
So many go for refuge
to mountains and forest groves,
to shrines in tended parks;
those people are driven by fear.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
භයින් තැතිගත් බොහෝ මිනිස්සු පර්වතයන්ද වනයන්ද ආරාමයන්ද චෛත්ය වෘක්ෂයන්ද ඒකාන්තයෙන් සරණ යන්නාහ.
Key terms: saraṇa (refuge), pabbata (mountain), vana (forest grove), ārāma (park, monastery), cetiya (shrine), bhayatajjitā (driven by fear) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 189
Pali (dhp189:1–189:4)
Netaṁ kho saraṇaṁ khemaṁ,
netaṁ saraṇamuttamaṁ;
Netaṁ saraṇamāgamma,
sabbadukkhā pamuccati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp189:1–189:4)
But such refuge is no sanctuary,
it is no supreme refuge.
By going to that refuge,
you’re not released from all suffering.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මේ සියලු සරණයම ක්ෂෙම නොවෙයි. උත්තමද නොවෙයි. මේ (පවර්තාදී) සරණයට පැමිණ සියලු (සංසාර) දුක්ඛයෙන් (සත්වතෙම) නොමිදෙන්නේය.
Key terms: khema (sanctuary, safety), uttama (supreme, highest), pamuccati (released, freed) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 190
Pali (dhp190:1–190:4)
Yo ca buddhañca dhammañca,
saṅghañca saraṇaṁ gato;
Cattāri ariyasaccāni,
sammappaññāya passati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp190:1–190:4)
One gone for refuge to the Buddha,
to his teaching and to the Saṅgha,
sees the four noble truths
with right understanding:
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යමෙක් බුදුන්ද ධර්මයද සංඝයාද සරණ ගියේද චතුරාර්යය සත්යයන් මනාකොට විදර්ශනා ඥානයෙන් දක්නේවේද?
Key terms: buddha (the Awakened One), dhamma (the teaching), saṅgha (the community), ariyasacca (noble truth), sammappaññā (right understanding / wisdom) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 191
Pali (dhp191:1–191:4)
Dukkhaṁ dukkhasamuppādaṁ,
dukkhassa ca atikkamaṁ;
Ariyaṁ caṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ,
dukkhūpasamagāminaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp191:1–191:4)
suffering, suffering’s origin,
suffering’s transcendence,
and the noble eightfold path
that leads to the stilling of suffering.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
දුක්ඛසත්යයද, සමුදය සත්යයද, (ඒ දුක්ඛයාගේ හික්මීමට කාරණවූ) නිරෝධ සත්යයද, දුක්ඛනිරොධයට පමුණුවන්නාවූ ආර්යය අෂ්ටාංගික සංඛ්යාත මාර්ග සත්යයද (මනාකොට නුවණැසින් දක්නේවේද)
Key terms: dukkha (suffering), dukkhasamuppāda (origin of suffering), atikkama (transcendence, going beyond), ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga (noble eightfold path), dukkūpasama (stilling of suffering) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 192
Pali (dhp192:1–192:4)
Etaṁ kho saraṇaṁ khemaṁ,
etaṁ saraṇamuttamaṁ;
Etaṁ saraṇamāgamma,
sabbadukkhā pamuccati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp192:1–192:4)
Such refuge is a sanctuary,
it is the supreme refuge.
By going to that refuge,
you’re released from all suffering.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මේ සරණය ක්ෂෙමය. මේ සරණය උතුම්ය. මේ සරණයට පැමිණ සියලු සංසාර දුක්ඛයෙන් සත්වතෙම මිදෙන්නේය.
Key terms: khema (sanctuary, safety), uttama (supreme, highest), pamuccati (released, freed) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 193
Pali (dhp193:1–193:4)
Dullabho purisājañño,
na so sabbattha jāyati;
Yattha so jāyati dhīro,
taṁ kulaṁ sukhamedhati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp193:1–193:4)
It’s hard to find a thoroughbred man:
they’re not born just anywhere.
A family where that attentive one is born
prospers in happiness.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
උතුම් පුරුෂවූ (සම්යක් සම්බුද්ධ) තෙමේ දුර්ලභය. ඒ (සම්යක් සම්බුද්ධ) තෙම හැමතන්හිම නූපදනේය. ඒ ප්රාඥතෙම යම් කුලයක උපදනේවේද, ඒ කුලය සුවයට පැමිණෙන්නේය.
Key terms: purisājañña (thoroughbred man, noble person), dhīra (wise one, steady one), kula (family, clan), sukha (happiness, prosperity) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 194
Pali (dhp194:1–194:4)
Sukho buddhānamuppādo,
sukhā saddhammadesanā;
Sukhā saṅghassa sāmaggī,
samaggānaṁ tapo sukho.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp194:1–194:4)
Happy, the arising of Buddhas!
Happy, the teaching of Dhamma!
Happy is the harmony of the Saṅgha,
and the striving of the harmonious is happy.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
බුදුවරයන්ගේ ඉපැත්ම සුවය. ධර්ම දේශනාවද සුවය සංඝයාගේ සමගිබව සුවය. සමගවුවන් (භික්ෂුන්) ගේ තපසද සුවය.
Key terms: buddhānamuppādo (arising of Buddhas), saddhammadesanā (teaching of the true Dhamma), saṅghasāmaggī (harmony of the Saṅgha), samagga (harmonious, united), tapo (striving, austerity) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 195
Pali (dhp195:1–195:4)
Pūjārahe pūjayato,
buddhe yadi va sāvake;
Papañcasamatikkante,
tiṇṇasokapariddave.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp195:1–195:4)
When a person venerates the worthy—
the Buddha or his disciple,
who have transcended proliferation,
and have left behind grief and lamentation,
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
පූජාවට සුදුසුවු, (ත්රිවිධ) ප්රපඤ්චයන් මනාකොට ඉක්මවූ, ඉක්මවූ ශෝක වැලපීම් දුක්ඛයන් ඇති බුදුවරයන්ද, නැතහොත්, බුදු සවුවන්ද යමෙක් පුදාද?
Key terms: pūjā (veneration, worship), papañca (proliferation, conceptual elaboration), samatikkanta (transcended, gone beyond), soka (grief), pariddava (lamentation) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 196
Pali (dhp196:1–196:4)
Te tādise pūjayato,
nibbute akutobhaye;
Na sakkā puññaṁ saṅkhātuṁ,
imettamapi kenaci.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp196:1–196:4)
quenched, fearing nothing from any quarter—
the merit of one venerating such as these,
cannot be calculated by anyone,
saying it is just this much.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
නිවීගිය සිත් ඇති, කොයිනුත් බිය නැති, එබඳුවු උන්වහන්සේලා පුදන්නහුගේ පින්කම් මෙතෙකැයි ගණින්නට කිසිවෙකු විසිනුදු නොහැකි.
Key terms: nibbuta (quenched, cooled), akutobhaya (fearing nothing from any quarter), puñña (merit), saṅkhātuṁ (to calculate, measure) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Textual notes
- Dhp 179-180 form an emphatic pair: both describe the Buddha as trackless and of infinite range, while Dhp 180 explains this through the absence of craving.
- Dhp 183-185 form a compact instruction sequence: do no evil, embrace the good, purify the mind, endure patiently, avoid harming, live restrained, eat moderately, dwell secluded, and commit to the higher mind.
- Dhp 188-192 contrast fear-driven refuges with the secure refuge of Buddha, Dhamma, Saṅgha, and the Four Noble Truths seen with right understanding.
- Dhp 193-194 frame the arising of a Buddha, the teaching of the true Dhamma, and the harmony of the Saṅgha as rare and happy events.
- Dhp 195-196 close with veneration: the merit of honoring those who have transcended proliferation and grief is said to be beyond calculation.
- 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 13 lokavagga — preceding vagga
- dhammapada 15 sukhavagga — following vagga
- buddha — person page
- sammasambuddha — concept page for the fully awakened Buddha
- truths sacca — concept page for the Four Noble Truths (Dhp 190–191)
- nibbana — glossary entry for extinguishment / unbinding
- jhana — concept page for meditative absorption (Dhp 181)
- virtue sila — concept page for moral conduct (Dhp 183–185)
- saddhamma — glossary entry for the true Dhamma (Dhp 182, 194)
- samsara — concept page for the round of rebirth (Dhp 182)
- magga — concept page for the path (Dhp 191)
- arahant — concept page for the worthy one (Dhp 196)