Summary: The Sukhavagga ("Happiness") is the fifteenth chapter of the dhammapada, twelve verses (Dhp 197–208) on true happiness as non-hostility, health, contentment, freedom from possessions, and the ultimate peace of nibbāna. It opens with a triad on living happily amid hostility, illness, and greed (Dhp 197–199), moves through the rapture of the possessionless and the peace beyond victory and defeat (Dhp 200–201), and culminates in the famous declaration that there is no bliss beyond peace and that extinguishment is the ultimate happiness (Dhp 202–204). The chapter closes with seclusion, good companionship, and the call to follow the wise (Dhp 205–208).
Themes
- Happiness as non-hostility, health, and contentment (Dhp 197–199): the opening triad repeats the same structure — "let us live very happily" — through three pairs of contrasts: loving among the hostile, healthy among the ailing, and content among the greedy. The happiness described is not pleasure-seeking but an inward stability maintained in adverse social conditions.
- Freedom from possessions and spiritual rapture (Dhp 200): the verse shifts from social contrast to internal freedom — "we who have nothing" — and compares the practitioner to the ābhassara gods who feed on rapture (pīti). This is a Dhammapada image of renunciation as abundance rather than deprivation.
- The futility of victory and defeat (Dhp 201): victory breeds enmity, the defeated sleep badly, but the peaceful have left both behind. The verse reframes the ordinary human pursuit of dominance as inherently unstable and proposes upasama (peace) as the resolution.
- Ultimate happiness as peace and Nibbāna (Dhp 202–204): Dhp 202 declares there is no fire like greed, no crime like hate, no suffering like the aggregates, and no bliss beyond peace. Dhp 203 identifies hunger as the worst illness and conditions as the worst suffering, with extinguishment as the ultimate happiness. Dhp 204 frames health, contentment, trust, and Nibbāna as the four paramount goods. These verses are the chapter's doctrinal peak.
- Seclusion and the joy of Dhamma (Dhp 205): having tasted the nectar of seclusion (paviveka) and the nectar of peace (upasama), one is free of stress and evil; the verse exhorts the practitioner to drink the joyous nectar of truth. It links withdrawal from society with the positive joy of understanding.
- Companionship and following the wise (Dhp 206–208): the closing triad moves from association with noble ones, through the pain of living with fools, to the culminating image of following a true person as the moon follows the stars. The progression mirrors the opening: happiness begins in non-hostility and ends in wise companionship.
Verses
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Verse 197
Pali (dhp197:1–197:4)
Susukhaṁ vata jīvāma,
verinesu averino;
Verinesu manussesu,
viharāma averino.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp197:1–197:4)
Let us live so very happily,
loving among the hostile.
Among hostile humans,
let us live with love.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
වෛරීවූ මනුෂ්යයන් අතුරෙහි, අවෛරීවූවෝ (අපි) මනුෂ්යයන් වෛරීව පවත්නා කල්හි අවෛරීව වසමෝද, (එසේවූ අපි) ඒකාන්තයෙන් ඉතා සුවසේ ජීවත්වෙමු.
Key terms: avera (non-hostility, freedom from enmity), verin (hostile one, enemy) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 198
Pali (dhp198:1–198:4)
Susukhaṁ vata jīvāma,
āturesu anāturā;
Āturesu manussesu,
viharāma anāturā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp198:1–198:4)
Let us live so very happily,
healthy among the ailing.
Among ailing humans
let us live healthily.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ආතුරවූ මනුෂ්යයන් අතුරෙහි ආතුරනොවූ (අපි) මනුෂ්යයන් ආතුරව පවත්නාකල්හි ආතුර නොව වසමෝද (එසේවූ අපි) ඒකාන්තයෙන් ඉතා සුවසේ ජීවත් වෙමු.
Key terms: anātura (healthy, free from illness), ātura (afflicted, ailing) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 199
Pali (dhp199:1–199:4)
Susukhaṁ vata jīvāma,
ussukesu anussukā;
Ussukesu manussesu,
viharāma anussukā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp199:1–199:4)
Let us live so very happily,
content among the greedy.
Among greedy humans,
let us live content.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
(පඤ්චකාම ගුණ සෙවීමෙහි) උත්සාහවත්වූ මනුෂ්යයන් අතුරෙහි නිරුත්සාහවූ (අපි) මනුෂ්යයන් උත්සාහවත්ව පවත්නාකල්හි නිරුත්සාහව වසමෝද (එසේවූ අපි) සුවසේ ජීවත් වෙමු.
Key terms: anussukā (free from greed/zeal, content), ussuka (zealous, greedy) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 200
Pali (dhp200:1–200:4)
Susukhaṁ vata jīvāma,
yesaṁ no natthi kiñcanaṁ;
Pītibhakkhā bhavissāma,
devā ābhassarā yathā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp200:1–200:4)
Let us live so very happily,
we who have nothing.
We shall feed on rapture,
like the gods of streaming radiance.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම්බඳුවූ අපට රාගාදී කිසි පළිබොධයක් නැද්ද (එසේවූ අපි) ඒකාන්තයෙන් සුවසේ ජීවත්වෙමු. ආභස්සර බ්රහ්මයන් මෙන් ප්රීතියම ආහාරකොට ඇත්තෝවෙමු.
Key terms: kiñcana (something, possession, impediment), pītibhakkha (feeding on rapture), ābhassara (gods of streaming radiance) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 201
Pali (dhp201:1–201:4)
Jayaṁ veraṁ pasavati,
dukkhaṁ seti parājito;
Upasanto sukhaṁ seti,
hitvā jayaparājayaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp201:1–201:4)
Victory breeds enmity;
the defeated sleep badly.
The peaceful sleep at ease,
having left victory and defeat behind.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
අනුන් පරදවන්නේ වෛරීන් ඇති කෙරෙයි. අනුන් විසින් පරදවන ලද්දේ දුකසේ වසන්නේය. සන්හුන් රාගාදී ක්ලේශයන් ඇති ක්ෂීණාශ්රවතෙම ජය පරාජය දෙකම හැර සුවසේ වසන්නේය.
Key terms: upasanta (peaceful, quelled), jayaparājaya (victory and defeat) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 202
Pali (dhp202:1–202:4)
Natthi rāgasamo aggi,
Natthi dosasamo kali;
Natthi khandhasamā dukkhā,
Natthi santiparaṁ sukhaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp202:1–202:4)
There is no fire like greed,
no crime like hate,
no suffering like the aggregates,
no bliss beyond peace.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
රාගය හා සමවූ ගින්නෙක් නැත. ද්වේෂය හා සමවූ අපරාධයක් නැත. පඤ්චස්කන්ධයන් හා සමවූ දුක්ඛ කෙනෙක් නැත. නිර්වාණයට වැඩි සුවයක් නැත.
Key terms: rāga (greed, lust), dosa (hatred, aversion), khandha (aggregates), santi (peace) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 203
Pali (dhp203:1–203:4)
Jighacchāparamā rogā,
saṅkhāraparamā dukhā;
Etaṁ ñatvā yathābhūtaṁ,
nibbānaṁ paramaṁ sukhaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp203:1–203:4)
Hunger is the worst illness,
conditions are the worst suffering.
For one who truly knows this,
extinguishment is the ultimate happiness.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
රෝගයෝ සා දුක ප්රධානකොට ඇත්තාහ. දුක්ඛයෝ පඤ්චස්කන්ධයන් ප්රධානකොට ඇත්තාහ. මේ දෙක තත්වූ පරිද්දෙන් දැන (ප්රාඥයෝ නිවන් පසක් කරති) නිර්වාණය උතුම්වූ සුවයයි.
Key terms: jighacchā (hunger), saṅkhāra (conditions, formations), nibbāna (extinguishment) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 204
Pali (dhp204:1–204:4)
Ārogyaparamā lābhā,
Santuṭṭhiparamaṁ dhanaṁ;
Vissāsaparamā ñāti,
Nibbānaṁ paramaṁ sukhaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp204:1–204:4)
Health is the ultimate blessing;
contentment, the ultimate wealth;
trust is the ultimate family;
extinguishment, the ultimate happiness.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
සියලු ලාභයෝ නිරෝගිබව ප්රධානකොට ඇත්තාහ. ධනය සතුට ප්රධානකොට ඇත්තාහ. නෑයෝ විශ්වාසය ප්රධානකොට ඇත්තාහ. නිර්වාණය උතුම් සුවයකි.
Key terms: ārogya (health), santuṭṭhi (contentment), vissāsa (trust, confidence), nibbāna (extinguishment) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 205
Pali (dhp205:1–205:4)
Pavivekarasaṁ pitvā,
rasaṁ upasamassa ca;
Niddaro hoti nippāpo,
dhammapītirasaṁ pivaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp205:1–205:4)
Having drunk the nectar of seclusion
and the nectar of peace—
free of stress, free of evil,
drink the joyous nectar of truth.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ප්රකර්ෂ විවේකයාගේ (තද විවේකයේ) රසයද, ක්ලේශව්යුපශමයාගේ පව් සංසිඳවීමේ රසයද බී (නවලෝකෝත්තර) ධර්ම වශයෙන් උපන් ප්රීතිරසය බොන්නාවූ ක්ෂීණාශ්රවතෙම පීඩා නැත්තේද පව්නැත්තේද වෙයි.
Key terms: paviveka (seclusion), upasama (peace, calming), dhammapīti (joy of the Dhamma, truth), nippāpa (free of evil) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 206
Pali (dhp206:1–206:4)
Sāhu dassanamariyānaṁ,
sannivāso sadā sukho;
Adassanena bālānaṁ,
niccameva sukhī siyā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp206:1–206:4)
It’s good to see the noble ones,
staying with them is always good.
Were you not to see fools,
you’d always be happy.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
(බුද්ධාදී) ආර්යයන්ගේ දැක්ම මැනවි. ඔවුන් හා සමග විසීමද හැමකල්හි සුවය. අඥානයන්ගේ නොදැක්ම හේතුකොටගෙණ සතතයෙන්ම සත්වතෙම සුඛිත වන්නේය.
Key terms: ariya (noble one), bāla (fool), sannivāsa (association, living together) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 207
Pali (dhp207:1–207:6)
Bālasaṅgatacārī hi,
dīghamaddhāna socati;
Dukkho bālehi saṁvāso,
amitteneva sabbadā;
Dhīro ca sukhasaṁvāso,
ñātīnaṁva samāgamo.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp207:1–207:6)
For one who consorts with fools
grieves long.
Painful is living with fools,
like being stuck with your enemy.
Happy is living with an attentive one,
like meeting with your kin.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ඒ එසේ මැයි. බාලයන් හා එක්ව ඇවිදිනා සුලු වුයේ දීර්ඝ කාලයක් ශෝක කරන්නේය. බාලයන් හා එක්ව විසීම සතුරෙකු සමග (වාසයක්) මෙන් සැම කල්හි දුක්ය. ප්රාඥතෙමේද ප්රියවූ නෑයන්ගේ සමාගමයක් මෙන් සුවවූ සහවාස ඇත්තේය.
Key terms: dhīra (wise one, attentive one), sukhasaṃvāsa (happy association), bāla (fool) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 208
Pali (dhp208:1–208:5)
Tasmā hi—
Dhīrañca paññañca bahussutañca,
Dhorayhasīlaṁ vatavantamariyaṁ;
Taṁ tādisaṁ sappurisaṁ sumedhaṁ,
Bhajetha nakkhattapathaṁva candimā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp208:1–208:5)
Therefore:
An attentive one, wise and learned,
a behemoth of virtue, true to their vows, noble:
follow a true and intelligent person such as this,
as the moon tracks the path of the stars.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
එහෙයින් ධීරයාද, ප්රාඥයාද, බහුශ්රැතයාද ප්රතිපත්තිධුරය උසුලන්නාද, ව්රත සම්පන්තයාද, ආර්යයාද යන සුන්දරවූ ප්රඥා ඇති එබඳුවූ ඒ සත්පුරුෂයා චන්ද්රතෙමේ ආකාශය (සේවනය කරන්නාක්) මෙන් සේවනය කරව්.
Key terms: pañña (wisdom), bahussuta (learned, of much hearing), sīla (virtue), vatavanta (true to vows), sappurisa (true person) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Textual notes
- Dhp 197–199 form a structured triad: identical opening (Susukhaṁ vata jīvāma) paired with three social contrasts — non-hostility among the hostile, health among the ailing, contentment among the greedy. The repetition is pedagogical: the same formula is applied to different domains of social stress.
- Dhp 202 is one of the most widely quoted verses in the Dhammapada, presenting four "no greater" negations that culminate in santi (peace) as the supreme bliss. It functions as a condensed doctrinal summary: greed, hatred, and the aggregates are the problem; peace is the solution.
- Dhp 203 and Dhp 204 both identify nibbāna as paramaṁ sukhaṁ (ultimate happiness). Dhp 203 frames this through the lens of illness — hunger as the worst disease, conditions as the worst suffering — while Dhp 204 frames it through worldly goods — health, contentment, and trust as the highest blessings, with Nibbāna transcending them all.
- Dhp 206–208 form a closing triad on association that mirrors the opening social concerns. Dhp 206 states the general principle; Dhp 207 extends it with the simile of enemy and kin; Dhp 208 culminates in the poetic image of the moon tracking the stars, giving the chapter a symmetrical movement from social adversity to wise companionship.
- This batch does not rewrite the canonical source blocks. The enrichment adds thematic framing, key terms, 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 14 buddhavagga — preceding vagga
- dhammapada 16 piyavagga — following vagga
- nibbana — ultimate happiness, named in Dhp 203–204
- piti — rapture, mentioned in Dhp 200
- panna — wisdom, mentioned in Dhp 208
- sila — virtue, mentioned in Dhp 208
- virtue sila — virtue as a quality of the wise person to follow
- aggregates khandha — mentioned in Dhp 202
- fool and wise bala pandita — relevant to Dhp 206–208
- non hatred avera — non-hostility, the theme of Dhp 197
- heedfulness appamada — urgency and wise attention as conditions for true happiness
- arahant — the one who has left victory and defeat behind (Dhp 201) and drinks the nectar of truth (Dhp 205)
- matter rupa — form/body, relevant to Dhp 202's "no suffering like the aggregates"