Dhammapada
The Dhammapada ( Sanskrit धर्मपद dharmapada ) ( Pali dhammapada ) is an anthology of sayings by Siddhartha Gautama . The verses are chosen so that they reflect the core of the teachings of the Buddha . It is one of the best-known texts of this teaching and is most widely used in southern Buddhism ( Theravada ). There it accompanies the Buddha's disciples from the beginning to the end of their path. In addition, it is a masterpiece of both early Buddhist literature and the Indian tradition of Kāvya ( Belle Lettre ).
The Dhammapada was probably established at the second Buddhist council in 383 BC. . Chr in the Pali Canon under the Short texts ( Khuddaka Nikaya added) and written form. It contains 423 verses.
shape
Following the tradition of Kāvya, the aim is to convey the content through poetic means on an emotional level. The individual verses are loosely summarized under different headings such as: mindfulness, the spirit, flowers, the age, fools, elephants etc. This should make the reading varied and entertaining.
content
The goal of the Buddha's teaching is to achieve happiness and joy both in this life and beyond. Correspondingly, advice on behavior is given in the Dhammapada. Right from the first verse it says that happiness and suffering depend on our state of mind:
“The mind precedes things; the spirit decides:
comes out of a clouded spirit your word and your behavior.
So disaster follows you, like the draft animal the wagon follows. "
In the following, the mindful way is contrasted in many ways with the clumsy fool who causes his own misfortune.
The Buddha only taught orally . Therefore, the sayings of the Dhammapada are very different and depend on who it was speaking to. His advice to a large congregation of monks was more general than that to a single layman to whom he gave specific advice. Many verses are therefore directly understandable, others have a deeper meaning that only the practitioner can understand, while others are difficult to understand without comment. The great 5th century commentary on the Dhammapada by Buddhaghosa can be found in the translation by Nyanatiloka Mahathera.
structure
| numbering | Individual chapter titles in Pali | Title in Pali transliteration | Title in German based on Easwaran |
|---|---|---|---|
| I. | यमकवग्गो | Yamaka-vaggo | Twin verses |
| II. | अप्पमादवग्गो | Appam ā da-vaggo | alertness |
| III. | चित्तवग्गो | Citta- vaggo | The thinking |
| IV. | पुफ्फवग्गो | Puppha-vaggo | Flowers |
| V. | बालवग्गो | B ā la-vaggo | The immature |
| VI. | पण्डितवग्गो | Pa ṇḍ ita-vaggo | The wise |
| VII. | अरहन्तवग्गो | Arahanta- vaggo | The Saint |
| VIII. | सहस्सवग्गो | Sahassa-vaggo | Thousands |
| IX. | पापवग्गो | P ā pa-vaggo | The evil |
| X. | दण्डवग्गो | Da ṇḍ a-vaggo | punishment |
| XI. | जरावग्गो | [[Jaramarana | Jar ā ]] - vaggo | Age |
| XII. | अत्तवग्गो | Atta- vaggo | The self |
| XIII. | लोकवग्गो | Loka-vaggo | The world |
| XIV. | बुद्धवग्गो | Buddha- vaggo | The awakened one |
| XV. | सुखवग्गो | Sukha- vaggo | joy |
| XVI. | पियवग्गो | Piya-vaggo | About pleasure |
| XVII. | कोधवग्गो | Kodha-vaggo | About anger |
| XVIII. | मलवग्गो | Mala-vaggo | About pollution |
| XIX. | धम्मट्ठवग्गो | Dhamma ṭṭ ha-vaggo | The one established in the Dharma |
| XX. | मग्गवग्गो | Magga- vaggo | The path |
| XXI. | पकिण्णकवग्गो | Paki ṇṇ aka-vaggo | Various verses |
| XXII. | निरयवग्गो | Niraya- vaggo | The downward path |
| XXIII. | नागवग्गो | N ā ga-vaggo | The elephant |
| XXIV. | तण्हावग्गो | [[Taṇhā | Taṇhā ]] - vaggo | Desire |
| XXV. | भिख्खुवग्गो | Bhikkhu- vaggo | The bhikshu |
| XXVI. | ब्राह्मणवग्गो | [[Brahman | Brāhmaṇa ]] - vaggo | The Brāhman |
literature
- Karl Eugen Neumann : The Truth Path, Dhammapadam ; a Buddhist monument. R. Piper, Munich 1921.
- Nyanatiloka Mahathera: Dhammapada - The Buddha's path to wisdom. (Palitext, literal metric translation and commentary by Buddhaghosa from 1943). Jhana Verlag, Uttenbühl 1992.
- Munish Bernhard Schiekel: Dhammapada - the wisdom teachings of the Buddha. (Modern German translation from the Pali with a foreword by Thich Nhat Hanh ). Herder Spectrum, Freiburg 1998.
- William Woodville Rockhill (Translator): Udānavarga: a collection of verses from the Buddhist canon compiled by Dharmatrāta being the Northern Buddhist version of Dhammapada / Translated from the Tibetan of the Bkah-hgyur, with notes and extracts from the commentary of Pradjnāvarman. Trübner, London 1883. PDF
- Eknath Easwaran : Dhammapada. Buddha's central teachings. Goldmann, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-442-21764-9 .
- Bhikkhu Sujato, Bhikkhu Brahmali: The Authenticity of the Early Buddhist Texts. lulu.com, Morrisville, North Carolina 2015, ISBN 978-1-312-91150-5 ( [1] on ocbs.org)
- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan : Dhammapada. Oxford University Press, London 1950 ( [2] on archive.org)
Web links
- Text based on the English translation from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu from 1997 and the German translation from the English by Schenpen Sangmo; on the Dhammapada portal .
- Text German translations by Kurt Schmidt and Ekkehard Saß; on palikanon.com.
- Text and PDF file English translations, partly already German, from the Pali by Bhikkhu Thanissaro and Acharya Buddharakkhita; on zugangzureinsicht.org ( accesstoinsight.org - "mirror page ")
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans Wolfgang Schumann : The historical Buddha. 4th edition. Diederichs Verlag, Munich 1995.
- ↑ Quotation from Dhammapada, Yamaka - Saying Pairs 1. In the translation by Kurt Schmidt. Verlag Christiani, Konstanz 1954. As an electronic version on the Palikanon.com portal
- ↑ Eknath Easwaran: Dhammapada. Buddha's central teachings. Goldmann, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-442-21764-9 .