DHAMMAPADA

The Dhammapada (Words of the Doctrine) is one of the most popular texts of the Therav?da canon. It is embedded in the fifth part of the Suttapi?aka as the second text of the Khuddakanik?ya (Group of Small Texts). The content of the 423 mostly gnomic verses is often only very loosely connected to Buddhism. The verses are divided into twenty-six vaggas (sections), such as "on the world," "on the Buddha," or "on thirst." Consequently, many parallels are also found in non-Buddhist texts, such as the Mah?bh?rata. Moreover, numerous parallel collections exist in Buddhist literature, including the Dharmapada in G?ndh?r? of the Dharmaguptaka school from Central Asia, the "Patna" Dharmapada of the S?mmat?ya school, and the Ud?navarga of the (M?la) Sarv?stiv?da school.

The history of these collections and their interrelation is obscured by constant contamination and mutual borrowing of verses. The linguistic features of some verses indicate that the beginnings might reach back to a very early period. Most likely material has been added over a long span of time. There is a voluminous commentary on the Dhammapada explaining the wording of individual verses and adding stories on the supposed occasion on which the Buddha is thought to have uttered a verse. The Dhammapada was the first Pali text ever critically edited in Europe, by the Danish scholar Viggo Fausbøll (1821–1908) in 1855.

See also:G?ndh?r?Buddhist Literature in; P?li, Buddhist Literature in

Bibliography

Burlingame, Eugene Watson, trans. Buddhist Legends, 3 vols. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921.

Carter, John Ross, and Paliwadana, Mahinda, trans. and eds. The Dhammapada: A New English Translation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.

Hinüber, Oskar von, and Norman, K. R., eds. Dhammapada. Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1994.

Norman, K. R., trans. The Word of the Doctrine. Oxford: P?li Text Society, 2000.

Osier, Jean-Pierre. Les stances de la loi. Paris: Garnier-Flammarion, 1997.

Oskar von HinÜber