Verses
Should one see a wise person who points out faults and administers reproof, let one associate with such a sage as with a revealer of hidden treasures. For one who associates with such a guide, it is better, not worse.
Verse 1
Let him admonish, let him instruct, and let him shield from unwholesome deeds. For such a person is dear to the good, but despised by the wicked.
Verse 2
Do not associate with bad friends, do not associate with base people; associate with admirable friends, associate with the best of men.
Verse 3
One who drinks deeply of the Dhamma lives happily with a serene mind. The wise person always delights in the Dhamma revealed by the Noble Ones.
Verse 4
Irrigators guide the water; fletchers shape arrows; carpenters fashion timber; the wise tame themselves.
Verse 5
As a solid mountain of rock is not shaken by the wind, even so the wise are not swayed by praise or blame.
Verse 6
Like a lake that is deep, clear, and unclouded, so the wise become serene having heard the Dhamma teachings.
Verse 7
Good men renounce attachment everywhere; the holy ones babble not with lustful desires; touched by pleasure or pain, the wise show neither elation nor depression.
Verse 8
Neither for one's own sake nor for the sake of another does he crave sons, wealth, or kingdom; nor does he seek his own success by unjust means: such a one is virtuous, wise, and righteous.
Verse 9
Few among men are those who reach the far shore (Nibbāna); the rest of mankind only run up and down along this bank.
Verse 10
But those who live in accordance with the well-expounded Dhamma, they shall cross to the beyond, past the realm of Death, so difficult to overcome.
Verse 11
Abandoning the dark states, let the wise person cultivate the bright; leaving home for the homeless life, in solitude where detachment is hard to enjoy,
Verse 12
There let him seek delight, having abandoned sense pleasures, owning nothing; let the wise person cleanse himself of the defilements of the mind.
Verse 13
Those whose minds are thoroughly developed in the factors of enlightenment, who without clinging delight in the relinquishment of grasping, whose taints are destroyed, who are luminous — they are fully liberated even in this world.
Verse 14
Background
This chapter belongs to the Pali Dhammapada (Khuddaka Nikaya, Pali Canon), Pandita Vagga, verses 76–89. Delivered across Jetavana monastery in Sāvatthi and Rājagaha, this vagga provides the definitive Buddhist counter-portrait to the fool (bāla) of the preceding chapter. Key historical encounters recorded in the Atthakathā include Venerable Rādha, an elderly novice whose humility in accepting guidance led him swiftly to Arahantship (Verse 76), the novice Pandita who mastered meditation by observing ditch-diggers and arrow-makers (Verse 80), and the serene assembly listening to the Dhamma beside a forest pool.
About this Text
Composed by: Gautama Buddha · Founder of Buddhism · c. 5th–6th century BCE, Northern India/Nepal
Born Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini, he attained enlightenment and spent the rest of his life teaching the Dhamma across northern India. His discourses (Suttas), preserved orally for generations before being written down in the Pali Canon, form the doctrinal foundation of Buddhism.
Did You Know?
The Guide to Buried Treasure (Verse 76)
When one meets a discerning mentor who points out faults and reproves, one should follow that wise person as one would follow an expert revealing hidden buried treasure.
The Solid Rock (Verse 81)
Just as a solid granite mountain cannot be shaken by the fiercest wind, so the wise remain completely unmoved by either worldly praise or blame.
The Deep, Crystal Lake (Verse 82)
Hearing the profound Dhamma, the wise become serene and limpid, like a vast mountain reservoir that is deep, spotless, and utterly calm.
The Four Artisans of Self-Taming (Verse 80)
Irrigators channel running water, fletchers straighten crooked arrows, carpenters shape raw timber, and the wise systematically tame their own mind.
The Crossing to the Far Shore (Verses 85–86)
Few are the humans who reach the opposite shore of Nibbāna; the vast majority run up and down this worldly bank. But those who live in alignment with the Dhamma cross over the torrential flood of death.
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