---
title: "The Dhammapada · Dhammapada"
author: "The Buddha"
translator: "Bhikkhu Sujato"
title_ru: "Дхаммапада"
author_ru: "Будда"
languages: [pi, en]
shelf: "Pali Canon"
section: 11 of 26
url: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-dhammapada/11/
cite: "The Buddha, tr. Bhikkhu Sujato, The Dhammapada · Dhammapada, section 11. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/pali-dhammapada/11/"
---

# The Dhammapada · Dhammapada

*The Buddha, tr. Bhikkhu Sujato*

Russian: Дхаммапада, Будда

The 423 verses of the Path of the Teaching, in twenty-six chapters: the pairs, vigilance, the mind, flowers, the fool, the wise, the brahmin.

> Pali: the Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka (Buddha Jayanti edition, 2500), from SuttaCentral’s bilara-data, dedicated to the public domain (CC0).

> English: Bhikkhu Sujato, from SuttaCentral’s bilara-data, dedicated to the public domain (CC0). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the segment numbers the two texts share, gathered into paragraphs; verse keeps its lines.

## 11. Old Age · Dhp 146–156

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-dhammapada/11/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/pali-dhammapada/11/#p-N

[¶0] Dhp 146

> Pali: Dhp 146 · Visākhāyasahāyikānaṁvatthu

[¶1] What is joy, what is laughter,
when the flames are ever burning?
Swathed in darkness,
would you not seek a light?

> Pali: Ko nu hāso kimānando,
niccaṁ pajjalite sati;
Andhakārena onaddhā,
padīpaṁ na gavesatha.

[¶2] Dhp 147

> Pali: Dhp 147 · Sirimāvatthu

[¶3] See this fancy puppet,
a body built of sores,
diseased, obsessed over,
in which nothing lasts at all.

> Pali: Passa cittakataṁ bimbaṁ,
arukāyaṁ samussitaṁ;
Āturaṁ bahusaṅkappaṁ,
yassa natthi dhuvaṁ ṭhiti.

[¶4] Dhp 148

> Pali: Dhp 148 · Uttarātherīvatthu

[¶5] This body is decrepit and frail,
a nest of disease.
This foul carcass falls apart,
for life ends in death.

> Pali: Parijiṇṇamidaṁ rūpaṁ,
roganīḷaṁ pabhaṅguraṁ;
Bhijjati pūtisandeho,
maraṇantañhi jīvitaṁ.

[¶6] Dhp 149

> Pali: Dhp 149 · Sambahulaadhimānikabhikkhuvatthu

[¶7] These dove-grey bones
are tossed away like
dried gourds in the autumn—
what joy is there in such a sight?

> Pali: Yānimāni apatthāni,
alābūneva sārade;
Kāpotakāni aṭṭhīni,
tāni disvāna kā rati.

[¶8] Dhp 150

> Pali: Dhp 150 · Janapadakalyāṇīrūpanandātherīvatthu

[¶9] In this city built of bones,
plastered with flesh and blood,
old age and death are stashed away,
along with conceit and contempt.

> Pali: Aṭṭhīnaṁ nagaraṁ kataṁ,
maṁsalohitalepanaṁ;
Yattha jarā ca maccu ca,
māno makkho ca ohito.

[¶10] Dhp 151

> Pali: Dhp 151 · Mallikādevīvatthu

[¶11] Fancy chariots of kings wear out,
and even this body gets old.
But the truth of the good never gets old—
so the good proclaim to the good.

> Pali: Jīranti ve rājarathā sucittā,
Atho sarīrampi jaraṁ upeti;
Satañca dhammo na jaraṁ upeti,
Santo have sabbhi pavedayanti.

[¶12] Dhp 152

> Pali: Dhp 152 · Lāḷudāyītheravatthu

[¶13] A person of little learning
ages like an ox—
their flesh grows,
but not their wisdom.

> Pali: Appassutāyaṁ puriso,
balībaddhova jīrati;
Maṁsāni tassa vaḍḍhanti,
paññā tassa na vaḍḍhati.

[¶14] Dhp 153

> Pali: Dhp 153 · Udānavatthu

[¶15] Transmigrating through countless rebirths,
I’ve journeyed without reward,
searching for the house-builder;
painful is birth again and again.

> Pali: Anekajātisaṁsāraṁ,
sandhāvissaṁ anibbisaṁ;
Gahakāraṁ gavesanto,
dukkhā jāti punappunaṁ.

[¶16] Dhp 154

> Pali: Dhp 154

[¶17] I’ve seen you, house-builder!
You won’t build a house again!
Your rafters are all broken,
your roof-peak demolished.
The mind, set on demolition,
has reached the end of cravings.

> Pali: Gahakāraka diṭṭhosi,
puna gehaṁ na kāhasi;
Sabbā te phāsukā bhaggā,
gahakūṭaṁ visaṅkhataṁ;
Visaṅkhāragataṁ cittaṁ,
taṇhānaṁ khayamajjhagā.

[¶18] Dhp 155

> Pali: Dhp 155 · Mahādhanaseṭṭhiputtavatthu

[¶19] When young they spurned the spiritual path
and failed to earn any wealth.
Now they brood like old cranes
in a pond bereft of fish.

> Pali: Acaritvā brahmacariyaṁ,
aladdhā yobbane dhanaṁ;
Jiṇṇakoñcāva jhāyanti,
khīṇamaccheva pallale.

[¶20] Dhp 156

> Pali: Dhp 156

[¶21] When young they spurned the spiritual path
and failed to earn any wealth.
Now they lie like spent arrows,
bemoaning over things past.

> Pali: Acaritvā brahmacariyaṁ,
aladdhā yobbane dhanaṁ;
Senti cāpātikhīṇāva,
purāṇāni anutthunaṁ.

[¶22] > Pali: Jarāvaggo ekādasamo.