---
title: "The Dhammapada · Dhammapada"
author: "The Buddha"
translator: "Bhikkhu Sujato"
title_ru: "Дхаммапада"
author_ru: "Будда"
languages: [pi, en]
shelf: "Pali Canon"
section: 19 of 26
url: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-dhammapada/19/
cite: "The Buddha, tr. Bhikkhu Sujato, The Dhammapada · Dhammapada, section 19. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/pali-dhammapada/19/"
---

# 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.

## 19. The Just · Dhp 256–272

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-dhammapada/19/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/pali-dhammapada/19/#p-N

[¶0] Dhp 256

> Pali: Dhp 256 · Vinicchayamahāmattavatthu

[¶1] You don’t become just
by passing hasty judgment.
An astute person evaluates both
what is pertinent and what is irrelevant.

> Pali: Na tena hoti dhammaṭṭho,
yenatthaṁ sāhasā naye;
Yo ca atthaṁ anatthañca,
ubho niccheyya paṇḍito.

[¶2] Dhp 257

> Pali: Dhp 257

[¶3] A wise one judges others without haste,
justly and impartially;
that guardian of the law
is said to be just.

> Pali: Asāhasena dhammena,
samena nayatī pare;
Dhammassa gutto medhāvī,
“dhammaṭṭho”ti pavuccati.

[¶4] Dhp 258

> Pali: Dhp 258 · Chabbaggiyavatthu

[¶5] You’re not an astute scholar
just because you speak a lot.
One who is secure, free of enmity and fear,
is said to be astute.

> Pali: Na tena paṇḍito hoti,
yāvatā bahu bhāsati;
Khemī averī abhayo,
“paṇḍito”ti pavuccati.

[¶6] Dhp 259

> Pali: Dhp 259 · Ekudānakhīṇāsavavatthu

[¶7] You’re not one who has memorized the teaching
just because you recite a lot.
Someone who directly sees the teaching
after hearing only a little
is truly one who has memorized the teaching,
for they can never forget it.

> Pali: Na tāvatā dhammadharo,
yāvatā bahu bhāsati;
Yo ca appampi sutvāna,
dhammaṁ kāyena passati;
Sa ve dhammadharo hoti,
yo dhammaṁ nappamajjati.

[¶8] Dhp 260

> Pali: Dhp 260 · Lakuṇḍakabhaddiyattheravatthu

[¶9] You don’t become a senior
by getting some grey hairs;
for one ripe only in age,
is said to have aged in vain.

> Pali: Na tena thero so hoti,
yenassa palitaṁ siro;
Paripakko vayo tassa,
“moghajiṇṇo”ti vuccati.

[¶10] Dhp 261

> Pali: Dhp 261

[¶11] One who is truthful and principled,
harmless, restrained, and self-controlled,
attentive, purged of stains,
is said to be a senior.

> Pali: Yamhi saccañca dhammo ca,
ahiṁsā saṁyamo damo;
Sa ve vantamalo dhīro,
“thero” iti pavuccati.

[¶12] Dhp 262

> Pali: Dhp 262 · Sambahulabhikkhuvatthu

[¶13] Not by mere enunciation,
or a beautiful complexion
does a person become holy,
if they’re jealous, stingy, and devious.

> Pali: Na vākkaraṇamattena,
vaṇṇapokkharatāya vā;
Sādhurūpo naro hoti,
issukī maccharī saṭho.

[¶14] Dhp 263

> Pali: Dhp 263

[¶15] But if they’ve cut that out,
dug it up at the root, eradicated it,
that intelligent one, purged of vice,
is said to be holy.

> Pali: Yassa cetaṁ samucchinnaṁ,
mūlaghaccaṁ samūhataṁ;
Sa vantadoso medhāvī,
“sādhurūpo”ti vuccati.

[¶16] Dhp 264

> Pali: Dhp 264 · Hatthakavatthu

[¶17] A liar and breaker of vows is no ascetic
just because they shave their head.
How on earth can one be an ascetic
who’s full of desire and greed?

> Pali: Na muṇḍakena samaṇo,
abbato alikaṁ bhaṇaṁ;
Icchālobhasamāpanno,
samaṇo kiṁ bhavissati.

[¶18] Dhp 265

> Pali: Dhp 265

[¶19] One who stops all wicked deeds,
great and small,
because of stopping wicked deeds
is said to be an ascetic.

> Pali: Yo ca sameti pāpāni,
aṇuṁthūlāni sabbaso;
Samitattā hi pāpānaṁ,
“samaṇo”ti pavuccati.

[¶20] Dhp 266

> Pali: Dhp 266 · Aññatarabrāhmaṇavatthu

[¶21] You don’t become a mendicant
just by begging from others.
One who has undertaken domestic duties
has not yet become a mendicant.

> Pali: Na tena bhikkhu so hoti,
yāvatā bhikkhate pare;
Vissaṁ dhammaṁ samādāya,
bhikkhu hoti na tāvatā.

[¶22] Dhp 267

> Pali: Dhp 267

[¶23] But one living a spiritual life,
who has banished both merit and evil,
who wanders having appraised the world,
is said to be a mendicant.

> Pali: Yodha puññañca pāpañca,
bāhetvā brahmacariyavā;
Saṅkhāya loke carati,
sa ve “bhikkhū”ti vuccati.

[¶24] Dhp 268

> Pali: Dhp 268 · Titthiyavatthu

[¶25] You don’t become a sage by being sagelike,
while still confused and ignorant.
The astute one who holds the scales,
taking only the best,

> Pali: Na monena munī hoti,
mūḷharūpo aviddasu;
Yo ca tulaṁva paggayha,
varamādāya paṇḍito.

[¶26] Dhp 269

> Pali: Dhp 269

[¶27] and shunning the bad—
that is a sage, <j>and that is how one becomes a sage.
One who sagely weighs both in the world,
is thereby said to be a sage.

> Pali: Pāpāni parivajjeti,
sa munī tena so muni;
Yo munāti ubho loke,
“muni” tena pavuccati.

[¶28] Dhp 270

> Pali: Dhp 270 · Bālisikavatthu

[¶29] You don’t become a noble one
by harming living beings.
One harmless toward all living beings
is said to be a noble one.

> Pali: Na tena ariyo hoti,
yena pāṇāni hiṁsati;
Ahiṁsā sabbapāṇānaṁ,
“ariyo”ti pavuccati.

[¶30] Dhp 271

> Pali: Dhp 271 · Sambahulasīlādisampannabhikkhuvatthu

[¶31] Not by precepts and observances,
nor by much learning,
nor by meditative immersion,
nor by living in seclusion,

> Pali: Na sīlabbatamattena,
bāhusaccena vā pana;
Atha vā samādhilābhena,
vivittasayanena vā.

[¶32] Dhp 272

> Pali: Dhp 272

[¶33] do I experience the bliss of renunciation
not frequented by ordinary people.
A mendicant cannot rest confident
without attaining the end of defilements.

> Pali: Phusāmi nekkhammasukhaṁ,
aputhujjanasevitaṁ;
Bhikkhu vissāsamāpādi,
appatto āsavakkhayaṁ.

[¶34] > Pali: Dhammaṭṭhavaggo ekūnavīsatimo.