---
title: "The Dhammapada · Dhammapada"
author: "The Buddha"
translator: "Bhikkhu Sujato"
title_ru: "Дхаммапада"
author_ru: "Будда"
languages: [pi, en]
shelf: "Pali Canon"
section: 5 of 26
url: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-dhammapada/5/
cite: "The Buddha, tr. Bhikkhu Sujato, The Dhammapada · Dhammapada, section 5. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/pali-dhammapada/5/"
---

# 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.

## 5. The Fool · Dhp 60–75

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-dhammapada/5/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/pali-dhammapada/5/#p-N

[¶0] Dhp 60

> Pali: Dhp 60 · Aññatarapurisavatthu

[¶1] Long is the night for the wakeful;
long is the league for the weary;
long transmigrate the fools
who don’t understand the true teaching.

> Pali: Dīghā jāgarato ratti,
dīghaṁ santassa yojanaṁ;
Dīgho bālāna saṁsāro,
saddhammaṁ avijānataṁ.

[¶2] Dhp 61

> Pali: Dhp 61 · Mahākassapasaddhivihārikavatthu

[¶3] If while wandering you find no partner
equal or better than yourself,
then firmly resolve to wander alone—
there’s no fellowship with fools.

> Pali: Carañce nādhigaccheyya,
Seyyaṁ sadisamattano;
Ekacariyaṁ daḷhaṁ kayirā,
Natthi bāle sahāyatā.

[¶4] Dhp 62

> Pali: Dhp 62 · Ānandaseṭṭhivatthu

[¶5] “Sons are mine, wealth is mine”—
thus the fool frets.
For even your self is not your own,
let alone your sons or wealth.

> Pali: Puttā matthi dhanaṁ matthi,
iti bālo vihaññati;
Attā hi attano natthi,
kuto puttā kuto dhanaṁ.

[¶6] Dhp 63

> Pali: Dhp 63 · Gaṇṭhibhedakacoravatthu

[¶7] The fool who thinks they’re a fool
is wise at least to that extent.
But the true fool is said to be one
who imagines that they are wise.

> Pali: Yo bālo maññati bālyaṁ,
paṇḍito vāpi tena so;
Bālo ca paṇḍitamānī,
sa ve “bālo”ti vuccati.

[¶8] Dhp 64

> Pali: Dhp 64 · Udāyittheravatthu

[¶9] Though a fool attends to the wise
even for the rest of their life,
they still don’t understand the teaching,
like a spoon the taste of the soup.

> Pali: Yāvajīvampi ce bālo,
paṇḍitaṁ payirupāsati;
Na so dhammaṁ vijānāti,
dabbī sūparasaṁ yathā.

[¶10] Dhp 65

> Pali: Dhp 65 · Tiṁsapāveyyakabhikkhuvatthu

[¶11] If a clever person attends to the wise
even just for an hour or so,
they swiftly understand the teaching,
like a tongue the taste of the soup.

> Pali: Muhuttamapi ce viññū,
paṇḍitaṁ payirupāsati;
Khippaṁ dhammaṁ vijānāti,
jivhā sūparasaṁ yathā.

[¶12] Dhp 66

> Pali: Dhp 66 · Suppabuddhakuṭṭhivatthu

[¶13] Fools and simpletons behave
like their own worst enemies,
doing wicked deeds
that ripen as bitter fruit.

> Pali: Caranti bālā dummedhā,
amitteneva attanā;
Karontā pāpakaṁ kammaṁ,
yaṁ hoti kaṭukapphalaṁ.

[¶14] Dhp 67

> Pali: Dhp 67 · Kassakavatthu

[¶15] It’s not good to do a deed
that plagues you later on,
for which you weep and wail,
as its effect stays with you.

> Pali: Na taṁ kammaṁ kataṁ sādhu,
yaṁ katvā anutappati;
Yassa assumukho rodaṁ,
vipākaṁ paṭisevati.

[¶16] Dhp 68

> Pali: Dhp 68 · Sumanamālākāravatthu

[¶17] It is good to do a deed
that doesn’t plague you later on,
that gladdens and cheers,
as its effect stays with you.

> Pali: Tañca kammaṁ kataṁ sādhu,
yaṁ katvā nānutappati;
Yassa patīto sumano,
vipākaṁ paṭisevati.

[¶18] Dhp 69

> Pali: Dhp 69 · Uppalavaṇṇattherīvatthu

[¶19] The fool imagines that evil is sweet,
so long as it has not yet ripened.
But as soon as that evil ripens,
they fall into suffering.

> Pali: Madhuṁvā maññati bālo,
yāva pāpaṁ na paccati;
Yadā ca paccati pāpaṁ,
atha dukkhaṁ nigacchati.

[¶20] Dhp 70

> Pali: Dhp 70 · Jambukattheravatthu

[¶21] Month after month a fool may eat
food from a grass-blade’s tip;
but they’ll never be worth a sixteenth part
of one who has appraised the teaching.

> Pali: Māse māse kusaggena,
bālo bhuñjeyya bhojanaṁ;
Na so saṅkhātadhammānaṁ,
kalaṁ agghati soḷasiṁ.

[¶22] Dhp 71

> Pali: Dhp 71 · Ahipetavatthu

[¶23] For a wicked deed that has been done
does not curdle quickly like milk.
Smoldering, it follows the fool,
like a fire smothered over with ash.

> Pali: Na hi pāpaṁ kataṁ kammaṁ,
Sajjukhīraṁva muccati;
Ḍahantaṁ bālamanveti,
Bhasmacchannova pāvako.

[¶24] Dhp 72

> Pali: Dhp 72 · Saṭṭhikūṭapetavatthu

[¶25] Whatever fame a fool may get,
it only gives rise to harm.
Whatever good features they have it ruins,
and blows their head into bits.

> Pali: Yāvadeva anatthāya,
ñattaṁ bālassa jāyati;
Hanti bālassa sukkaṁsaṁ,
muddhamassa vipātayaṁ.

[¶26] Dhp 73

> Pali: Dhp 73 · Cittagahapativatthu

[¶27] They’d seek the esteem that they lack,
and status among the mendicants;
authority over monasteries,
and honor among other families.

> Pali: Asantaṁ bhāvanamiccheyya,
Purekkhārañca bhikkhusu;
Āvāsesu ca issariyaṁ,
Pūjaṁ parakulesu ca.

[¶28] Dhp 74

> Pali: Dhp 74

[¶29] “Let both layfolk and renunciants think
the work was done by me alone.
In anything at all that’s to be done,
let them fall under my sway alone.”
So thinks the fool,
their greed and pride only growing.

> Pali: Mameva kata maññantu,
gihī pabbajitā ubho;
Mamevātivasā assu,
kiccākiccesu kismici;
Iti bālassa saṅkappo,
icchā māno ca vaḍḍhati.

[¶30] Dhp 75

> Pali: Dhp 75 · Vanavāsitissasāmaṇeravatthu

[¶31] For the means to profit and the path to quenching
are two quite different things.
A mendicant disciple of the Buddha,
understanding what this really means,
would never delight in honors,
but rather would foster seclusion.

> Pali: Aññā hi lābhūpanisā,
aññā nibbānagāminī;
Evametaṁ abhiññāya,
bhikkhu buddhassa sāvako;
Sakkāraṁ nābhinandeyya,
vivekamanubrūhaye.

[¶32] > Pali: Bālavaggo pañcamo.