The Dhammapada: The Buddha's Path of Wisdom

This slim volume is a very readable but careful translation of the Buddhist classic. The author, the Venerable Teacher Buddharakkhita, has with great compassion rendered into English the eternal wisdom of the Buddha. It is very accessible to the beginner while a serious upāsaka would still benefit from a re-reading of the text.The language is easy while being serious. The English rendering generally avoids the academic and scholarly habit of phrases in parentheses, alternate meanings to critical phrases of verses and other confusing practices. There are minimal notes and when present, they serve to elucidate cultural references in the verses. Technical terms like Nibbāṇa, saṃsāra and the like are not translated while other terms like 'amata' are rendered into English e.g., as Deathless, since the meaning itself is unambiguous in this case. The overall effect is pleasing.The inclusion of an index of Pali first lines is thoughtful as its utility to the serious student - who tries to memorize the Pali original - can not be exaggerated. There's a wonderful introduction by Bhikkhu Bodhi which explains what the Dhammapada has meant to the Buddhist throughout the centuries and by implication, what it can mean to the reader.In summary, a great little book.

It's very simple. Exactly what I was looking for. The verses are also translated into Pali, which is valuable for geeks like me.

Great book very interesting.

Great book, Easy to read.

I like having the Pali language alongside of the English so I can judge the translation.

It's the verses of the dammhapaddha. That's it. Timeless wisdom and good translations.

The translation is concise without diluting the meaning and includes the Roman script Pali which is good. It also arrived in one piece. 👍

At last we have an accurate and professional translation of this classic text, produced by devoted Dharma practitioners. The sentences contained succinctly present the motivation, attitude, and focus that every Dharma practitioner must have in order to achieve Nirvana and overcome suffering and its causes. It`s the root of Dharma and these teachings stimulate and correct my motivation and make me regenerate my concentration into the practice. It is as if the Buddha is in front of you. I recommend this book to all Buddhist practitioners regardless their tradition.

Excellent

Buddha lived around 2300 years ago and the wisdom he gave is still applicable in modern day. In the modern consumerist world, practicing mindfulness, heedfulness, unattachment to useless things is helpful to keep oneself sane. We can declutter our lives and focus on things that matter by following Buddha's teachings.Even all those years ago, he didn't preach about an overpowerfull God but said that humans are all on their own and by their own intention,work and determination either they will live like free person or get entangled into the worldly desire. Wise men can show the path but it's upto us to apply it. Really timeless wisdom.

I have read the Dhammapada before and I continue to read verses from it every now and then. There is nothing to be said about the Dhammapada, they are truths that enter the heart, not the brain or the intellect. The translation is very good as well. But I would like to devote my review to Bhikkhu Bodhi.The introduction by Bhikkhu Bodhi is amazing. It spans 37 pages (only) but everything he discusses could be deepened and made into a separate book. The introduction helps give the reader a framework of what the Dhammapada really is, since the Dhammapada is a collection of verses that seeks to "be used as a basis or personal edification and instruction" (xiii). Being a work that is essentially a short anthology of "inspirational and pedagogical verses on the fundamentals of the Teaching" (xiii), the Dhammapada, unlike the longer discourses, "lacks any such systematic arrangement" (xiii). Bhikkhu Bodhi, after explaining the history of the Dhammapada and the (lack of) structure in it, then seeks to guide the reader to an idea of how it should be structured. Bhikkhu Bodhi explains it thus: "To make sense of the various utterances found in the Dhammapada, I will sketch a schematic of four levels to be used for ascertaining the intention behind any particular verse found in the work, and thus for understanding its proper place in the total systematic vision of the Dhamma" (xiv). The four levels he then discusses are 1) The Human Good Here and Now, 2) The Good in Future Lives, 3) The Path to the Final Goal, and 4) The Highest Goal. The discussion of each part is, as said earlier, extremely well explained and instead of speaking broadly, Bhikkhu Bodhi uses examples from the Dhammapada's verses to highlight what he means.To attempt to summarise my review: The Dhammapada, as it is, is a wonderful standalone book. This translation is wonderful as well. But I think an additional value that makes this particular edition more worthwhile is Bhikkhu Bodhi's introduction, which seeks to systematize Dhammapada's seemingly unstructured form and he does it in a wonderful way. I recommend this particular edition. It is truly a teachable work to have and I can see myself already coming back to the introduction many more times.

Dhammapada is, the book. And this edition is great, to me the best.

I have come across a few translations of the Dhammapada, this is by far the best and my favourite. It not only contains the english translation, but the root Pali verses in English above each verse. Simply excellent 🙏