✶Gnosis
← Contents
Theme
10 / 26

Listen

Dhammapada · narration sample

A one-minute narration sample. Every book in the library is narrated end to end — hear the rest in the app.

Dhammapada · 10 of 26

CHAPTER X. Punishment

129.All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death; remember that you are like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter.

130.All men tremble at punishment, all men love life; remember that thou art like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter.

131.He who seeking his own happiness punishes or kills beings who also long for happiness, will not find happiness after death.

132.He who seeking his own happiness does not punish or kill beings who also long for happiness, will find happiness after death.

133.Do not speak harshly to anybody; those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way. Angry speech is painful, blows for blows will touch thee.

134.If, like a shattered metal plate (gong), thou utter not, then thou hast reached Nirvâna; contention is not known to thee.

135.As a cowherd with his staff drives his cows into the stable, so do Age and Death drive the life of men.

136.A fool does not know when he commits his evil deeds: but the wicked man burns by his own deeds, as if burnt by fire.

137.He who inflicts pain on innocent and harmless persons, will soon come to one of these ten states:

138.He will have cruel suffering, loss, injury of the body, heavy affliction, or loss of mind,

139.Or a misfortune coming from the king, or a fearful accusation, or loss of relations, or destruction of treasures,

140.Or lightning-fire will burn his houses; and when his body is destroyed, the fool will go to hell.

141.Not nakedness, not platted hair, not dirt, not fasting, or lying on the earth, not rubbing with dust, not sitting motionless, can purify a mortal who has not overcome desires.

142.He who, though dressed in fine apparel, exercises tranquillity, is quiet, subdued, restrained, chaste, and has ceased to find fault with all other beings, he indeed is a Brâhmana, an ascetic (sramana), a friar (bhikshu).

143.Is there in this world any man so restrained by humility that he does not mind reproof, as a well-trained horse the whip?

144.Like a well-trained horse when touched by the whip, be ye active and lively, and by faith, by virtue, by energy, by meditation, by discernment of the law you will overcome this great pain (of reproof), perfect in knowledge and in behaviour, and never forgetful.

145.Well-makers lead the water (wherever they like); fletchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; good people fashion themselves.

Asked of Guide

Why does the chapter repeat "All men tremble at punishment" twice with slightly different wording?

The chapter repeats that line to press two linked reminders: every person fears punishment and every person values life. Verses 129 and 130 pair those facts with the injunction “remember that thou art like unto them, and do not kill,” turning recognition of shared fear and love into an ethic of non‑harm.

That doubling supports the chapter’s larger claim that causing pain returns to the doer (see 131–132 and 137–140), and it fits the Dhammapada’s pattern of short contrasts between harmful action and the peace of restraint. The passage echoes the practical moral logic found in the Bhagavad Gita and in other Buddhist suttas that connect empathy with ethical conduct.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.

Echoes elsewhere

The Yoga-Vasishtha-Maharamayana of Valmiki · Hinduismover that breast of mine, which was formerly adorned with necklaces studded with starry gems. 14. Look at the remains of my body, whose appearance of molten gold, attracted the heaThe Septuagint · Christianityby lot? Give, and take, and sanctify thy soul; for there is no seeking of dainties in the grave. All flesh waxeth old as a garment: for the covenant from the beginning is, Thou shaMysticism, Christian and Buddhist · Buddhismlater. We can now proceed to what I have called the second approach. The hymn runs as follows: Looking for the maker of this tabernacle I ran to no avail Through a round of many biMagic, White and Black: The Science of Finite and Infinite Life · Hermeticismtabernacle to imprison his soul, and before him lies open the road to eternal rest in Nirvana.* * But now, them builder of the tabernacle, thou! I know thee! Never shalt thou build