Dhammapadaya- The Buddhist's Handbook

[YBtheOutlaw]

being so early in transition there's so little i can do for you all, so i thought it's high time i did something worthwhile for the people who finally helped me feel at peace with myself.

Dhammapadaya is a book which contains hundreds of buddhist pali stanzas, each one carrying it's own life lesson. these lessons are not just for those who follow or like buddhism, and reading and adopting a stanza per day can make your life a whole lot better.

i have a copy of the Dhammapadaya in pali with translation in my language, and i thought every time i log in here i would pick one or few stanzas and translate them into english. i'm afraid the translation might not be very precise but i'll try my best shot at it. finding the right equivalent for certain terms in english is specially hard.

anyway i hope this thread would turn out useful. Buddha has said the best donation of all is the donation of knowledge of dharma, and i am very much privileged to be creating this thread. here goes the stanzas for day 1...


1.'mano pubbangama dhamma
mano setta manomaya
manasa che padhuttena
bhasathi wa karothi wa
thatho nang dukkhamanchethi
chakkancha wahatho padhang'

-the mind leads all thoughts. mind rules over all thoughts. all thoughts are born in the mind. if one says a word or does a deed with a mind dirtied by envy, anger or pride, as undesired outcomes of that sorrow, agony and failure will come to them. just like the cart follows the bull tied to it wherever it goes.

2. 'mano pubbangama dhamma
mano setta manomaya
manasa che pasannena
bhasathi wa karothi wa
thahto nang sukhamanchethi
chayawa anapayini'

-the mind leads all thoughts. mind rules over all thoughts. all thoughts are born in the mind. if one says a word or does a deed with a pleasant/clean mind devoid of dirty thoughts of envy, anger and pride, as outcomes of that comfort, riches and happiness/content will come to them. just like the shadow quietly follows one wherever they go.

[YBtheOutlaw]

so it seems this thread is not so popular. i'll try another stanza. the special thing about Dhammapada stanzas is that they explain complicated buddhist concepts to the reader with simple day-to-day examples.

3. 'akkochi man awadhi man
ajini man ahasi me
ye than upanaihanthi
weran thesan na sammathi'

the hatred in a person who builds anger towards others claiming 'they blamed me, they attacked me, they defeated me or they stole my belongings' will never be pacified.


4. 'akkochi man awadhi man
ajini man ahasi me
ye than na upanaihanthi
weran thesupasammathi'

the hatred in a person who does not build anger towards others claiming 'they blamed me, they attacked me, they defeated me or they stole my belongings' gets pacified easily.

[JenniferGreen]

That is inspiring stuff. Please post more. Jx

[YBtheOutlaw]

That is inspiring stuff. Please post more. Jx

Thank you hehe i thought nobody actually read this. And i'm sorry it got stuck at 2 posts. I was out of the site for a while. I'll be working on this now.

[YBtheOutlaw]

Here goes the next 2 stanzas... the 5th is maybe the most popular stanza of dhammapadaya. I know it seems a bit uniform but the first few stanzas mainly deal with hatred.

5. 'nahi verena verani
sammanthidha kudachanang
avaverena cha sammanthi
esa dhammo sananthano'

In this world an individual's hatred can never be pacified by hating them in return. It gets pacified only by not hating them. This is an eternal truth.


6. 'Pare cha na wijananthi
mayamettha yamamase
ye cha thattha wijananthi
thatho sammanthi medhaga'

Those who quarrel do not know that it destroys them. If one knows that they would never quarrel/ the quarrel would end once they know that.

[YBtheOutlaw]

Here goes another attempt... maybe i should change the topic to expand the audience. I'm wondering if this topic gives an impression of this thread as exclusive for buddhists. It is not, i tell you. These are life lessons to improve your social and personal lives, and anybody can adopt them. Or am i not doing a good job in translating? Do they not make sense?

I'm doing this anyway...

7. 'Subhanupassing viharanthan
indriyesu asanwuthan
bhojanamhi amatthagnung
kuseethan heenaweeriyang
than we pasahathi maaro
waatho rukkhang cha dubbalang'

Those who consider senses such as sight, sounds as utmost pleasures, and have no discipline/calmness in the five sensory organs such as eyes, ears, and do not know how much food they ought to take(those who eat too much) , and are lazy, and have weak motivation, are attacked by 'the death' named 'sin',  (the death here is a fictional character found in buddhist literature who is considered to be responsible in dragging peoples' minds towards bad intentions, thus driving them into committing sins.) the way strong winds uproot a weak tree.

[YBtheOutlaw]

And as in many of the stanzas this too has a partner-stanza, talking about the positive aspect of the same concept.

8. 'Asubhanupassing viharanthan
indriyesu susanwuthan
bhojanamhi cha matthagnung
saddhang aaraddhaweeriyang
than we nappasahathi maro
waatho selang cha pabbathang'

Those who consider senses such as sight, sound as causes of pain (eventually), and disclipine/calm their five sensory organs such as eyes, ears, and know the amount of food they ought to take, and have faith and motivation, cannot be defeated by the death named sin, the way a hurricane cannot move a huge rock (as in mountain).

[JenniferGreen]

They are all good. First time they put the Buddhist section on here it was blank for very long time . People will read when they get used to it being here. I like what you put up . Hx

[YBtheOutlaw]

They are all good. First time they put the Buddhist section on here it was blank for very long time . People will read when they get used to it being here. I like what you put up . Hx

Thank you very much. I realize I'm being a bit too whiny about not having the readership i expected. I was a bit disappointed tbh, but then again you're proved that expectations bring disappointment. I actually like doing this thread- i didn't know some of the stanzas until i read them to put up here and i'm learning from this as well.

[JenniferGreen]

yeah you have started this so keep going.  i thought i was the only buddhist trans person in the world before realising that the far east is bound to be full of people like me.  PM me if you want to chat.  I would be happy to help you develop the site and get more people involved. jx. 

[YBtheOutlaw]

yeah you have started this so keep going.  i thought i was the only buddhist trans person in the world before realising that the far east is bound to be full of people like me.  PM me if you want to chat.  I would be happy to help you develop the site and get more people involved. jx.

thanx I'm from south asia to be precise

[YBtheOutlaw]

I know it's been some time and apologies for my neglegence. Anyway here we go again.

9. 'Aniksavo kasachan
yo watthan paridahessathi
apetho damasachchena
na so kasavamarahathi'

If someone who doesn't control his five senses such as eyes, ears and nose, doesn't speak the truth and doesn't get rid of the litter named sins that make their mind unclean, wears a yellow robe (which is worn by buddhist monks) they do not deserve to wear it.


10. 'Yo cha vanthakasawassa
seelesu susamahitho
upetho damasachchena
sa che kasawamarahathi'

The person who has controlled the five senses such as eyes and ears, speaks the truth, behaves properly  (i couldn't make the exact translation here- it's meant to say the person avoids all sins done by mind, words and body) and has got rid of the litter named sins that make one's mind unclean, doubtlessly deserves to wear the yellow robe. (Deserves to be a buddhist monk)

[YBtheOutlaw]

Since it's been long and the above two stanzas are mainly about buddhist priesthood I'll translate another pair of stanzas. This pair is quite famous as well, though not as popular as number5.

11. 'Asare saramathino
sare wa saradassino
the saran nadhigachchanthi
michchasankappagochara'

The person who wrongly thinks of meaningless (as in useless, no core) things as meaningful and meaningful things as meaningless can never understand the reality. Such myth holders can never achieve the real success or realization of truth/enlightenment.

12. 'Saran cha saratho gnathwa
asaran cha asaratho
the saran adhigachchanthi
sammasankappagochara'

The person who thinks of the meaningful things as meaningful and meaningless things as meaningless the way they really are, understands the reality. Such true-vision holders will always succeed in everything, earn comforts and success and will eventually achieve the realization of ultimate truth/enlightenment.

[Megan Rose]

Thank you for posting these.   

Buddhism being an oral tradition, it's sometimes hard to find good written material.

I hope I can remember to check in from time to time to see what you've added.

[YBtheOutlaw]

Buddhism being an oral tradition, it's sometimes hard to find good written material.

maybe it is in english, but we have loads of books and articles here, mostly in my native tongue.

and i did a quick search and found that there's an english translation for one of the best of them- http://studentlanka.com/2014/06/12/maha-rahathun-wedi-maga-osse-ariyagnana-theros-bana-sermons/
link to download the book at the end of the page

[YBtheOutlaw]

oh well, i just discovered there's a quite good english version of dhammapadaya online- you all can read it- stanzas properly translated, complete with back stories http://www.metta.lk/english/Narada/index.htm
my little project will still be running anyway.

13. 'yatha agaran duchchannan
vutti samathivijjathi
ewan abhawithan chiththan
rago samathivijjathi'

the way a house not properly thatched would be drenched in rain, the mind of a person who has not properly meditated (it refers to both forms of meditation- 'samatha' which is meditation done to improve concentration, calmness and peace in mind, and 'widarshana' which is deeper meditation into understanding the reality) will be drenched and destroyed in the rain of desire and sins.


14.'yatha agaran suchchannan
vutti na samathivijjathi
ewan subhawithan chitthan
rago na samathivijjathi'

the way a house properly thatched would not get wet by rain, the mind of a person who has properly meditated in samatha and widarshana forms will be safe and not drenched by the rain of desire and sins.

[YBtheOutlaw]

can't believe it's been 2 month since i last posted. seems like it'll take all my lifetime to finish the thread
anyway here we go...

15. 'idha sochathi pechcha sochathi
papakari ubhayaththa sochathi
so sochathi so vibhagnathi
diswa kammakilittamaththano'

the person who sins suffers in this world, suffers in outer world (refers to afterlife), suffers in both the worlds. he looks at his impure sins and greatly suffers, gets exhausted.

16. 'idha modathi pechcha modathi
kathapugno ubhayaththa modathi
so modathi so pamodathi
diswa kamma wisuddhimaththano'

the person who does good deeds enjoys in this world, enjoys in outer world, enjoys in both the worlds. he looks at his pure good deeds and enjoys, greatly enjoys.

17. 'idha thappathi pechcha thappathi
paapakari ubhayaththa thappathi
paapan me kathanthi thappathi
heeyyo thappathi duggathing gatho'

the person who sins suffers in this world, suffers in outer world. suffers thinking 'oh i have sinned'. thus gets born in hell and sorrowful lives and greatly suffers.

18. 'idha nandathi pechcha nandathi
kathapugno ubhayaththa nandathi
pugnan me kathanthi nandathi
heeyyo nandathi sugaththing gatho'

the person who does good deeds enjoys in this world, enjoys in outer world. enjoys thinking 'oh i have done many good deeds'. thus gets born in pleasurable lives such as human, god and greatly enjoys.