The Buddha has observed a greater vision in his eternal message. That is now available as a collection of stanzas widely known as the Dhammapada. Since the scholars and readers have read the Dhammapada over the years, what is given below is simply an overview.
The Dhammapada is the noble collection and the penetrative vision of the Buddha’s teachings. It is found in Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka. The Buddha’s teachings are categorized into 26 Vaggas (cantons) expanded in the verse form. Verses are 423 in number.
For a discerning reader or a student of the doctrine, the Dhammapada also offers the birth stories or the Nidhana Katha with each stanza. This is the commentary that came to be known as Dhammapadatta Katha, translated into Sinhala or adapted into the Sinhala language by the Saddharmaratnavaliya author Venerable Dharmasena Thera.
Furthermore, there are 301 profiles, tales, parables, wise sayings and links to actual social events. The reader comes across not only human but also superhuman gods and goddesses as well as the demons and Pretas and perhaps in some of the fairytales and fantasies, some fairies. But unlike the mere fantasy or a fairytale, these are linked to particular human events that transcend the mere tales of fantasy.
The profiles of the characters portrayed in the Dhammapada reiterate the actual happenings of a distant past. They have taken place during the lifetime of the Buddha. The times and central experiences that are retold by the Buddha go back to several pasts and births of particular individuals as found in the Nidhana Kathas or the past stories.
The 26 Vaggas or cantons in the Dhammapada are carefully and meticulously arranged, expressing the teachings of the Buddha. These are arranged meticulously in order of the views of human beings for all times.
The first Vagga, Yamaka or the verses of stanzas, explain the inner meaning in two ways. If a house is ill-thatched, the rains will penetrate it. If a roof is well thatched, nothing of that sort will happen. Similarly, a human being ill-thatched or likely to be ill-thatched with desires, agonies and anger, will be compared to the house. This is one of the finest parables I have heard. The house is taken as a metaphor. Now, the closest approach of a well-thatched house needs to be analysed.
In the second canton, titled Appamada Vagga, which means heedfulness, a person must pay heed at all points. Appamado Amatapadan may mean that if a person is peaceful, he will achieve the state of deathlessness. What does deathlessness mean? It is not merely driving off or postponing death. When a person is heedful, he is one of the happiest people on Earth. That can be taken as Amatapadan. Those who are vigilant and wise are happier than others. The man may be very silent. But he may be a far-reaching person than others. The saints, prophets, artists, in this direction, make use of this observation.
The Citta Vagga is centred on mindful behaviour. The Chitta Vagga is all about the mind. For an ordinary person, it is only a state of the mind. And for the scholar, it may be a well-formulated compendium of psychological attitudes. The scrutiny of these poems or stanzas in the Chitta Vagga can be considered a serious study. They are metaphysical in spirit. Metaphorical for all times.
Cittassa damatho sadhu
Cittam dantam sukhavaham
It is good to tame the mind, for a well-tamed mind brings happiness.
This is the ideal ideology for all. Various events in this human life are reached into a superhuman state or supramundane state as a result of mental development.
Then comes the Puppha Vagga. One of the finest attitudes of human beings is compared to flowers. Flowers mean purity, brightness, fusion and so on. But flowers also disseminate the finest spirit. A disciple in training will investigate the well-taught Path of Virtue even as an expert (garland-maker) will pick flowers.
In Bala Vagga, the next canton, the central subject comes as the state of ignorance. The persons who are not literate may harm others. The unlearned may harm others. Such a person is harmful. Ignorance is a born quality. People, who are fools, gradually become wise. Once ignorance is eradicated, there comes wisdom. This is captured in the Panditha Vagga. This is interpretative in terms of the social sciences. There are about 10 to 15 stanzas in the Panditha Vagga. Who is a wise person or Pandit? It is a question being asked now – is he or she a well-versed person or a person who has extensively read classics or transcended a mere education? He becomes a greater man or woman than the average person.
Then comes the Arahanta Vagga, the culmination of the wise man. In 10 stanzas, the state of the Arahant is elaborated. A person who has achieved the state of the supramundane can investigate the mind. The level of existence of such a person is so blessed. Objectives of all human beings are woven around this. The Buddha maintained that a thousand futile sayings become unwanted in the presence of one fulfilled saying. This philosophy is unearthed in the Sahassa Vagga.
Then comes the dismal world. In the Papa Vagga, the sinful states are explained verse by verse. The suffering stems from the guilt of one’s own actions. A man who does evil things tends to suffer to a definitive conclusion. Murderers and robbers are a case in point. Who is this sinner? A man who stops this inner urge is a purified person.
Then comes the Danda Vagga which explains how a punishment should be given and decided by any human being. Thus, the concept of punishment in varying forms comes to stay in the Danda Vagga. The punishment is interpreted in many ways. He who punishes does not know. How very skillful it is to know the person called I.
“I did it.”
“I wrote it.”
“I am angry.”
You tend to suffer yourself. So you punish yourself. Nature punishes us for all our black deeds. When everything is subject to decay, the person is wiser than he happens to be. This is explained in Jara Vagga.
The Jara Vagga (Old Age) describes various forms of human life. It can also be considered one of the finest poetry found in the Dhammapada. If a person can understand the state of decay, they can understand the grave conscience of the world. That is where the Loka Vagga fits in. The one who understands the world is a person who does it not through his physical eye, but through the mental eye. Can the world be likened to mirages? Or is it just magical? If the person can understand that this is an illusion, such a person understands the world. He is free from Mara (the Spectre of Death).
Then comes the Buddha Vagga. The term Prabuddha is explained here, which is the highest Enlightenment. If a human being can achieve this Prabuddha status, that is the greatest human feat. Happiness is a widely discussed subject. What is happening is that we fail to understand happiness. The Buddha offers wisdom on happiness.
“Sukho Buddhanam uppado.
Sukha Saddhammadesana.
Sukha sanghassa samaggi.
Samagganam tapo sukho.”
“Happy is the arising of the Buddhas in the world.
Happy is the teaching of pure Dhamma.
Happy is the coming together of meditators.
Happiness is meditating together.”
Combined with Buddha Vagga is Sukha Vagga, the canton on pleasantness. Any person can eradicate anger. That is the key to happiness.
The philosophical elements are interlinked. The ingredients that go to the making of a Bhikkhu or a proper Brahmana are the ultimatum of the collection. Brahmana is not a person. He is not superhuman either. He has achieved a new lifestyle. The words of Jawaharlal Nehru need to be reread in conclusion:
“In this world of storm and strife, hatred and violence, the message of the Buddha shines like a radiant sun. Perhaps at no time was that message more needed than in the world of the atomic and hydrogen bombs. Two thousand five hundred years have only added to the vitality and truth of that message. Let us remember that immortal message and try to fashion our thoughts and actions in the light of that teaching. We may face with equanimity even the terrors of the atomic bomb age and help a little in promoting right thinking and right action.”
