The Dhammapada
trans. F. Max Müller · 1881
4.8 · 5 ratings
About the book
Four hundred and twenty-three verses attributed to the Buddha, arranged by subject — thought, flowers, anger, the fool, the way — in Müller's landmark translation for the Sacred Books of the East. Small enough to memorise, which is exactly what it was for.
Try the short course
Part 1 · The mind walks in front. The first six slides, free.
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The Dhammapada opens with a claim, not a greeting: "All that we are is the result of what we have thought." It is founded on our thoughts, the verse goes on, made up of them.
Notice the order. The verse does not start with circumstances, or luck, or other people. Before a word is spoken or a hand moves, there is a thought that shapes it, and the line puts that thought at the front of everything. In the Pali it begins with mind itself: mind goes before, mind is chief.
It is worth taking that literally for a moment. If the mind walks in front, then the question of how your life goes begins with a smaller, closer question: what are you carrying in your head when you act?
Inside the course
12 parts- The twin verses: mind walks in front of everythingFree above
- Earnestness — the difference between awake and asleep
- Thought, the hardest of all things to hold still
- Flowers: on beauty, death, and gathering
Questions
Is The Dhammapada free to read in Astra Trainer?
Yes. The full book opens free in the app’s reader, in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian.
What is the short course?
12 short parts that walk through the book’s key ideas in slides, each with a quick quiz. The first six slides are free to try on this page.
Where do I get the app?
Astra Trainer is free on the App Store and Google Play. The Dhammapada is waiting in the app’s library.
