The Dhammapada (Penguin Classics)

this version is probably the best researched from a linguistic standpoint. It gives a thorough discussion of the details of Sanscrit vocabulary and grammer issues. Especially helpful are the story summaries linked to each verse which help clarify the references in the verse and the point made in the verse. A translation the emphasizes meaning over poetic expression.

The translation is great! With notes for every verse explaining the stories behind them and translation issues. The Dhammapada itself is preceded by a long (about 50 pages) but very interesting introduction covering many themes.

Easy to read and understand. Link to commentary/stories is an inspired choice. Excellent annotations and explanations. Helpful introduction, though as usual with texts from "ancient India,", largely a-historical: little attempt is made to contextualise the texts: traditional datings apart (which are highly implausible), when were they written, by whom, with what motif?Consider the Buddhist logic: (1) Metempsychosis (cf. Pythagoras and Plato) => samsara (cycle of deaths and re-births) (2) Samsara => suffering (3) Suffering ends only when the cycle is discontinued (4) discontinuation occurs only with full liberation (nibbana, parinibbana) (5) full liberation is achieved only by Arahats, Paccecabuddhas, and Fully Awakened Ones (6) while at least Arahathood is achievable by anyone, in practice almost always by monksThis last point is instructive: the Dhammapada is not only a set of dhamma verses, instructions on how to live according to precepts and reach liberation: in part, it is an advertisement compelling readers to enter monkhood. Monkhood is a curious state: men (more typically than women) are taken out of the normal cycle of genetic and economic exchange. A systematic attempt at creating monks reflects a surplus of males in a demography, perhaps a society in which relatively few males successfully monopolise access to females and power; in its effect, monkhood replaces war as a means to neutralise surplus men. The first archaeological evidence of Buddhism occurs in the later 1st c. BCE/early 1st c. CE in the Gandhara area. In the mountain valleys, various Saka rulers appear to have created fiefdoms centred on a powerful knightly nobility but largely lacking a priestly caste like the Brahmin, opening the door for monkhood as solution. The sangha appears to have formed quite early, as early reliquary texts suggest, and the idea of pro-actively and systematically fostering monkhood could have been most meaningful at a time when these fiefdoms were under vassalage of more powerful kingdoms, notably the Indo-Parthian (c.19-226 CE), which may have permitted them local self-rule but no standing army. This question deserves much more research and analysis, but the early Indo-Parthian period could have provided the context for fostering monkhood, and hence for compiling the Dammapada (some of whose verses could have preceded their period, of course), originally probably in Gandhari Prakrit).

Previously loved and read.

Great for philosophy and study of religion

Arrived as scheduled.

These verses come from the earliest surviving Buddhist texts. Attributed to the Buddha himself, orally transmitted in simple stanzas, they may preserve what Siddhartha Gautama taught to his followers. Under themes as varied as "The Elephant," "Flowers," "Rust," and "Twins," these direct, pithy, and lively four-line (sometimes six-line) instructions proverbially capture the essence of letting go of the things and passions and delusions of this transient world."Dhammapada" means the "teachings of the dhamma," the ancient Pali (Middle Indian) language version of what we know from the older Sanskrit as "dharma." This is the core Buddhist message of how to divorce one's self from mundane and mental suffering. Valerie J. Roebuck endeavors to convey the colloquial energy of these sayings. She replaces the Penguin Classics translation by Juan Mascaro, although no reference to this 1973 version can be found in her new edition. She argues that the text expresses the rich culture of its Theravadin, South Asian origins, and that what some scholars have supposed as clichés instead show easily grasped and vividly rendered instructions on ethics and good conduct to prepare the hearer for renunciation of the pleasures of this life so as to reduce their accompanying pain.Her extensive introduction, cross-referenced glossary, and detailed commentary enrich the slender corpus of these 400 verses. Their inflected, intricate Pali may sharpen what in English threatens to drift. She relies upon commonsense as well as scholarship to express their packed meanings in a free verse, yet compact, rendering. She opts for vernacular equivalences rather than professorial stiffness, but her volume can be relied upon by academics as well as a wider readership wishing for an accessible entry into these accessible snippets of advice.Examples will introduce readers to what may not be well-known by Western audiences. In the chapter on "Fools," we learn: "Even if lifelong/ A fool attends upon a wise man,/ He no more knows dhammas/ Than a spoon knows the flavours of soup." Then, the next verse, as is common in these interlinked sections, reverses a pattern from negative observation to positive recommendation: "Even if for a moment/ An intelligent man attends upon a wise man,/ He quickly knows dhammas/ As the tongue knows the flavours of soup." (#64-65)An insistent, yet gently repetitive rather than hectoring or grating tone eases these admonitions. Roebuck as a practitioner as well as a scholar of Buddhism may be better placed to share her inner sensibility of how these verses sink into memory. Over a hundred pages of notes, as long as the space allotted to the verses themselves, provide commentary gleaned from scholars about these sometimes deceptively simple patterns of poetry.Consolation and determination to seek the Buddha's Middle Way between asceticism and indulgence permeates these words. Roebuck strives to capture their relevance for a world far removed from their origins in the third century B.C.E. They address any being wishing to contemplate the more lasting satisfactions beyond the distractions and cravings that ensnare us no less than the monastics of Sri Lanka, who collected what they remembered from the preaching and teaching of the Buddha, a short time after his passing."The monk who, while still young,/ Applies himself to the Buddha's teaching/ Illuminates this world/ Like the moon freed from a cloud." (#382) Penguin, by commissioning a new translation of this venerable text, has found a skilled interpreter in Roebuck. Beyond the mountain monastery or forest hermitage, as the dhamma or dharma attracts attention from those outside of universities and retreats, this compact volume expanding on compressed verse should reward readers who need direction, and meditators who desire guidance. (P.S. I have since, in Feb. 2012, reviewed Glenn Wallis' translation and compared it to Roebuck's rendering.)

Wise words of wisdom. However I wish there was a little bit more clarity that there are stories for each chapter that are in the back of the book. Other than that, it is a very insightful book.

If you love history amazons ebooks have got you covered .

Excellent condition. Arrived as expected.

Penguin Books has a long tradition of having quality and scholarly books - this one. The introduction is substantial and gives a good insight into Buddhism and the Dhammapada.

「ダンマパダ」の英訳書は他にもありますが、本書の英文は平易で、類書のなかで最も理解しやすいです。また、前半に「ダンマパダ」の本文があり、後半に Notes があって本文と対応する偈の番号ごとに「ダンマパダ」が詠まれた状況を説明した「法句註」を要約して、 "STORY: ......." として載せてあります。そのため、前半の本文だけを通読することもできますし、各偈の詠まれた背景や文脈を知りたいときには同じ番号の Notes を見れば分かります。人名索引と索引もあります。充実した内容に加えて安価なので一読をおすすめします。

A must have if you find Buddha's sayings to be sensible.The verse-by-verse explanation is at the second half of the book. Read parallelly to have a better understanding of the context in which each verse was given out by the Buddha.