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The Dhammapada is the best known and mostwidely esteemed text in the Pali Tipitaka, the sacred scriptures ofTheravada Buddhism. The work is included in the Khuddaka Nikaya("Minor Collection") of the Sutta Pitaka, but its popularity hasraised it far above the single niche it occupies in the scripturesto the ranks of a world religious classic. Composed in the ancientPali language, this slim anthology of verses constitutes a perfectcompendium of the Buddha's teaching, comprising between its coversall the essential principles elaborated at length in the forty-oddvolumes of the Pali canon.According to the Theravada Buddhist tradition, each verse in theDhammapada was originally spoken by the Buddha in response to aparticular episode. Accounts of these, along with exegesis of theverses, are preserved in the classic commentary to the work,compiled by the great scholiast Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa in thefifth century C.E. on the basis or material going back to veryancient times. The contents of the verses, however, transcend thelimited and particular circumstances of their origin, reaching outthrough the ages to various types of people in all the diversesituations of life. For the simple and unsophisticated theDhammapada is a sympathetic counselor; for the intellectuallyoverburdened its clear and direct teachings inspire humility andreflection; for the earnest seeker it is a perennial source ofinspiration and practical instruction. Insights that flashed intothe heart of the Buddha have crystallized into these luminousverses of pure wisdom. As profound expressions of practicalspirituality, each verse is a guideline to right living. The Buddhaunambiguously pointed out that whoever earnestly practices theteachings found in the Dhammapada will taste the bliss ofemancipation.Due to its immense importance, the Dhammapada has beentranslated into numerous languages. In English alone severaltranslations are available, including editions by such notedscholars as Max Muller and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. However, whenpresented from a non-Buddhist frame of reference, the teachings ofthe Buddha inevitably suffer some distortion. This, in fact, hasalready happened with our anthology: an unfortunate selection ofrenderings has sometimes suggested erroneous interpretations, whilefootnotes have tended to be judgmental.The present translation was originally written in the late1950's. Some years earlier, while consulting a number ofEnglish-language editions of the Dhammapada, it was observed thatthe renderings were either too free and inaccurate or too pedantic,and it was therefore felt that a new translation avoiding these twoextremes would serve a valuable purpose. The finished result ofthat project, presented here, is a humble attempt by a practicingfollower of the Buddha to transmit the spirit and content, as wellas the language and style, of the original teachings.In preparing this volume I have had access to numerous editionsand translations of the Dhammapada into various languages,including Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali, Sinhala, Burmese and Nepali. Iparticularly benefited from the excellent translations of the workby the late Venerable Narada Mahathera of Vajirarama, Colombo, SriLanka, and Professor Bhagwat of Poona, India; To them I acknowledgemy debt. A few verses contain riddles, references or analogies thatmay not be evident to the reader. The meanings of these areprovided either in parentheses or notes, and for theirinterpretation I have relied on the explanations given inBhadantacariya Buddhaghosa's commentary. Verses discussed in thenotes are indicated in the text by an asterisk at the end of theverse.