Dhammapada verse 1
Chapter 1, Pairs (Yamakavagga) · verses 1–20
“Intention is the leader of things; intention is first, they’re made by intention. If with corrupt intent you speak or act, suffering follows you, like a wheel, the ox’s foot.”
Manopubbaṅgamā dhammā, manoseṭṭhā manomayā; Manasā ce paduṭṭhena, bhāsati vā karoti vā; Tato naṁ dukkhamanveti, cakkaṁva vahato padaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 1 mean?
Verse 1 belongs to chapter 1, Pairs (Yamakavagga), which gathers verses 1–20 on the paired verses that open the book. It is filed under mind & intention, suffering & grief, speech. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 423 and verse 2 are part of the same passage.
The opening chapter works in pairs: twenty verses arranged as ten twin verses, each pair holding the same situation in two forms and repeating the same refrain. It opens with the line that sets up the whole book — intention is the leader of things — and then runs the contrast through blame and forgiveness, hatred and its ending, and the difference between a mind that is guarded and one that is not.
More verses on this