Dhammapada verse 100
Chapter 8, The Thousands (Sahassavagga) · verses 100–115
“Better than a thousand meaningless sayings is a single meaningful saying, hearing which brings you peace.”
Sahassamapi ce vācā, anatthapadasaṁhitā; Ekaṁ atthapadaṁ seyyo, yaṁ sutvā upasammati.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 100 mean?
Verse 100 belongs to chapter 8, The Thousands (Sahassavagga), which gathers verses 100–115 on comparisons with a thousand. It is filed under good & evil. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 99 and verse 101 are part of the same passage.
Sixteen verses that keep comparing one thing to a thousand. A single meaningful saying beats a thousand meaningless ones, one day of the disciplined life beats a hundred years of the undisciplined, and the chapter turns that arithmetic toward what a person does rather than what they recite.
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