Dhammapada verse 140
Chapter 10, The Rod (Daṇḍavagga) · verses 129–145
“or else their home is consumed by fire. When their body breaks up, that witless person is reborn in hell.”
Atha vāssa agārāni, aggi ḍahati pāvako; Kāyassa bhedā duppañño, nirayaṁ sopapajjati.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 140 mean?
Verse 140 belongs to chapter 10, The Rod (Daṇḍavagga), which gathers verses 129–145 on the rod, and not harming. It is filed under no theme. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 139 and verse 141 are part of the same passage.
Seventeen verses on the rod, meaning punishment and harm. It opens with the line that all tremble at the rod and love their life, and from that derives the instruction to treat others as oneself. Later verses hold the person who answers harm with harm and the person who stills themselves like a broken gong.