Dhammapada verse 162
Chapter 12, The Self (Attavagga) · verses 157–166
“One choked by immorality, as a sal tree by a creeper, does to themselves what a foe only wishes.”
Yassa accantadussilyaṁ, māluvā sālamivotthataṁ; Karoti so tathattānaṁ, yathā naṁ icchatī diso.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 162 mean?
Verse 162 belongs to chapter 12, The Self (Attavagga), which gathers verses 157–166 on the self as one’s own responsibility. 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 161 and verse 163 are part of the same passage.
Ten verses on the self, understood here as one’s own responsibility rather than a permanent essence. The chapter says the self is the refuge and the self is the thing to train, and it warns against the person who is skilled at correcting others and not at correcting themselves.