Dhammapada verse 163
Chapter 12, The Self (Attavagga) · verses 157–166
“It’s easy to do bad things harmful to oneself, but good things that are helpful are the hardest things to do.”
Sukarāni asādhūni, attano ahitāni ca; Yaṁ ve hitañca sādhuñca, taṁ ve paramadukkaraṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 163 mean?
Verse 163 belongs to chapter 12, The Self (Attavagga), which gathers verses 157–166 on the self as one’s own responsibility. It is filed under self-discipline. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 162 and verse 164 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.
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