Dhammapada verse 167
Chapter 13, The World (Lokavagga) · verses 167–178
“Don’t resort to lowly things, don’t abide in negligence, don’t resort to wrong views, don’t perpetuate the world.”
Hīnaṁ dhammaṁ na seveyya, pamādena na saṁvase; Micchādiṭṭhiṁ na seveyya, na siyā lokavaḍḍhano.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 167 mean?
Verse 167 belongs to chapter 13, The World (Lokavagga), which gathers verses 167–178 on the world, and not following it. 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 166 and verse 168 are part of the same passage.
Twelve verses on the world and on not following it. The chapter contrasts the person who sees the world as a bubble or a mirage with the crowd that does not, and it holds the line that the world is blind and only a few see clearly.