Dhammapada verse 182
Chapter 14, The Buddhas (Buddhavagga) · verses 179–196
“It’s hard to gain a human birth; the life of mortals is hard; it’s hard to hear the true teaching; the arising of Buddhas is hard.”
Kiccho manussapaṭilābho, kicchaṁ maccāna jīvitaṁ; Kicchaṁ saddhammassavanaṁ, kiccho buddhānamuppādo.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 182 mean?
Verse 182 belongs to chapter 14, The Buddhas (Buddhavagga), which gathers verses 179–196 on the Buddhas and the awakened. It is filed under good & evil, impermanence & death, the buddha & teachers. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 181 and verse 183 are part of the same passage.
Eighteen verses on the Buddhas, the awakened, and what makes a teacher worth following. It is the chapter that gives the famous line about not doing evil, doing good and purifying the mind, and it treats the awakened person as the one case in which a teacher is beyond reproach.
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