
Dhammapada verse 199
Chapter 15, Happiness (Sukhavagga) · verses 197–208
“Let us live so very happily, content among the greedy. Among greedy humans, let us live content.”
Susukhaṁ vata jīvāma, ussukesu anussukā; Ussukesu manussesu, viharāma anussukā.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 199 mean?
Verse 199 belongs to chapter 15, Happiness (Sukhavagga), which gathers verses 197–208 on happiness. It is filed under craving & attachment, happiness. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 198 and verse 200 are part of the same passage.
Twelve verses on happiness, and on where it is said to come from. The chapter is explicit that the happiness it means is not the happiness of acquisition: it is the happiness of one who has given up, who is free of fever, and it repeatedly sets that against the delight of people who are still tied to what they cling to.
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