Dhammapada verse 203
Chapter 15, Happiness (Sukhavagga) · verses 197–208
“Hunger is the worst illness, conditions are the worst suffering. When one has known this as it is, extinguishment is the ultimate happiness.”
Jighacchāparamā rogā, saṅkhāraparamā dukhā; Etaṁ ñatvā yathābhūtaṁ, nibbānaṁ paramaṁ sukhaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 203 mean?
Verse 203 belongs to chapter 15, Happiness (Sukhavagga), which gathers verses 197–208 on happiness. It is filed under happiness, suffering & grief. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 202 and verse 204 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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