Dhammapada verse 23
Chapter 2, Diligence (Appamādavagga) · verses 21–32
“They who regularly meditate, always staunchly vigorous; the attentive realize extinguishment, the supreme sanctuary from the yoke.”
Te jhāyino sātatikā, niccaṁ daḷhaparakkamā; Phusanti dhīrā nibbānaṁ, yogakkhemaṁ anuttaraṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 23 mean?
Verse 23 belongs to chapter 2, Diligence (Appamādavagga), which gathers verses 21–32 on heedfulness and negligence. It is filed under the path. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 22 and verse 24 are part of the same passage.
This chapter is built on one opposition: heedfulness and negligence. Its twelve verses return again and again to the claim that the heedful person does not fall where the negligent one does, and it closes with a portrait of the diligent practitioner advancing like fire. Verses 21–23 are the ones usually quoted on death and the deathless.
More verses on this