Dhammapada verse 230
Chapter 17, Anger (Kodhavagga) · verses 221–234
“like a pendant of Black Plum River gold, who is worthy to criticize them? Even the gods praise them, and by the Divinity, too, they’re praised.”
Nikkhaṁ jambonadasseva, ko taṁ ninditumarahati; Devāpi naṁ pasaṁsanti, brahmunāpi pasaṁsito.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 230 mean?
Verse 230 belongs to chapter 17, Anger (Kodhavagga), which gathers verses 221–234 on anger. 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 229 and verse 231 are part of the same passage.
Fourteen verses on anger. The chapter gives the practical instruction to overcome anger with kindness and to give up what feeds it, and it describes the angry person as one who loses their own good. It also holds the verse about giving rather than taking as the way anger is dissolved.