Dhammapada verse 24
Chapter 2, Diligence (Appamādavagga) · verses 21–32
“For the hard-working and mindful, pure of deed and attentive, restrained, living righteously, and diligent, their reputation only grows.”
Uṭṭhānavato satīmato, Sucikammassa nisammakārino; Saññatassa dhammajīvino, Appamattassa yasobhivaḍḍhati.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 24 mean?
Verse 24 belongs to chapter 2, Diligence (Appamādavagga), which gathers verses 21–32 on heedfulness and negligence. It is filed under mind & intention, self-discipline, purity & stains. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 23 and verse 25 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