Dhammapada verse 284
Chapter 20, The Path (Maggavagga) · verses 273–289
“So long as the vine, no matter how small, that ties a man to women is not cut, his mind remains trapped, like a calf suckling its mother.”
Yāva hi vanatho na chijjati, Aṇumattopi narassa nārisu; Paṭibaddhamanova tāva so, Vaccho khīrapakova mātari.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 284 mean?
Verse 284 belongs to chapter 20, The Path (Maggavagga), which gathers verses 273–289 on the path. It is filed under mind & intention. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 283 and verse 285 are part of the same passage.
Seventeen verses on the path, and the most explicitly doctrinal chapter in the book. It presents the eightfold path as the only way and lays out its factors, then insists that the path is something walked rather than admired. It includes the verses on the four noble truths and on the body as a wound that should be seen clearly.
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