Dhammapada verse 288
Chapter 20, The Path (Maggavagga) · verses 273–289
“Children provide you no shelter, nor does father, nor relatives. When you’re seized by the terminator, there’s no shelter in family.”
Na santi puttā tāṇāya, na pitā nāpi bandhavā; Antakenādhipannassa, natthi ñātīsu tāṇatā.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 288 mean?
Verse 288 belongs to chapter 20, The Path (Maggavagga), which gathers verses 273–289 on the path. 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 287 and verse 289 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.