Dhammapada verse 325
Chapter 23, Elephants (Nāgavagga) · verses 320–333
“One who gets drowsy from overeating, fond of sleep, rolling round the bed like a great hog stuffed with grain: that dullard returns to the womb again and again.”
Middhī yadā hoti mahagghaso ca, Niddāyitā samparivattasāyī; Mahāvarāhova nivāpapuṭṭho, Punappunaṁ gabbhamupeti mando.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 325 mean?
Verse 325 belongs to chapter 23, Elephants (Nāgavagga), which gathers verses 320–333 on the elephant, and companionship. 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 324 and verse 326 are part of the same passage.
Fourteen verses that use the elephant as their figure — the elephant in battle, the untamed elephant, the elephant that carries its own load. It is also the chapter about companionship: it contains the verses on finding an alert friend to travel with and on walking alone when no such friend can be found.