Dhammapada verse 326
Chapter 23, Elephants (Nāgavagga) · verses 320–333
“In the past my mind wandered how it wished, where it liked, as it pleased. Now I’ll carefully guide it, as a trainer with a hook guides a rutting elephant.”
Idaṁ pure cittamacāri cārikaṁ, Yenicchakaṁ yatthakāmaṁ yathāsukhaṁ; Tadajjahaṁ niggahessāmi yoniso, Hatthippabhinnaṁ viya aṅkusaggaho.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 326 mean?
Verse 326 belongs to chapter 23, Elephants (Nāgavagga), which gathers verses 320–333 on the elephant, and companionship. It is filed under mind & intention, happiness. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 325 and verse 327 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.
More verses on this