Dhammapada verse 341
Chapter 24, Craving (Taṇhāvagga) · verses 334–359
“A personage’s joys flow from senses and cravings. Seekers of happiness, bent on pleasure, continue to be reborn and grow old.”
Saritāni sinehitāni ca, Somanassāni bhavanti jantuno; Te sātasitā sukhesino, Te ve jātijarūpagā narā.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 341 mean?
Verse 341 belongs to chapter 24, Craving (Taṇhāvagga), which gathers verses 334–359 on craving. It is filed under craving & attachment, happiness. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 340 and verse 342 are part of the same passage.
Twenty-six verses on craving, and the longest sustained passage in the book. The image is thirst, then a creeper that spreads by night, then the house-builder who builds again and again until the rafters are broken. The chapter is the one most directly concerned with the mechanism by which the self renews its own difficulty.
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