Dhammapada verse 343
Chapter 24, Craving (Taṇhāvagga) · verses 334–359
“People governed by thirst, crawl about like a trapped rabbit. That’s why one who longs for dispassion should dispel thirst.”
Tasiṇāya purakkhatā pajā, Parisappanti sasova bandhito; Tasmā tasiṇaṁ vinodaye, Ākaṅkhanta virāgamattano.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 343 mean?
Verse 343 belongs to chapter 24, Craving (Taṇhāvagga), which gathers verses 334–359 on craving. It is filed under craving & attachment. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 342 and verse 344 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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