Dhammapada verse 366
Chapter 25, Mendicants (Bhikkhuvagga) · verses 360–382
“If a mendicant is poor in offerings, the well-to-do ought not look down on them. For the gods indeed praise them, who are tireless and pure of livelihood.”
Appalābhopi ce bhikkhu, salābhaṁ nātimaññati; Taṁ ve devā pasaṁsanti, suddhājīviṁ atanditaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 366 mean?
Verse 366 belongs to chapter 25, Mendicants (Bhikkhuvagga), which gathers verses 360–382 on the mendicant’s day. It is filed under purity & stains, giving & merit. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 365 and verse 367 are part of the same passage.
Twenty-three verses on the mendicant, meaning the monastic practitioner, and much of it is practical: restraint in the body, in speech and at the bowl, and contentment with what is giving. The chapter has less doctrine than chapter 24 and more description of how a day of practice is arranged.
More verses on this