Dhammapada verse 56
Chapter 4, Flowers (Pupphavagga) · verses 44–59
“Faint is the fragrance of sandal or pinwheel; but the fragrance of the virtuous floats to the highest gods.”
Appamatto ayaṁ gandho, yāyaṁ tagaracandanī; Yo ca sīlavataṁ gandho, vāti devesu uttamo.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 56 mean?
Verse 56 belongs to chapter 4, Flowers (Pupphavagga), which gathers verses 44–59 on flowers, and what they stand for. 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 55 and verse 57 are part of the same passage.
Sixteen verses that use flowers as their working image — garlands made from a heap, a blossom that falls, a fragrance that travels with the wind or does not. The chapter moves from that image to speech, to the person who gathers what is worth gathering, and to the end of the body. It also holds the verse on knowing the body as foam and a mirage.