Dhammapada verse 6
Chapter 1, Pairs (Yamakavagga) · verses 1–20
“When others do not understand, let us, who do understand this, restrain ourselves in this regard; for that is how conflicts are laid to rest.”
Pare ca na vijānanti, mayamettha yamāmase; Ye ca tattha vijānanti, tato sammanti medhagā.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 6 mean?
Verse 6 belongs to chapter 1, Pairs (Yamakavagga), which gathers verses 1–20 on the paired verses that open the book. It is filed under wisdom & folly, self-discipline. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 5 and verse 7 are part of the same passage.
The opening chapter works in pairs: twenty verses arranged as ten twin verses, each pair holding the same situation in two forms and repeating the same refrain. It opens with the line that sets up the whole book — intention is the leader of things — and then runs the contrast through blame and forgiveness, hatred and its ending, and the difference between a mind that is guarded and one that is not.
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