Introduction
The Dhammapada commentary is one of the great collections of stories in the Pāḷi tradition that, although finalised in the mediaeval period, must have been accompanying the text (pāḷi) from the earliest days, being finally redacted into its present form during the first wave of commentaries that started to be written down around the 5th century CE.
Along with the other great collections of stories, like the commentaries on the Jātaka, the Apadāna, the Thera- and Therīgāthā, the Vimāna- and Petavatthus, it is a repository of knowledge about the people who were around the Buddha while he was alive; and also contains a plethora of information about former Buddhas and the previous lives of the Buddha and his disciples.
This particular collection purports to show how the teachings in the best-loved collection of wisdom verses in the tradition came to be spoken, giving ample scope for relating the stories behind the verses. It also serves to demonstrate how the workings of the doctrines made known by the Buddha played out in the long journeys in saṁsāra, as events in previous lives emerge to affect their lives in their present incarnations.
Some of the stories in this collection are epic in proportion and are indeed memorable. They have been used as teaching devices for millennia, as stories are often found to leave an impression on people, where abstract teachings – often of dry lists of factors and their interrelations – fail to be retained in memory. The Buddha and the Saṅgha, of course, are central to nearly all of these stories.
Some great stories are found in this collection, and if you do not have time for all of them, then I suggest reading those highlighted here first. They include the extensive story of the Twin Miracle performed by the Buddha at Sāvatthī in 14.2, which was followed by his ascent into heaven to teach the Abhidhamma to his reborn mother, and his descent at Saṅkissa at the end of the Rains Retreat there.
We also find the back stories to many of the early monastic disciples of the Buddha, upto and including the Elders Sāriputta and Moggallāna in 1.8; the well-known story of the Buddha’s half-brother Nanda is retold in 1.9; the stories of the brothers Culla and Mahā Panthaka are related in 2.7; Kumāra Kassapa’s story is told in 12.4; the story of Soṇa Kūṭikaṇṇa, who resided in the border regions, and whose story affected greatly the lives of monastics ever since is told in 25.7; and the story of the Novice Sumana can be found at 25.12.
Women also feature largely in these stories, see the epic story-cycle regarding King Udena and the tragedy of his wives Sāmāvatī and Māgandiyā in 2.1; the story of the great lay disciple Visākhā in 4.8; the related stories of Paṭācārā and Kisā Gotamī, who became Foremost Disciples of the Buddha, can be found in 8.12 and 8.13.
Amongst the lay followers of the Buddha, the story of how Sakka became Lord of the Gods, amongst his 33 companions, is told in 2.7; the almost fatal lust of King Pasenadi Kosala and his redemption is related in 5.1; the story of Bāhiya Dārucīriya, who gave rise to one of the most famous teachings of the Buddha is found in 8.2; and the stories of the rich men Meṇḍaka (18.10) and Jaṭila and Jotika (26.33 and 26.34) are outstanding.
There are many other stories of interest collected here also. Around 80 stories show the workings of kamma with past life stories which influence events in the present. Not all of these are Jātaka stories, but many are, giving references to, quotations from, and rewrites of familiar stories from that collection.
Previous Buddhas are mentioned in around 15 stories, and we can find some details here that we don’t have from elsewhere. There are also a number of stories about Paccekabuddhas, and the Great and Foremost Disciples figure prominently in these stories. As, of course, do many others, from Devas to Kings to animals.
The Revision
E W Burlingame’s translation was published in 1921 by Harvard University Press and served to open up knowledge of this text to generations of Buddhists in the English-speaking world who would not otherwise had been able to access the text and its stories. He also provided a long and interesting Introduction to the text, which can be found along with his original translation, elsewhere on this website. For this work, of course, we must always be grateful.
However, there are many problems with Burlingame’s translation which we must review here to explain why a revision was thought to be necessary.
One of the problems that I came across when revising the Jātaka translation was that the English was not always easy to understand, or used a vocabulary that was non-standard, and hard at the present time to relate to the original text. One of the first things I did when working on this text therefore was to revise the English so it would be easier to understand now, one hundred years after the original translation was published.
Burlingame replaced the original titles given in the Pāḷi commentary with summary titles of his own. There are good reasons to do this, but many of his titles were quotations from, or references to, Christian sayings. This does serve to make the stories more familiar to outsiders, but it has seemed better to me to revert to the original titles as given in the Pāḷi.
On this, a note is needed, because the titles given in the PTS edition, which I still largely follow here, do not always agree with those in the Burmese editions. I have therefore included the latter also in the summaries at the top of each story, as these are now the most easily available edition of the text online.
At the head of each story stands a few words from the verse, so as to better identify it. These Burlingame omitted, but as these verses are well-known I have thought it better to follow the Pāḷi and include them again in this translation, though they are slightly expanded from the Pāḷi, to include a complete thought.
After the verse, the Pāḷi nearly always gives the results of the teaching, explaining what levels of the paths and fruits various people who were present attained to, and the general effect on the audience. Burlingame left most of these out, although it seems to me germane to understand the results of the teaching that was given.
As the verse is central to the text, I have here included both the Pāḷi and its translation. The translation of the verses in most of the early English translations was not always satisfactory, and in this edition I have preferred my own translations, which stays closer to the Pāḷi. Therefore, I have here replaced the translations of all of the verses with my own translations. AJ: there are around 200 verse which are not from the Dhammapada itself.
As with my revision of the Jātaka Birth Stories I have also completed the story where many times it is just referred to by the commentary, or where just a verse was quoted as a reminder of the story. All such additions – and there are many – have been put in italic text for easy identification, and are further indicated in the notes. Notes made by the commentator are set aside in green text, which has been indented.
At the top of each story I have included some basic information which gives the Dhammpada verse number, alternative titles, Burlingame’s title, parallels found in other texts, a synopsis of the story, the characters in the story, and a rating system, from 2-5 astericks or stars – the latter reflecting on the story, not on the verses, as sometimes the verses are deep and profound, but the story that accompanies it is slight.
I have added many notes to this translation, and I have modified some of Burlingame’s original notes, for instance by using abbreviations consistently. Some of his notes are very helpful indeed, and I have kept them here in keeping with the hybrid nature of this work. His original notes are marked with BG, against mine which are marked AJ.
Also, Burlingame’s extensive Introduction, which is very helpful in a number of ways, is still available on the site, as is the original translation, for those who want to check it out.
One thing that bears mention is that Burlingame’s translation omitted the word-commentary on the verses for the most part, AJ: in fact he did translate four of the word-commentaries, but these are omitted here for reasons explained in the next sentence. and I have done the same in this edition. I intend to make a translation of this important section of the commentary, and publish it separately at a later time.
Many verses have one story to two or more verses, but the verse 416 has two commentarial stories on it, against the practice elsewhere. What is more, the second story evidently completes part of the story contained in the first, so that it seems they should have been amalgamated, but for reasons I do not know and cannot guess, they were not, and they appear as two stories explaining one verse.
The pagination of the translation is included in square brackets, so that for instance
I am very grateful indeed to Dr. Ari Ubeysekara who read the whole translation through in record time for me, and also pointed out a number of mistakes in Burlingame’s translation that I had missed. The work is much better for his help.
Anandajoti Bhikkhu
August, 2024