Bibiography and Abbreviations

Pāḷi Texts

PNTB: Pāli Nīti Texts of Burma, Critical Edition and Study by Heinz Bechert and Heinz Braun (Pali Text Society, London, 1981). [Dhammanīti, Lokanīti, Mahārahanīti, Rājanīti]
Dhn: Dhammanīti, as in PNTB

Gray: Ancient Proverbs and Maxims, from Burmese Sources, or, The Nīti Literature of Burma, James Gray (Trubner & Co., London, 1886). [Translations of Lokanīti, Dhammanīti, Rājanīti, Suttavaḍḍhananīti (sic.) (=Suta*)]

Ja: Jātakatthavaṇṇanā (= Jātaka-aṭṭhakathā), V. Fausboll (London, Vols I-VI, 1877-1896)

Dhp: Dhammapada, edited and translated by Ānandajoti Bhikkhu, 2017

CST4: Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana Tipiṭaka 4.0.0.15
AN: Aṅguttaranikāya, CST4
Thag: Theragāthā, CST4
Snp: Suttanipāta, CST4
Iti: Itivuttaka, CST4
Pari: Parivāra, CST4
DN: Dīghanikāya, CST4
Sbh: Subodhālaṅkāra, CST4

Verse Types

rh.q. = rhetorical question
adm. = admonition
stm. = simple statement
sim. = simile
ana. = analogy.

Introduction

The Dhammanīti is a collection of wisdom sayings intended to help people in their life and relationships with others by providing clear guidance of how to identify various people and the roles they fulfil. It also shows what our duties are towards them (and they to us), and what sort of behaviour is expected from someone aspiring to live a moral or righteous life.

It was probably used as an educational reference for literate students, and as a source of memorable sayings for explaining moral principles to others, be they lay, monastic, citizens or leaders, perhaps not just by monastic advisors, but also by lay paṇḍits.

Although the text necessarily reflects the times in which it was written, it is still relevant today and can be taken as a manual to understanding others, what should be our relationship to them, and as a guide to right living by anyone who wishes to develop their ethical life, and ensure their future, which, of course, depends on their present conduct.

It can also be used as a teaching device to instruct others, be they children, pupils or leaders at various levels of society. It can therefore stand as a handbook for ethics in all walks of life and as a handy reference for right living.
 
The present text is one of a collection of Nīti (Wisdom) texts that were collected in Myanmar in the late medieval period. It is a part of the Indian Subhāsita (Well-Spoken Words) tradition, and seems to be largely based on that tradition, but with significant additions from Pāḷi Wisdom literature.

The Nīti literature in Pāḷi is basically collections of Subhāsita (Well-Spoken Words) attributed to wise men, whether named or anonymously. It should be noted that the idea of the Subhāsita itself is well known, even in the Tipiṭaka, compare Sabbhisuttaṁ SN 1.31, where five Devas first announce gnomic verses, and then the Buddha is asked:

“Kassa nu kho, Bhagavā, subhāsitan-ti?”
“Sabbāsaṁ vo subhāsitaṁ pariyāyena, api ca mama pi suṇātha:

“Who, Fortunate One, has spoken well?”
“All have spoken well and with reason, however, listen to me:

Sabbhi-r-eva samāsetha, sabbhi kubbetha santhavaṁ,
sataṁ Saddhammam-aññāya, sabbadukkhā pamuccatī ti.”

Associate with the wise, be intimate with the wise, by understanding the True Dhamma of the good, one is freed from all suffering.”

This verse could easily have found its way into one of these collections, as also this verse from the Subhāsitasutta, Snp 2.14, which is indeed included in this collection at Dhn 64:
 

Subhāsitaṁ uttamam-āhu santo;
Dhammaṁ bhaṇe nādhammaṁ, taṁ dutiyaṁ,
piyaṁ bhaṇe nāpiyaṁ taṁ tatiyaṁ,
saccaṁ bhaṇe nālikaṁ taṁ catutthaṁ.

Good people say well-spoken words are first; you should speak Dhamma, not what is not Dhamma, this is second; you should speak pleasantly, not unpleasantly, this is third; you should speak the truth not lies, this is the fourth.

We should note however, that although a Subhāsita is known to the Tipiṭaka, it is not yet being used as a technical term, as it became in the Sanskrit tradition, where it constituted a specific genre of materials. Recently a large collection of 551 of these subhāsitas from the Tipiṭaka were collected by Ven. Rerukane Candawimala in his Buddhanītisaṅgaha, which I translated as Buddhist Wisdom Verses (bit.ly/ABT-BWV) in 2011.

Pāḷi Nīti Literature

The Pāḷi Nīti literature flourished particularly in Myanmar, but it was also known in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia; and in Sri Lanka, where its Sanskrit works were studied. Perhaps, as the Sanskrit works were already accessible and understood in Sri Lanka, there was no felt need to produce a Pāḷi Nīti collection in Pāḷi.

In Myanmar, the language of learning was Pāḷi, and the same need to instruct people—and especially leaders—in ethics was present. It is perhaps for this reason that the Nīti literature in Pāḷi originated and prospered in Myanmar.

The best known work of the genre in Pāḷi seems to have been the 167-verse Lokanīti, hundreds of manuscripts of which are known to have been circulating in Myanmar, where its study was part of the basic curriculum, even in colonial times.

Apart from the Lokanīti there are numerous other collections, such as the Rājanīti, the Mahārahanīti, the Kavidappaṇanīti, the Nītimañjarī, the Sutavaḍḍhananīti, and many others. Of these the Dhammanīti is often considered the earliest and the best of the collections as it contains memorable maxims on a wide range of topics. Although there is no consensus on the matter, Bechert and Braun think it probably dates from the 14th–15th century. See PNTB, § 21.

As a compilation it combines translations of Sanskrit subhāṣita, often adapted to the specific Buddhist sensibility and vocabulary of Theravāda Buddhism, along with wisdom verses in the Pāḷi tradition, mainly drawn from the Tipiṭaka, as well as original compositions in the genre. It therefore constitues a unique blend of adapted Sanskritic and Buddhist lore.

Types of Verse

As in my previous translation of the Udānavarga I have identified the types of verse that are employed, according to whether they are rhetorical questions (rh.q., 26), admonitions (adm., 135) or simple statements (stm., 232). Unlike the Udānavarga there are no declarative verses in this collection, so we have just the three types.

These are identified in a hierarchy, that is, if there is a rhetorical question in the verse, it is marked as such, even though they may also contain admonitions or simple statements; again if there is an admonition it is marked as such, even though it may also contain a simple statement.

We can see from the numbers that the text primarily prefers simple statements, and it prefers to assert truths about the way things are, rather than telling people what to do. However, admonitions are still substantial, so we can say the prescriptive voice is strong, but it is secondary to observation. Rhetorical questions are much rarer, and seem to be used sparingly, and not as a primary mode.

I will now give some examples for these types.

Rhetorical Questions (Praśna-Alaṅkāra)

Dhn 335

Dhammatthakāmamokkhānaṁ pāṇo saṁsiddhikāraṇaṁ,
taṁ nighatā kiṁ na hataṁ? Rakkhitā kiṁ na rakkhataṁ?

Life is the means of accomplishment for Dhamma, prosperity, love and liberation, one who kills it, how is he not a slayer? One who protects it, how is he not a protector?

Questions like these engage the listener and makes him think through the answers, and then on to their implications. In this case one who protects life enables the four main aims in life, it therefore beholds one to protect it, as when you kill you don’t just end a life, but you put an end to the potentiality of that particular life also.

Rhetorical questions of this kind are a good way of involving the listener with the teachings, and helping them to think things through for themselves, and relating them to a wider context, so they can understand the consequences of their actions.

Admonition (Vidhi/Nisedha)

These are normally formed with the imperative voice, or with the optative verb. Note, though, that not all optatives are admonitory. Here is an example which employs both (imperative=adhīyetha; and optatives=jāneyya and payojaye), and both positive and negative injunctions:

Dhn 23

Sabbaṁ sutaṁ adhīyetha – hīnam-ukkaṭṭhamajjhimaṁ –
sabbassa atthaṁ jāneyya, na ca sabbaṁ payojaye.
Hoti tādisako kālo yadi attāvahaṁ sutaṁ.

One must learn by heart all that is heard – inferior, superior or middling – you should know every matter, but you should not undertake everything. There comes such a time when what was learned is taken up.

Although these are fairly straightforward “must do/not do” type statements, I think that they also require the assessment and consent of the people they are addressed to, and engage the listener/reader in a different, but still very active, way as they agree with or disagree with the advice.

Simple Statements (Siddhāntavākya)

It is notable that in a collection of what are ostensibly advisory verses on conduct that simple statements are substantially more numerous than admonitions. Example:

Dhn 6

Uṭṭhānā upaṭṭhānā ca sussūsā paricārikā
sakkaccaṁ sippuggahaṇā garuṁ ārādhaye budho.

Through rising, service, listening, attendance and the respectful acquisition of knowledge the wise one satisfies the teacher.

Although it doesn’t say you should conform your behaviour to these norms, that, of course, is heavily implied. I think this again engages the reader who has to draw his own conclusions, not just about the correctness of the statement, but also about how he should apply it in his own life.

Besides these basic forms I also identify analogies and similes, which are marked additionally to the basic form of the verse.

Analogy (Dṛṣṭānta)

It is interesting that analogies (65) outnumber similes (36), which shows that the text prefers to teach by juxtaposing parallel situations rather than making explicit comparisons. This again suggests a pedagogical style that asks the reader to make the connection themselves, as with the simple statements. The Dhammanīti is therefore fundamentally a wisdom collection that shows more than it commands, and it trusts the reader to see the patterns. The relatively high use of analogy indicates a teaching method based on illustrative examples rather than abstract rules.

Dhn 11

Sukhaṁ rukkhassa chāyā va, tato ñātimātāpitu,
tato ācariyarañño, tato Jinassa sāsanaṁ.

Good is the shade of a tree, better than that are relatives, mother and father, better than that is a royal teacher, better than that is the teaching of the Victor.

We can all know from our everyday lives that having the shade of a tree, whether from sun or rain, is beneficial. Then, building on that momentum, the verse describes people and things that bring even more benefit.

Analogies may be combined with rhetorical questions, as in the following verse.

Dhn 60

Hiraññena migānaṁ va, susīlena asīlino,
adhammikassa Dhammena, bālānam-pi sutena kiṁ?

Like animals with gold, the unvirtuous with virtue, the unrighteous with Dhamma, how about fools with learning?

Just as animals do not have any idea of the value of gold, so the unvirtuous and the unrighteous do not understand the value of virtue and Dhamma, so what can we expect with fools in regard to learning? The engagement is on multiple levels here, as we have to think it through from analogous situations, and then engage with the question at the end.

Simile (Upamā)

A simile is similar to an analogy but is distinguished by using a word of comparison such as iva, yathā or upamā:

Dhn 21

Mātā satru pitā verī, bālakāle na sikkhito,
na sobhati sabhāmajjhe, haṁsamajjhe bako yathā.

A mother is an enemy, a father is a foe, (if) during childhood they do not train one, he does not shine in the midst of an assembly, like a heron amongst the geese.

We can understand that just as a heron does not stand out or appear prominent when amongst the stately geese, so an untrained person will be lost in the crowd when in an assembly of his peers. And this is blamed on those who should have trained him better in the first place.

I have discussed such issues as concision, ellipsis, and the collective singulars elsewhere. See my translation of the Udānavarga (https://ancient-buddhist-texts.net/tt/Udanavarga/00-Introduction.htm#toc3). Those are general statements which apply equally to this, and indeed all the verse texts in the tradition. They can be studied there, rather than repeated again here.

The Author

As there are a large number of verses having parallels, it seems most people who have studied this genre have presumed that more parallels would be discovered in time, and have not therefore discussed the fact that a large number of verses are only known from this collection, and its derivatives.

Some of greatest scholars of the Nīti/Subhāṣita tradition—such as Ludwig Sternbach, Who himself made the largest collection of such verses: Mahā-Subhāṣita-Saṁgraha, containing over 14,000 verses. Heinz Bechert, and Heinz Braun Braun did his MA and PHD on the Pāḷi Nīti literature.—have studied and searched for parallels, and these are listed in Bechert and Braun’s edition of four of these texts.

More recently Ujjwal Kumar, who is a great scholar of this literature, has kindly pointed out a number of extra parallels, which I have included in my text. Although it is not impossible that some more parallels will be identified in the future, it is hardly likely to make much difference to the statistics presented below.

So that still leaves an astonishing 179 verses (over 40%) which have no known parallel prior to the Dhammanīti itself. Here is a list of the verses:

1, 2–3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14–15, 17, 19, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 35, 36, 40, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 54, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 76, 77, 79, 80, 83, 85, 89, 95, 96, 99, 107–108, 112, 113, 114, 117, 122, 124, 125, 128, 130, 131, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 144, 146, 151, 153, 154, 157, 158–159, 164, 165, 166, 170, 171, 172, 175, 179, 180, 181, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 189, 198, 199, 210, 219, 223, 224, 225, 228, 229, 231, 234–235, 238, 239, 243, 244, 245, 248, 249, 250, 256, 257, 258, 260, 261, 268, 272–273, 282, 284, 285, 287, 325, 326, 327, 328, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 336, 337–338, 340, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 353, 357, 359, 365, 367, 369, 372, 376, 378, 379, 380, 382, 383, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392–393, 394, 395, 396, 398, 399, 400, 403–404, 414.

And if we compare the numbers:

Author: 179 verses
Pāḷi Wisdom: 122 verses
Sanskrit Wisdom: 113 verses

We can see that the main contributor to this collection was the author/translator/collector himself.

There is no satisfactory answer as to who the author of this collection was, as he never named himself in the text—and is not noted elsewhere—but it seems to me, that if this is the earliest collection of Nīti texts in Myanmar, as Bechert and Braun believed, then he was a person a considerable talent.

We have already mentioned the versification of a prose passage mentioned above (Dhn 6). We could also mention the following clever verse:

Dhn 9

Sammā upaparikkhitvā akkharesu padesu ca,
coraghāto sisso siyā, garu coraṭṭakārako.

Having properly investigated the syllables and words, the pupil should become a slayer of the thief, while the teacher opposes the thief.

Where the “thief” is evidently ignorance, but it is implied in a way that requires the reader/listener to think it through to understand properly who should be slain.

He was also able to handle complex classical metres, like this verse in Pahāsinī, which also employs an analogy.  

Dhn 349

Sādhuttaṁ sujanasamāgamā khalānaṁ,
sādhūnaṁ na khalasamāgamā khalattaṁ—
āmodaṁ kusumabhavaṁ dadhāti bhūmi,
bhūgandhaṁ na ca kusumāni dhārayanti.

For the malicious goodness comes from association with good people, maliciousness comes from association with the malicious, not with the good—the earth holds the fragrance of flowers, but flowers do not carry the scent of the earth.

Previous studies have been dismissive of the anonymous author, but it is clear from the way he was able to adapt Sanskrit—and sometimes Pāḷi—verses, and provide other materials not known in either tradition, that he was more than just a collector-translator, and was one who actively shaped his material and composed new material to get his point across.  

Analysis and Summary

Structure

All manuscript and printed witnesses consulted by Bechert agree in presenting the text with an initial mātikā outlining thematic chapters and with headings placed at the beginning of each section, rather than end-titles. This paratextual architecture is shared with other nīti works such as the Lokanīti and the Mahārahanīti and contrasts with canonical and early post-canonical Pāli literature, which typically employs end-titles and lack navigational tables of contents.

Sanskrit nīti literature overwhelmingly uses head-structured textual architecture (chapter divisions, adhyāyas, mātikās, sūtra numbering, etc.), so the Pāli nīti genre is structurally Sanskritic, even though it is linguistically Pāli.

The original text is divided into 24 chapters, to which I have divided off two more sections, the Proem, containing the Invocation and Table of Contents, and the Colophon, which encourages the copying of the text.

The 24 chapters and two sections vary in length considerably as is shown in this table.

Ten of the chapters have verses in single digits; eight are between 10 and 20 verses; and eight are above 20 verses in length.

Largest to Smallest Chapters

Note that the whole of chapter 22 is drawn from the Rājavasati (the King’s Residence) section of Vidhurapaṇḍitajātaka (Ja 545, PTS) with a few omissions and summaries.

The Chapters

The text proper begins with the Ācariya, or Teacher, but unexpectedly focuses on what the pupil’s relationship should be to such a person, rather than on the qualities of a good teacher himself.

The second chapter concerns Sippa (Skt. śilpa), which has various connotations, including knowledge, craft, art and so on. It also starts with a mātika, in this case listing the traditional recognised branches of knowledge. It then primarily focuses on encouraging diligence in the pupil and not being foolish, or wasting one’s opportunity, as knowledge is what distinguishes humans from animals, and having a craft enables self-reliance.

The third chapter is entitled Paññā, Wisdom, but it really concerns the one who embodies that quality, the wise person, and how he can be recognised, and the qualities he pursues or avoids. Here the wise one, the Paṇḍita, is extolled, and this might have been a better title for the chapter. He is also identified as steadfast (dhīra), good (santa) and intelligent (budha).

The fourth chapter deals with Learning, but by showing that the one who remains unlearned is like a barbarian or an animal. The next chapter concerns right and wrong Speech, and how it should be employed, remembering that even a few words well-placed may have more effect than a lot of words used indiscriminately.

The fifth chapter on Wealth first shows what constitues true wealth, i.e. virtuous qualities. But it also shows how important actual material wealth is, as this ensures one’s independence, friendship and standing with others.

The following chapter is concerned with living in a good Country, where the virtuous and learned are respected, and where fools and villains are not in charge. If this is not the case, one should abandon the country for a better one.

The chapter on Dependence recognises that we are all in sets of relationships with others, and therefore we must be careful about who we associate with. A common theme throughout this work is that association with the bad will destroy us, and association with the good will raise us up.

This theme is continued in the next three chapters on Friends, Bad and Good People. We must be able to clearly understand these types, and not be fooled in our dealings with others, so that we make progress ethically and secure our futures, which includes in Buddhism, our future lives in saṁsāra. This is followed by a short chapter on the various Strengths that people and animals have.

The chapter on Women (Itthī) deserves a special mention because it evidently reflects the thoughts of a patriarchal society, and the suspicions and fears that men have about women. We should keep this in mind when reading, and as I stress in the annotation, we can understand that the text is reflecting its own milieu, and we can read it without necessarily universalising as the text suggests.

We should also note that the chapter speaks very well about women in many of the verses, and when virtuous, energetic and diplomatic she is seen as having a true and necessary role in society.

The next three chapters deal with particular roles in life, as a Child, a Slave and a Householder. The child it is emphasised needs to be diciplined, so he will in later life be able to support the elderly; the slave, a chapter with only two verses, discusses typology; whereas the Householder should be careful about the company he keeps, the wealth he has gathered and who he mixes with.

The next three chapters on what should be Done or Not Done by the Wise, and What Should Be Known or understood are fairly self-explanatory from their titles.

The following two chapters deal with how a King and a Courtier should behave in regard to each other and in regard to the populace they rule over. A whole treatise was given over to the behaviour of Kings and leaders (the Rājanīti) elsewhere, as it was such an important subject, and these are amongst the longer chapters here.

The last two chapters are really Miscellaneous chapters, giving advice that doesn’t fit in well under the other headings, the first of these chapters is organised according to numerical categories: Pairs, triads, etc.

I have separated off a Colophon from this last chapter, as it really deals with the preservation of texts, especially this one, and the benefits and results of passing the Dhamma to our own and future generations. There are a few miscellaneous verses in this section also, but mainly it is concerned with encouraging the transmission of the Dhamma.

Verse 390 emphasises that: Books and so on are the field, writing is the yoke and plough, having made letters the seed, through this conduct one may become a wise person, i.e. copying this work is first of all beneficial for the scribe.  

This Edition

The Text

In 1974 Heinz Bechert and Heinz Braun edited a critical edition of four Nīti texts—Dhammanīti, Lokanīti, Mahārahanīti and Rājanīti—from a large collection of manuscripts and printed editions they had managed to assemble over many years, and the work was published by the Pali Text Society (PTS) as Pāli Nīti Texts of Burma. This is the text that is the basis of my translation, though I have occasionally made changes to the text, which are noted as they appear.

122 of the verses are found in other, mainly canonical, Pāḷi texts, including 78 from the Jātaka collection, 8 each from the Dhammapada and Aṅguttaranikāya; six from the Theragāthā; 4 each from Suttanipāta and Itivuttaka, one from the Parivāra, and two from the medieval Subhodhālaṅkāra. One verse is based on the Dīghanikāya.

The Presentation

Many of the verses have to be taken in pairs to make sense of them, these are 2–3, 14–15, 102–103, 173–174, 192–193, 234–235, 272–273, 274–275, 276–277, 278–279, 337–338, 392–393, 403–404. This is an evolution from the canonical Pāḷi texts which were normally written in pādayugas.

In this text, outside of the canonical material, the pādayuga is not normally enough and, generally speaking, the four-line verse has to be read as a whole for it to make good sense. For this reason I have printed the whole verse first, and then a translation of the verse on a following line, rather than attempting to translate it pādayuga by pādayuga as I have normally done elsewhere.

The presentation here is organised in this way: first comes the Pāḷi verse(s), which is followed by the translation. This is then commented on to explicate and draw out the meaning, and explain difficult points.

I regret to say that I do not know Burmese, and so was unable to benefit from the nissayas to the text. For this reason I decided to write my own commentary, which expands upon the often elliptic verses, and enabled me to explain the meaning, without additions to the translation, keeping in mind the general reader, who can benefit from the advice.

This gives a structure, which is colour-coded for identification of the main texts and its parallels:

Text

Translation

Commentary

The text and translation are also annotated to discuss points of difficulty and of interest, and sometimes to explain my choice of translation.

Acknowledgements

I am very grateful indeed to the Pali Text Society who gave permission to reproduce Bechert and Braun’s text here. This has enabled me to work with a well-established and trusted edition of the text and its parallels, which was edited by two of the greatest scholars of this tradition.

This translation was discussed in detail with chat.deepseek.ai, and is all the better for it (accessed from Dec. 2025–Mar. 2026). This often consisted, in the case of difficult verses, of long sessions reviewing the translation over and over again, until we could make satisfactory sense of it.

I am also grateful to Prof. Dr. Ujjwal Kumar, Department of Buddhist Studies, University of Calcutta, who himself has made many studies of this genre in English and Hindi, as well as texts in Devanāgarī and translations into Hindi of the Nīti texts. He it was who first encouraged me to undertake this translation, and then was kind enough to review the work for me. He also found the parallels to verses 4, 5, 6, 196 and 197.

On difficult points I consulted James Gray’s 1886 translation, which was guided by the nissaya. His translation often says much more than the text does, and that sometimes helped me to understand the text better, but I do not always follow his translation.

Ānandajoti Bhikkhu
March 2026