Dhammapada verse 10
Chapter 1, Pairs (Yamakavagga) · verses 1–20
“One who’s purged all their stains, steady in ethics, possessed of self-control and of truth, they are truly worthy of the ocher robe.”
Yo ca vantakasāvassa, sīlesu susamāhito; Upeto damasaccena, sa ve kāsāvamarahati.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 10 mean?
Verse 10 belongs to chapter 1, Pairs (Yamakavagga), which gathers verses 1–20 on the paired verses that open the book. It is filed under self-discipline, purity & stains. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 9 and verse 11 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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