Dhammapada verse 131
Chapter 10, The Rod (Daṇḍavagga) · verses 129–145
“Creatures love happiness, so if you harm them with a stick in search of your own happiness, after death you won’t find happiness.”
Sukhakāmāni bhūtāni, yo daṇḍena vihiṁsati; Attano sukhamesāno, pecca so na labhate sukhaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 131 mean?
Verse 131 belongs to chapter 10, The Rod (Daṇḍavagga), which gathers verses 129–145 on the rod, and not harming. It is filed under happiness, impermanence & death. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 130 and verse 132 are part of the same passage.
Seventeen verses on the rod, meaning punishment and harm. It opens with the line that all tremble at the rod and love their life, and from that derives the instruction to treat others as oneself. Later verses hold the person who answers harm with harm and the person who stills themselves like a broken gong.
More verses on this