Dhammapada verse 132
Chapter 10, The Rod (Daṇḍavagga) · verses 129–145
“Creatures love happiness, so if you don’t harm them with a stick in search of your own happiness, after death you will find happiness.”
Sukhakāmāni bhūtāni, yo daṇḍena na hiṁsati; Attano sukhamesāno, pecca so labhate sukhaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 132 mean?
Verse 132 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 131 and verse 133 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