Dhammapada verse 135
Chapter 10, The Rod (Daṇḍavagga) · verses 129–145
“As a cowherd drives the cows to pasture with the rod, so too old age and death drive life from living beings.”
Yathā daṇḍena gopālo, gāvo pājeti gocaraṁ; Evaṁ jarā ca maccu ca, āyuṁ pājenti pāṇinaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 135 mean?
Verse 135 belongs to chapter 10, The Rod (Daṇḍavagga), which gathers verses 129–145 on the rod, and not harming. It is filed under impermanence & death. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 134 and verse 136 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