Dhammapada verse 137
Chapter 10, The Rod (Daṇḍavagga) · verses 129–145
“One who violently attacks the peaceful and the innocent swiftly falls to one of ten bad states:”
Yo daṇḍena adaṇḍesu, appaduṭṭhesu dussati; Dasannamaññataraṁ ṭhānaṁ, khippameva nigacchati.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 137 mean?
Verse 137 belongs to chapter 10, The Rod (Daṇḍavagga), which gathers verses 129–145 on the rod, and not harming. It is filed under no theme. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 136 and verse 138 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.