Dhammapada verse 145
Chapter 10, The Rod (Daṇḍavagga) · verses 129–145
“While irrigators guide water, fletchers bend arrows straight, and carpenters bend timber straight, those true to their vows tame themselves.”
Udakañhi nayanti nettikā, Usukārā namayanti tejanaṁ; Dāruṁ namayanti tacchakā, Attānaṁ damayanti subbatā. Daṇḍavaggo dasamo.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 145 mean?
Verse 145 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 144 and verse 146 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.