Dhammapada verse 16
Chapter 1, Pairs (Yamakavagga) · verses 1–20
“Here they rejoice, hereafter they rejoice, one who does good rejoices in both places. They rejoice and celebrate, seeing their own pure deeds.”
Idha modati pecca modati, Katapuñño ubhayattha modati; So modati so pamodati, Disvā kammavisuddhimattano.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 16 mean?
Verse 16 belongs to chapter 1, Pairs (Yamakavagga), which gathers verses 1–20 on the paired verses that open the book. It is filed under purity & stains. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 15 and verse 17 are part of the same passage.
The opening chapter works in pairs: twenty verses arranged as ten twin verses, each pair holding the same situation in two forms and repeating the same refrain. It opens with the line that sets up the whole book — intention is the leader of things — and then runs the contrast through blame and forgiveness, hatred and its ending, and the difference between a mind that is guarded and one that is not.
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