Dhammapada verse 160
Chapter 12, The Self (Attavagga) · verses 157–166
“One is indeed the lord of oneself, for who else would be one’s lord? By means of a well-tamed self, one gains a lord that’s rare indeed.”
Attā hi attano nātho, ko hi nātho paro siyā; Attanā hi sudantena, nāthaṁ labhati dullabhaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 160 mean?
Verse 160 belongs to chapter 12, The Self (Attavagga), which gathers verses 157–166 on the self as one’s own responsibility. It is filed under self-discipline. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 159 and verse 161 are part of the same passage.
Ten verses on the self, understood here as one’s own responsibility rather than a permanent essence. The chapter says the self is the refuge and the self is the thing to train, and it warns against the person who is skilled at correcting others and not at correcting themselves.
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