Dhammapada verse 165
Chapter 12, The Self (Attavagga) · verses 157–166
“For it is by oneself that evil’s done, one is corrupted by oneself. It’s by oneself that evil’s not done, one is purified by oneself. Purity and impurity are personal matters, no one can purify another.”
Attanā hi kataṁ pāpaṁ, attanā saṅkilissati; Attanā akataṁ pāpaṁ, attanāva visujjhati; Suddhī asuddhi paccattaṁ, nāñño aññaṁ visodhaye.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 165 mean?
Verse 165 belongs to chapter 12, The Self (Attavagga), which gathers verses 157–166 on the self as one’s own responsibility. It is filed under good & evil, self-discipline, purity & stains. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 164 and verse 166 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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