Dhammapada verse 204
Chapter 15, Happiness (Sukhavagga) · verses 197–208
“Health is the ultimate blessing; contentment, the ultimate wealth; trust is the ultimate family; extinguishment, the ultimate happiness.”
Ārogyaparamā lābhā, Santuṭṭhiparamaṁ dhanaṁ; Vissāsaparamā ñāti, Nibbānaṁ paramaṁ sukhaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 204 mean?
Verse 204 belongs to chapter 15, Happiness (Sukhavagga), which gathers verses 197–208 on happiness. It is filed under good & evil, happiness. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 203 and verse 205 are part of the same passage.
Twelve verses on happiness, and on where it is said to come from. The chapter is explicit that the happiness it means is not the happiness of acquisition: it is the happiness of one who has given up, who is free of fever, and it repeatedly sets that against the delight of people who are still tied to what they cling to.
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