Dhammapada verse 211
Chapter 16, The Beloved (Piyavagga) · verses 209–220
“Therefore don’t hold anything dear, for it’s bad to lose those you love. No ties are found in they who hold nothing loved or loathed.”
Tasmā piyaṁ na kayirātha, piyāpāyo hi pāpako; Ganthā tesaṁ na vijjanti, yesaṁ natthi piyāppiyaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 211 mean?
Verse 211 belongs to chapter 16, The Beloved (Piyavagga), which gathers verses 209–220 on the beloved, and the grief that follows. 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 210 and verse 212 are part of the same passage.
Twelve verses on the beloved, and this is the chapter that explains grief. Its argument is that sorrow follows from affection — the one you love, the thing you cannot lose — and it does not tell the reader to love less so much as to see what they have taken on. Verses 209–211 are the ones most often quoted.