Dhammapada verse 228
Chapter 17, Anger (Kodhavagga) · verses 221–234
“There never was, nor will be, nor is there today, someone who is wholly praised or wholly blamed.”
Na cāhu na ca bhavissati, na cetarahi vijjati; Ekantaṁ nindito poso, ekantaṁ vā pasaṁsito.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 228 mean?
Verse 228 belongs to chapter 17, Anger (Kodhavagga), which gathers verses 221–234 on anger. 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 227 and verse 229 are part of the same passage.
Fourteen verses on anger. The chapter gives the practical instruction to overcome anger with kindness and to give up what feeds it, and it describes the angry person as one who loses their own good. It also holds the verse about giving rather than taking as the way anger is dissolved.