Dhammapada verse 263
Chapter 19, The Just (Dhammaṭṭhavagga) · verses 256–272
“But if they’ve cut that out, dug it up at the root, eradicated it, that intelligent one, purged of vice, is said to be holy.”
Yassa cetaṁ samucchinnaṁ, mūlaghaccaṁ samūhataṁ; Sa vantadoso medhāvī, “sādhurūpo”ti vuccati.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 263 mean?
Verse 263 belongs to chapter 19, The Just (Dhammaṭṭhavagga), which gathers verses 256–272 on what makes a person just. 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 262 and verse 264 are part of the same passage.
Seventeen verses on the just person. Most of the chapter is a series of distinctions: you do not become just by passing hasty judgment, by seniority, by eloquence, or by complexion. The chapter defines the just person by what they weigh, not by what they claim.