Dhammapada verse 283
Chapter 20, The Path (Maggavagga) · verses 273–289
“Cut down the jungle, not just a tree; from the jungle springs fear. Having cut down jungle and snarl, be free of jungles, mendicants!”
Vanaṁ chindatha mā rukkhaṁ, vanato jāyate bhayaṁ; Chetvā vanañca vanathañca, nibbanā hotha bhikkhavo.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 283 mean?
Verse 283 belongs to chapter 20, The Path (Maggavagga), which gathers verses 273–289 on the path. 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 282 and verse 284 are part of the same passage.
Seventeen verses on the path, and the most explicitly doctrinal chapter in the book. It presents the eightfold path as the only way and lays out its factors, then insists that the path is something walked rather than admired. It includes the verses on the four noble truths and on the body as a wound that should be seen clearly.