Dhammapada verse 287
Chapter 20, The Path (Maggavagga) · verses 273–289
“As a mighty flood sweeps away a sleeping village, death steals away a man who dotes on children and cattle, his mind caught up in them.”
Taṁ puttapasusammattaṁ, byāsattamanasaṁ naraṁ; Suttaṁ gāmaṁ mahoghova, maccu ādāya gacchati.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 287 mean?
Verse 287 belongs to chapter 20, The Path (Maggavagga), which gathers verses 273–289 on the path. It is filed under mind & intention, impermanence & death. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 286 and verse 288 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.
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