Dhammapada verse 3
Chapter 1, Pairs (Yamakavagga) · verses 1–20
““They abused me, they hit me! They beat me, they robbed me!” For those who bear such a grudge, hatred is never laid to rest.”
Akkocchi maṁ avadhi maṁ, ajini maṁ ahāsi me; Ye ca taṁ upanayhanti, veraṁ tesaṁ na sammati.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 3 mean?
Verse 3 belongs to chapter 1, Pairs (Yamakavagga), which gathers verses 1–20 on the paired verses that open the book. It is filed under anger & peace. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 2 and verse 4 are part of the same passage.
The opening chapter works in pairs: twenty verses arranged as ten twin verses, each pair holding the same situation in two forms and repeating the same refrain. It opens with the line that sets up the whole book — intention is the leader of things — and then runs the contrast through blame and forgiveness, hatred and its ending, and the difference between a mind that is guarded and one that is not.
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