Dhammapada verse 30
Chapter 2, Diligence (Appamādavagga) · verses 21–32
“Maghavā became chief of the gods by means of diligence. People praise diligence, while negligence is always deplored.”
Appamādena maghavā, devānaṁ seṭṭhataṁ gato; Appamādaṁ pasaṁsanti, pamādo garahito sadā.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 30 mean?
Verse 30 belongs to chapter 2, Diligence (Appamādavagga), which gathers verses 21–32 on heedfulness and negligence. 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 29 and verse 31 are part of the same passage.
This chapter is built on one opposition: heedfulness and negligence. Its twelve verses return again and again to the claim that the heedful person does not fall where the negligent one does, and it closes with a portrait of the diligent practitioner advancing like fire. Verses 21–23 are the ones usually quoted on death and the deathless.