Dhammapada verse 328
Chapter 23, Elephants (Nāgavagga) · verses 320–333
“If you find an alert companion, an attentive friend to live happily together, then, overcoming all adversities, wander with them, joyful and mindful.”
Sace labhetha nipakaṁ sahāyaṁ, Saddhiṁ caraṁ sādhuvihāridhīraṁ; Abhibhuyya sabbāni parissayāni, Careyya tenattamano satīmā.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 328 mean?
Verse 328 belongs to chapter 23, Elephants (Nāgavagga), which gathers verses 320–333 on the elephant, and companionship. It is filed under mind & intention, happiness. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 327 and verse 329 are part of the same passage.
Fourteen verses that use the elephant as their figure — the elephant in battle, the untamed elephant, the elephant that carries its own load. It is also the chapter about companionship: it contains the verses on finding an alert friend to travel with and on walking alone when no such friend can be found.
More verses on this