Dhammapada verse 333
Chapter 23, Elephants (Nāgavagga) · verses 320–333
“It’s a blessing to keep precepts until you grow old; a blessing to be grounded in faith; the getting of wisdom’s a blessing; and it’s a blessing to avoid doing wrong.”
Sukhaṁ yāva jarā sīlaṁ, sukhā saddhā patiṭṭhitā; Sukho paññāya paṭilābho, pāpānaṁ akaraṇaṁ sukhaṁ. Nāgavaggo tevīsatimo.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 333 mean?
Verse 333 belongs to chapter 23, Elephants (Nāgavagga), which gathers verses 320–333 on the elephant, and companionship. It is filed under wisdom & folly, good & evil. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 332 and verse 334 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