Dhammapada verse 339
Chapter 24, Craving (Taṇhāvagga) · verses 334–359
“A person of low views in whom the thirty-six streams that flow to pleasure are mighty, is swept away by lustful thoughts.”
Yassa chattiṁsati sotā, manāpasavanā bhusā; Mahāvahanti duddiṭṭhiṁ, saṅkappā rāganissitā.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 339 mean?
Verse 339 belongs to chapter 24, Craving (Taṇhāvagga), which gathers verses 334–359 on craving. It is filed under mind & intention, craving & attachment. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 338 and verse 340 are part of the same passage.
Twenty-six verses on craving, and the longest sustained passage in the book. The image is thirst, then a creeper that spreads by night, then the house-builder who builds again and again until the rafters are broken. The chapter is the one most directly concerned with the mechanism by which the self renews its own difficulty.
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