Dhammapada verse 342
Chapter 24, Craving (Taṇhāvagga) · verses 334–359
“People governed by thirst, crawl about like a trapped rabbit. Bound and fettered, for a long time they return to pain time and again.”
Tasiṇāya purakkhatā pajā, Parisappanti sasova bandhito; Saṁyojanasaṅgasattakā, Dukkhamupenti punappunaṁ cirāya.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 342 mean?
Verse 342 belongs to chapter 24, Craving (Taṇhāvagga), which gathers verses 334–359 on craving. It is filed under craving & attachment, suffering & grief. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 341 and verse 343 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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