Dhammapada verse 347
Chapter 24, Craving (Taṇhāvagga) · verses 334–359
“Besotted by lust they fall into the stream, like a spider caught in the web she wove. The attentive proceed, having cut this one too, unconcerned, having given up all suffering.”
Ye rāgarattānupatanti sotaṁ, Sayaṅkataṁ makkaṭakova jālaṁ; Etampi chetvāna vajanti dhīrā, Anapekkhino sabbadukkhaṁ pahāya.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 347 mean?
Verse 347 belongs to chapter 24, Craving (Taṇhāvagga), which gathers verses 334–359 on craving. It is filed under craving & attachment, suffering & grief, giving & merit. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 346 and verse 348 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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