Dhammapada verse 348
Chapter 24, Craving (Taṇhāvagga) · verses 334–359
“Let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of the present, having gone beyond rebirth. With your heart freed in every respect, you’ll not come again to rebirth and old age.”
Muñca pure muñca pacchato, Majjhe muñca bhavassa pāragū; Sabbattha vimuttamānaso, Na punaṁ jātijaraṁ upehisi.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 348 mean?
Verse 348 belongs to chapter 24, Craving (Taṇhāvagga), which gathers verses 334–359 on craving. It is filed under impermanence & death. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 347 and verse 349 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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