Dhammapada verse 57
Chapter 4, Flowers (Pupphavagga) · verses 44–59
“For those accomplished in ethics, meditating diligently, freed through the highest knowledge, Māra cannot find their path.”
Tesaṁ sampannasīlānaṁ, appamādavihārinaṁ; Sammadaññāvimuttānaṁ, māro maggaṁ na vindati.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 57 mean?
Verse 57 belongs to chapter 4, Flowers (Pupphavagga), which gathers verses 44–59 on flowers, and what they stand for. It is filed under the path. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 56 and verse 58 are part of the same passage.
Sixteen verses that use flowers as their working image — garlands made from a heap, a blossom that falls, a fragrance that travels with the wind or does not. The chapter moves from that image to speech, to the person who gathers what is worth gathering, and to the end of the body. It also holds the verse on knowing the body as foam and a mirage.
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