Dhammapada - Chapter 4 - Blossoms

The fourth chapter of Dhammapada is based on the theme of flowers. Each verse expresses a notion by relating it to a flower. For example, the first verse poses the question - Just as an expert in garland making will select, pluck and arrange flowers in garlands, who will understand the nature of life and the Dhamma. As an answer to this question, the second verse says that the learner, seeker, the well disciplined in the path of Dhamma will perceive the Dhamma and understand the nature of life.

Read on to further explore the depth of each verse. There are 16 verses in this chapter :


Verse 44:

Who will penetrate this earth

and this realm of death

with all its gods?

Who will ferret out

the well-taught Dhamma saying,

as the skillful flower arranger,

the flower.

Verse 45:

The learner on the path

will penetrate this earth

and the realm of death

with all its gods.

The learner on the path

will ferret out

the well taught Dhamma saying,

as the skillful flower arranger,

the flower.

Verse 46:

Knowing this body is like foam,

realizing its nature - a mirage - 

cutting out the blossoms of Mara,

you can go where the King of Death can't see.

Verse 47:

The man immersed in gathering blossoms,

his heart distracted :

death sweeps him away - 

as a great flood, a village asleep.

Verse 48:

The man immersed in gathering blossoms,

his heart distracted :

insatiable in sensual pleasures :

the End-Maker holds him under his sway.

Verse 49:

As a bee - without harming the blossom,

its color, its fragrance - 

takes away its nectar and flies away:

so should a sage go through a village.

Verse 50:

Focus, not on the rudeness of others,

not on what they've done or left undone,

but on what you have

and haven't done yourself.

Verse 51:

Just like a blossom, 

bright colored but scentless:

a well-spoken word is fruitless

when not carried out.

Verse 52:

Just like a blossom, 

bright colored and full of scent:

a well-spoken word is fruitful

when well carried out.

Verse 53:

Just as from a heap of flowers,

many garland strands can be made,

even so one born and mortal should do

- with what's born and mortal - 

many a skillful thing.

Verse 54:

No flower's scent goes against the wind - 

not sandalwood, jasmine, lavender.

But the scent of good does go against the wind.

The person of integrity wafts a scent in every direction.

Verse 55:

Sandalwood, lavender, lotus and jasmine

among these scents,

the scent of virtue

is unsurpassed.

Verse 56:

Next to nothing, this fragrance

- sandalwood, lavender - 

while the scent of the virtuous

wafts to the gods, supreme

Verse 57:

Those consummate in virtue,

dwelling in heedfulness,

released through right knowing,

Mara can't follow their tracks.

Verse 58 - 59:

As in the pile of rubbish

cast by the side of a highway,

a lotus might grow clean smelling,

pleasant the heart,

so in the midst of rubbish like

people, run-of-the-mill and blind,

there dazzles with discernment,

the disciple of the Rightly Self Awakened One.

Chapter 5 will be continued in the next blog post.

Bookmark this post:

I'm reading: Dhammapada - Chapter 4 - Blossoms ~