THE DHAMMAPADA IN A NUTSHELL
Buddhism appeals both to the masses and the intelligentsia. It offers milk for the babe and meat for the strong. it presents one way of life to members of the Holy order and another to the laity. Above all , it expounds a unique path of Enlightenment.
All these characteristics are featured in the Dhammapada, one of the Thirty - One Books that comprise the Tripitaka, and the Three Baskets which contain the quintessence of the Buddha's teachings.
Any Truth seeker, irrespective of his religious beliefs can read this post of wisdom with interest and profit, by consistently reflecting on these golden sayings and by translating them into action in the course of one's daily life.
The Dhammapada was not preached by the Buddha in the present Form. Three months after the Passing away of the Buddha, The Arahants , who assembled at the First Convocation to rehearse the Teachings of the Buddha , collected some of the Poetic Utterances of the Buddha , which he expounded on different occasions, arranged and classified them into the Present form by naming it the Dhammapada
The Pali Term Dhamma , Sanskrit Term Dharma is one of the most difficult words to be translated into English. Pada implies as sections or portions, parts or Way.
The Dhammapada consists of 423 melodious Pali Verses , uttered by the Guathama Buddha on about about 300 occasions during the course of his Preaching Tours in helping the suffering man kind and other beings, during his times as Lord Buddha for 45 years.
