The Dhammapada / Introduced & Translated by Eknath Easwaran is an English-language book originally published in 1986. It contains Easwaran's translation of the Dhammapada, a Buddhist scripture traditionally ascribed to the Buddha himself. The book also contains a substantial overall introduction of about 70 pages,The introductions in English are 66 pages in the first edition (1986, pp. 7-72) and 86 pages in the second edition (2007, pp. 13-98). together with introductory notes to each of the Dhammapada 26 chapters. English-language editions have also been published in the UK and India, and a re-translation of the full book has been published in German. and Korean.<ref name=korean18></ref><ref name=npnonus>Non-US Editions of Nilgiri Press Books , accessed 24 April 2011.</ref>
Topics covered Both US editions of The Dhammapada contain Easwaran's general introduction, followed by his translations from the original Pali of the Dhammapada's 26 chapters. Selections from Easwaran's chapter titles, which in some cases differ from other translations, are shown in the table at below left.
Chapter Titles,Selected(Easwaran translation)1. Twin Verses3. Mind5. The Immature"The title of chapter 5 is usually translated as 'The Fool' and that of chapter 6 as 'The Wise,' as if they dealt with utterly opposite temperaments. However, bala means not only 'fool' but 'child.' A fool's behavior is not likely to improve, but a child is simply immature; given time and experience, children grow up.... Translating bala as "immature" gives all of us the benefit of the doubt" (p. 119, 2007 edition)6. The Wise7. The Saint 15. Joy"The Pali word sukkha (Sanskrit sukha) is usually translated as happiness. As the opposite of duhkha, however, it connotes the end of all suffering, a state of being that is not subject to the ups and downs of change – that is, abiding joy.... the Buddha's... questionings just before going forth to the Four Noble Sights were chiefly concerned with the search for absolute joy" (p. 173, 2007 edition) 20. The Path 21. Varied Verses 23. The Elephant Selected Verses from Dhammapada(Easwaran translation):From Easwaran (2007), pp. 105, 211.1.1. All that we are is the result of what we have thought: we are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfish thoughts cause misery when they speak or act. Sorrows roll over them as the wheels of a cart roll over the tracks of the bullock that draws it. 3.1. As an archer aims an arrow, the wise aim their restless thoughts, hard to aim, hard to restrain. 3.11. More than your mother, more than your father, more than all your family, a well-disciplined mind does greater good. 20.3. All the effort must be made by you; Buddhas only show the way. Follow this path and practice meditation; go beyond the power of Mara. 21.1. If one who enjoys a lesser happiness beholds a greater one, let him leave aside the lesser to gain the greater. The 2007 edition contains a forewordThe foreword is entitled "The Classics of Indian Spirituality," and is also used to introduced the two other books in that series, Easwaran's translations of the Bhagavad Gita and selected Upanishads. in which Easwaran states that he translated the Dhammapada for "kindred spirits:" "men and women in every age and culture" who "thrill" to the Dhammapada message that "the wider field of consciousness is our native land.... The world of the senses is just a base camp: we are meant to be as much at home in consciousness as in the world of physical reality."
Each US edition's Introduction opens with a claim, mentioned by several reviewers,This claim was quoted in the Life Positive and East/West reviews, and paraphrased in the American Theosophist review. None of the reviews discussed or evaluated the claim. about the value of the Dhammapada within the corpus of Buddhist literature:
If all of the New Testament had been lost, it has been said, and only the Sermon on the Mount had managed to survive these two thousand years of history, we would still have all that is necessary for following the teachings of Jesus the Christ..... Buddhist scripture is much more voluminous than the Bible, but... if everything else were lost, we would need nothing more than the Dhammapada to follow the way of the Buddha.Easwaran (2007), The Dhammapada, 2nd edition. The introduction states that the Dhammapada has "none of the stories, parables, and extended instruction that characterizes the main Buddhist scriptures, the sutras." Rather, the Dhammapada is: ...a collection of vivid, practical verses, gathered probably from direct disciples who wanted to preserve what they had heard from the Buddha himself..... the equivalent of a handbook: a ready reference of the Buddha's teachings, condensed in haunting poetry and arranged by theme – anger, greed, fear, happiness, thought. Each US edition's introduction has the same four major sections:
1. The Buddha's World(pp. 14–27)A subsection on "The Legacy"Subsections of The Buddha's World are "The Legacy" (pp. 14-23) and "The Buddha's Times" (pp. 23-27). describes the cultural context of Vedic religion, already millennia old, in which the Upanishads endorsed the "practice of spiritual disciplines to realize directly the divine ground of life.... as the human being's highest vocation." Describes concepts such as ritam (cosmic order), dharma, karma, rebirth, and moksha that "form the background of the Buddha's life and became the currency of his message." "The Buddha's Times" describes the world's and India's 6th century BCE cultural ferment – "Into this world, poised between the Vedic past and a new high-water mark of Indian culture, the Buddha was born.... squarely in the tradition of the Upanishads.... Yet [bringing] a genius all his own.... the joy in his message is the joy of knowing that he has found a way for everyone, not just great sages, to put an end to sorrow."Google Books view: "the joy of knowing that he has found a way for everyone, not just great sages, to put an end to sorrow" (p. 27 of Easwaran, 2007)The full quote reads: "The Buddha sought to save, and the joy in his message is the joy of knowing that he has found a way for everyone, not just great sages, to put an end to sorrow" (Easwaran, 2007, p. 27).2.Life and Teaching(pp. 28–63) "The Wheel of Dharma"Subsections of Life and Teaching include "The Wheel of Dharma" (pp. 41-47) and "The Years of Teaching" (pp. 47-63). describes the Buddha's first sermon on the Four Noble Truths; "The Years of Teaching" has parts covering The Homecoming, The Order of Women, The Middle Path, Malunkyaputra (the Parable of the Arrow), Teaching With an Open Hand,"What I know... is like the leaves on that shimshapa tree; what I teach is only a small part. But I offer it to all with an open hand" (pp. 57-58, Easwaran, 2007). The Handful of Mustard Seed, The Clay Lamp, and The Last Entry into Nirvana. 3.The Stages of Enlightenment(pp. 64–80) Describes the Four Dhyanas.Subsections of The Stages of Enlightenment are "The First Dhyana" (pp. 67-69), "The Second Dhyana" (pp. 70-73), "The Third Dhyana" (pp. 74-77), and "The Fourth Dhyana" (pp. 77-80). States that "scholars sometimes treat passage through the four dhyanas as a peculiarly Buddhist experience, but the Buddha's description tallies not only with Hindu authorities like Patanjali but also with Western mystics like John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Augustine, and Meister Eckhart."4.The Buddha's Universe(pp. 80–98) States that the Buddha "in his own words, loved the world as a mother loves her only child. But... behind that immense compassion is the penetrating vision of a scientific mind." Subsections present the Buddha's views on "Personality"Subsections of The Buddha's Universe are "Personality" (pp. 81-86), "The World" (pp. 86-91), "Karma, Death and Birth" (pp. 91-95), and "Nirvana" (pp. 95-98). as a blend of five skandhas; "The World" as "shaped by our mind, for we become what we think" (verse 1.1); "Karma, Death and Birth," arguing that "placing physical phenomena and mind in the same field... leads to a view of the world that is elegant in its simplicity"; and that those who enter Nirvana will "live to give, and their capacity to go on giving is a source of joy so great that it cannot be measured against any sensation the world offers. Without understanding this dimension, the Buddha's universe is an intellectually heady affair."
In each edition, short sections by Stephen Ruppenthal introduce individual chapters by providing background and clarifying Indian philosophical concepts.Often two consecutive chapters are preceded by a single introduction of 3 or 4 pages. Many Buddhist philosophical terms are rendered in Sanskrit, and about 30 such terms are defined in a glossary."The Dhammapada is best known in its Pali form, and that is the version translated here. Buddhist terms, however, appear here in Sanskrit, because it is in Sanskrit rather than Pali – nirvana rather than nibana, dharma rather than dhamma, karma rather than kamma, and so on – that these words have become familiar in the West" (p. 100, 2007 edition) Endnotes provide more detailed clarification of particular verses, and the second edition contains a 5-page index.
Reception Reviews have appeared in Smith and Novak's Buddhism: A Concise Introduction (2003), , as well as in the Mountain Path, East West, Life Positive (India), the American Theosophist, Parabola, (NB: Retrieved from Factiva) Voice of Youth Advocates,; Part of their larger review (pp. 14-19) entitled "Buddhism: A World Religions Resource List for Teens." and websites.Brian Bruya (Accessed 7 May 2011). Divine books [including review of the Bhagavad Gita, the Dhammapada, and the Upanishads, by Eknath Easwaran] Telugu Website (http://www.teluguwebsite.com ), accessed 7 May 2011.
In Buddhism: A Concise Introduction,Smith and Novak (2003) state that "Our favorite translation is Eknath Easwaran's The Dhammapada. His Indian heritage, literary gifts, and spiritual sensibilities (which have given us excellent translations of Hinduism's Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita) here produce a sublime rendering of the words of the Buddha. Verse after verse shimmers with quiet, confident authority. A bonus is the sparkling 70-page introduction to the Buddha's life and teachings that precedes the translation" (p. 222 of Buddhism: A Concise Introduction, ). influential scholar of religion Huston Smith and his coauthor Philip Novak wrote that "Our favorite translation is Eknath Easwaran's The Dhammapada. His Indian heritage, literary gifts, and spiritual sensibilities... here produce a sublime rendering of the words of the Buddha. Verse after verse shimmers with quiet, confident authority;" the introduction is described as "sparkling." Elsewhere, the publishers quote Smith as stating that no one else in "modern times" is as qualified as Easwaran to translate the Dhammapada and other Indian spiritual classics.Huston Smith is quoted on page 277 as stating that "No one in modern times is more qualified – no, make that 'as qualified' – to translate the epochal Classics of Indian Spirituality than Eknath Easwaran. And the reason is clear. It is impossible to go to the heart of those Classics unless you live them, and he did live them. My admiration of the man and his works is boundless." (The Dhammapada, Easwaran, 2007, p. 277; the "Classics of Indian Spirituality" is a set of 3 translations that includes this Dhammapada).
In the Mountain Path, P. S. Sundaram wrote that Easwaran: writes of mysticism not from the outside but as one who seems himself to have undergone the experience through profound... meditation. In his introduction he is less a guide post than a guide offering himself as a companion to the reader, and inviting him to take the plunge into the depths of being.