Dhammapada
Il Dhammapada (pāli, in sanscrito Dharmapada o anche Udānavarga), a volte tradotto come cammino del Dharma, è un testo del Canone buddhista conservato sia nel Canone pali (nel Khuddaka Nikāya del Sutta Piṭaka), sia nel Canone cinese (dove prende il nome di Fǎjùjīng, 法句經, e si trova nella sezione del Běnyuánbù), sia nel Canone tibetano (dove prende il nome di Ched-du brjod-pa’i choms, si trova sia nel Kanjur che nel Tanjiur). Questa opera è formata da 423 versetti raccolti in 26 categorie. Secondo la tradizione, sono parole realmente pronunciate da Gautama Buddha in diverse occasioni.
Nonostante sia particolarmente venerato dalla scuola Theravāda, il Dhammapada viene letto anche da molti buddhisti appartenenti a scuole Mahāyāna, ed è molto popolare in ogni ambito del buddhismo.
Struttura dell’Opera:
Il Dhammapada è così strutturato:
Yamaka-vagga, le strofe a coppia (versi da 1 a 20);
Appamāda-vagga, la consapevolezza (versi da 21 a 32);
Citta-vagga, la mente (versi da 33 a 43);
Puppha-vagga, i fiori (versi da 44 a 59);
Bāla-vagga, lo stolto (versi da 60 a 75);
Paṇḍita-vagga, il saggio (versi da 76 a 89);
Arahanta-vagga, gli svegliati (versi da 90 a 99);
Sahassa-vagga, le migliaia (versi da 100 a 115);
Pāpa-vagga, il male (versi da 116 a 128);
Daṇḍa-vagga, il bastone (versi da 129 a 145);
Jarā-vagga, la vecchiaia (versi da 146 a 156);
Atta-vagga, se stesso (versi da 157 a 166);
Loka-vagga, il mondo (versi da 167 a 178);
Buddha-vagga, il Buddha (versi da 179 a 196);
Sukha-vagga, la felicità (versi da 197 a 208);
Piya-vagga, il piacere (versi da 209 a 220);
Kodha-vagga, l’ira (versi da 221 a 234);
Mala-vagga, le impurità (versi da 235 a 255);
Dhammaṭṭha-vagga, l’uomo retto (versi da 256 a 272);
Magga-vagga, la via (versi da 273 a 289);
Pakiṇṇaka-vagga, versi varî (versi da 290 a 305);
Niraya-vagga, l’inferno (versi da 306 a 319);
Nāga-vagga, l’elefante (versi da 320 a 333);
Taṇhā-vagga, la sete (versi da 334 a 359);2
Bhikkhu-vagga, il monaco (versi da 360 a 382);
Brāhmaṇa-vagga, il brāhmaṇa (versi da 383 a 423).
Traduzioni in italiano
Traduzioni complete del Dhammapada in italiano sono disponibili in:
Chandra Candiani (trad.); Ajahn Munindo (trad.). Dhammapada: Versi della Legge. URL consultato il 18-06-2010.
Vincenzo Talamo (a cura di). Canone buddhistico – Testi brevi. Bollati Boringhieri, Torino, 1961. ISBN 88-339-1260-4
Raniero Gnoli (a cura di). La Rivelazione del Buddha – i testi antichi. Mondadori, Milano, 2001. ISBN 88-04-47898-5
Pio Filippani-Ronconi (a cura di). Canone Buddhista – discorsi brevi. UTET, 1968
M. Piantelli (a cura di). Aforismi e discorsi del Buddha. TEA – Tascabili degli Editori Associati, Milano, 1988. ISBN 88-7819-072-1
Pio Filippani Ronconi (a cura di). Buddha – aforismi e discorsi. Tascabili Economici Newton, Roma, 1994. ISBN 88-7983-439-8
Genevienne Pecunia (traduzione e cura di). Dhammapada – La via del Buddha. Feltrinelli Editore, Milano, 2006. ISBN 978-88-07-72237-0
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The Dhammapada (Pāli; Prakrit: धम्मपद Dhamapada; Sanskrit: धर्मपद Dharmapada) is a versified Buddhist scripture traditionally ascribed to the Buddha himself. It is one of the best-known texts from the Theravada canon.
The title, Dhammapada, is a compound term composed of dhamma and pada, each word having a number of denotations and connotations. Generally, dhamma can refer to the Buddha’s “doctrine” or an “eternal truth” or “righteousness” or all “phenomena”; and, at its root, pada means “foot” and thus by extension, especially in this context, means either “path” or “verse” (cf. “prosodic foot”) or both. English translations of this text’s title have used various combinations of these and related words.
According to tradition, the Dhammapada’s verses were spoken by the Buddha on various occasions.[7] “By distilling the complex models, theories, rhetorical style and sheer volume of the Buddha’s teachings into concise, crystalline verses, the Dhammapada makes the Buddhist way of life available to anyone…In fact, it is possible that the very source of the Dhammapada in the third century B.C.E. is traceable to the need of the early Buddhist communities in India to laicize the ascetic impetus of the Buddha’s original words.”[8]The text is part of the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka, although over half of the verses exist in other parts of the Pali Canon.[9] A 4th or 5th century CE commentary attributed to Buddhaghosa includes 305 stories which give context to the verses.
Although the Pāli edition is the best-known, a number of other versions are known:[10]
“Gāndhārī Dharmapada” – a version possibly of Dharmaguptaka or Kāśyapīya origin[11] in Gāndhārī written in Kharosthi script[12]
“Patna Dharmapada” – a version in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit,[13] most likely Sammatiya[14]
“Udānavarga” – a seemingly related Mula-Sarvastivada or Sarvastivada text[15][16] in
3 Sanskrit versions
a Tibetan translation, which is popular in traditional Tibetan Buddhism
“Mahāvastu” – a Lokottaravada text with parallels to verses in the Pāli Dhammapada’s Sahassa Vagga and Bhikkhu Vagga.
“Fajiu jing” – 4 Chinese works; one of these appears to be an expanded translation of the Pali version; this has not traditionally been very popular.
Comparing the Pali Dhammapada, the Gandhari Dharmapada and the Udanavarga, Brough (2001) identifies that the texts have in common 330 to 340 verses, 16 chapter headings and an underlying structure. He suggests that the three texts have a “common ancestor” but underlines that there is no evidence that any one of these three texts might have been the “primitive Dharmapada” from which the other two evolved.
The Dhammapada is considered one of the most popular pieces of Theravada literature.
A critical edition of the Dhammapada was produced by Danish scholar Viggo Fausbøll in 1855, becoming the first Pali text to receive this kind of examination by the European academic community.
Organization
The Pali Dhammapada contains 423 verses in 26 chapters (listed below in English and, in parentheses, Pali).
I. The Twin-Verses (Yamaka-vaggo) (see excerpt below)
II. On Earnestness (Appamāda-vaggo)
III. Thought (Citta-vaggo)
IV. Flowers (Puppha-vaggo)
V. The Fool (Bāla-vaggo)
VI. The Wise Man (Paṇḍita-vaggo)
VII. The Venerable (Arahanta-vaggo)
VIII. The Thousands (Sahassa-vaggo)
IX. Evil (Pāpa-vaggo)
X. Punishment (Daṇḍa-vaggo) (see excerpt below)
XI. Old Age (Jarā-vaggo)
XII. Self (Atta-vaggo)
XIII. The World (Loka-vaggo)
XIV. The Buddha — The Awakened (Buddha-vaggo) (see excerpt below)
XV. Happiness (Sukha-vaggo)
XVI. Pleasure (Piya-vaggo)
XVII. Anger (Kodha-vaggo)
XVIII. Impurity (Mala-vaggo)
XIX. The Just (Dhammaṭṭha-vaggo)
XX. The Way (Magga-vaggo) (see excerpt below)
XXI. Miscellaneous (Pakiṇṇaka-vaggo)
XXII. The Downward Course (Niraya-vaggo)
XXIII. The Elephant (Nāga-vaggo)
XXIV. Thirst (Taṇhā-vaggo) (see excerpt below)
XXV. The Mendicant (Bhikkhu-vaggo)
XXVI. The Brāhmana (Brāhmaṇa-vaggo)
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