Siddhartha Gautama

The Dhammapada Siddhartha Gautama

The Dhammapada is the collection of the most beautiful words of wisdom pronounced by the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama during his life. Collected by his many Bhikku disciples, these words were then transmitted orally as part of the Buddhist teaching of the Sangha communities. Proverbs? Aphorisms or poetry? Recited, sung or prayed? Memorized, taught or practiced? This collection of 423 verses constitutes in 26 chapters, the teaching of the awakened one: a teaching which it is necessary to practice on his behavior and which leads to Nirvana. For the translation of this book, we have tried to make the text intelligible and easy to understand for its listeners. Knowing its nature to be recited, we have also endeavored to restore its dynamics, its rhythm and its rhymes.