Dhammapada 202 & 203

[sattva]

I came across the phrase the other day, "the highest happiness is peace." I knew i had heard words like that before and have since found that it is part of the Dhammapada, Chapter 15 verse 202. What i also found is that there are quite a few varying translations. The last verse of 203 usually reads differently, ao lso. Some seem to use the word "peace" for the 202 verse and then "nibbana" for the 203 verse.

My questions: What do you think is the best translation of these 2 verses and why? What do you think is the best online translation of the whole Dhammapada and the best book (either paper or hard)?

I do have a very old translationm which is probably not the best

i also would be interesting in discussing these 2 verses with others. Thanks!

While i am at it LOL, i am also interesting in finding a talk i listened to or article i read on (i think) highest aspiration that one has. I cannot seem to find it anywhere on my computer. I am always downloading stuff and then getting rid of them to make more room. Any help would be appreciated.

i promise that was the last request for today

[mikenz66]

Hi Sattava,

There was a lively discussion of translations here:
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1025


Mike

[sattva]

Thanks for the link to the discussion Mike. In reading it, i found myself thinking that i want 2 things from a translation. One is a translation that as best as possible offers a text which is accurate and will help me to really understand what the Buddha was saying. Example: Is the highest happiness peace? nibbana? or what exactly? I think for this you need a translator who is thoroughly skilled in English, Pali and Buddhism. I also like a more poetic feel to the translation. However, if i had to choose one over the other, I would choose the tranlation that was more accurate and thorough than the poetic one.

Because of very bad eyesight and the ability to use this computer's zoom and contrast black features, at the moment, i need an online version and i found a few in that thread! .

[mikenz66]

Hi Sattva,

Some of the translations, such as Narada's, and the tranlations at Access to Insight, have the Pali, so you can check out some of those issues.

Ven Narada's translation is available on line: http://home.nethere.net/dsparks/narada/ but unfortunately the character codes on that page are a bit messed up. Perhaps there are some fonts that I need to download...

For the ATI pages, such as: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .budd.html
you can click on the "PTS: Dhp 1-20" at the top to get the Pali. That translation by Ven Buddharakkhita is one of the widely recommended ones.


Mike

[alan]

I don't know Pali, but equating "peace" or "ease" with the highest good seems to be an accurate translation that also fits poetically, as the same idea is repeated in the suttas in several different ways. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/nekkhamma/

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Venerable Nārada's translation is one of the best.

You can find a commentary to each verse on my web site. I made some changes to Venerable Nārada's translation.

The two verses in question are both referring to nibbāna:

Natthi rāgasamo aggi, natthi dosasamo kali.
Natthi khandhasamā dukkhā, natthi santiparaṃ sukhaṃ. = There is no bliss higher than peace (nibbāna)

Jighacchāparamā rogā, saṅkhāraparamā dukhā.
Etaṃ ñatvā yathābhūtaṃ, nibbānaṃ paramaṃ sukhaṃ. = nibbāna, bliss supreme

[beeblebrox]

Ven Narada's translation is available on line: http://home.nethere.net/dsparks/narada/ but unfortunately the character codes on that page are a bit messed up. Perhaps there are some fonts that I need to download...

Looking at the source code, it seems like that the font was set to Times CSX+, which I already have installed on my computer... but some Pāli characters are still missing, not sure why.