Dhamma is of benefit only when it is practised, not by just hearing it
Dhammapada verses 51 and 52
By Dr. Ari Ubeysekara
Introduction
Lord Gautama Buddha lived and preached in India during the sixth and fifth centuries BC. Throughout the ministry of forty five years from enlightenment at the age of thirty five to passing away at the age of eighty, Lord Gautama Buddha, through compassion for other beings, travelled from place to place mainly in North Eastern India, teaching the path out of suffering to a diverse range of people. Since the first Buddhist council that was held three months after the passing away of the Buddha, the Buddha’s teachings were categorised into the now well-known Pāli Canon consisting of the three baskets. The teaching of the Gautama Buddha which is believed to consist of around 84,000 items is contained in the three baskets (tipitaka).
- Basket of the disciplinary rules for the monastic community (vinaya pitaka)
- Basket of the discourses (sutta pitaka)
- Basket of the Buddha’s higher teaching (abhidhamma pitaka)
The basket of the discourses (sutta pitaka) consists of:
- Collection of long discourses (dīgha nikāya)
- Collection of middle length discourses (majjhima nikāya)
- Collection of connected discourses (samyutta nikāya)
- Collection of numerical discourses (anguttara nikāya)
- Collection of minor discourses (khuddaka nikāya)
Collection of minor discourses (khuddaka nikāya) consist of 15 divisions of a variety of small discourses and others. The second division is the Dhammapada, the other divisions being Khuddaka pātha, udāna, itivuttaka, sutta nipātha, vimānavatthu, petavatthu, thera-gāthā, theri-gāthā, jātaka stories, niddesa, patisambhidā magga, apadāna, Buddhavamsa and cariya pitaka.
The Pāli word “Dhamma” seems to have several meanings such as the natural law, natural phenomena, objects of the mind, religious doctrines and specifically the Lord Gautama Buddha’s teachings. The word “Pada” means path, step, word or the foot. So, the word Dhammapada has been described as the “Path of Righteousness”. The Dhammapada containing a collection of the sayings of the Buddha in verse form, is one of the best known books in Buddhism familiar to almost all of the practising Buddhist disciples universally as well as to others who study the teachings of the Buddha.
Dhammapada contains 423 verses said by the Buddha in different contexts. Most of the verses have been taken from the discourses of the Buddha. It has been noted that more than two thirds of the verses are taken from the discourses contained in the two collections of the Buddha’s discourses known as the Samyutta Nikāya and Anguttara Nikāya. The 423 verses are divided into 26 chapters or vaggas each with a particular heading. The fourth chapter is named “Puppha vagga” meaning the chapter of “Flowers”, which contains 16 verses said by the Buddha. The back ground story of the 51st and the 52nd verse, which are the 8th and the 9th verse of the Puppha vagga is about two queens of King Kosala who listened to the Dhamma, one of whom benefited and the other did not benefit as she did not pay proper attention or put it into practice.
Background story of verses 51 and 52
At one time the Buddha was staying at the Jetavana monastery in Sāvatti which was donated to the Buddha by the chief benefactor Anāthapindika.
At that time, there was a lay disciple of the Buddha named Chattapani living in Savatti. Though he was a lay disciple, he had already attained the third supra mundane stage of Non-Returner (Anagami). One day, when he was listening to a sermon by the Buddha at the Jetavana monastery, King Pasenadi of Kosala arrived to pay homage to the Buddha. When the king arrived, Chattapani did not stand up as he thought that by standing up when the king arrived meant he was not paying due respect to the Buddha. However, the king considered the fact that Chattapani did not stand up when he arrived was an insult and felt very much offended. The Buddha knew that the king felt offended and spoke in praise of Chattapani describing him as a disciple who was well versed in the Dhamma and who had attained the stage of Non-Returner. On hearing the Buddha’s description of Chattapani, the king was impressed with him and developed a positive attitude towards him.
When the king met Chattapani on a subsequent occasion, the king said to him: “As you are much learned, could please come to my palace and teach the Dhamma to my two queens?” Chattapani did not agree to the king’s suggestion, but he suggested to the king that the king could request the Buddha to arrange a monk to visit the palace and teach the Dhamma to the two queens. The king eventually made that request to the Buddha and the Buddha asked Venerable Ananda to visit the palace and teach the Dhamma to Queen Mallika and Queen Vasabhakhattiya on a regular basis.
As directed by the Buddha, Venerable Ananda visited the palace on a regular basis and taught the Dhamma to the two queens. After sometime, the Buddha inquired Venerable Ananda about the progress of the two queens through his teaching. Venerable Ananda reported to the Buddha that although Queen Mallika was learning the Dhamma seriously, Queen Vasabhakhattiya was not paying proper attention to his teaching. On receiving that information, the Buddha said that the Dhamma can benefit only those who learn it seriously with due respect and proper attention and then practise it with diligence.
Then the Buddha recited the following two verses which are recorded as the 51st and the 52nd verse of the Dhammapada.
“Yathā pi ruciraṁ pupphaṁ,
vannavantaṁ agandhakaṁ,
evaṁ subhāsitā vācā,
aphalā hoti akubbato.”
“Just like a beautiful flower,
which has colour but with no fragrance,
so also, well preached words of the Buddha,
cannot benefit one who does not practise them.”
“Yathā pi ruciraṁ pupphaṁ,
vannavantaṁ sagandhakaṁ,
evaṁ subhāsitā vācā,
saphalā hoti sakubbato.”
“Just like a beautiful flower,
which has colour as well as fragrance,
so also the well preached words of the Buddha,
will benefit one who practises them.”
References
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