Dhammapada 83

Good people let go everywhere

Good people let go everywhere; the good do not speak ingratiatingly out of desire for sensual pleasures. Touched by happiness or suffering, the wise show no highs or lows.

Translated from the Pāli by Banya

In plain words

The wise are pictured as letting go and remaining steady through pleasure and pain. Here the speech line is read as refusing to flatter for sensual rewards, though a broader sense of chatter is possible.

Key words

lapayanti

speak ingratiatingly — This reading is provisional; chatter is another possible sense.

The story behind the verse

A pack of vagabonds

In the commentary, the Buddha and a group of monks stayed at Verañjā at a brahmin’s invitation. The commentary says Māra caused the host to forget his commitment to feed them, and During the shortage, the monks lived without complaint. They later returned to Jetavana, and People who ate the monks’ leftovers stayed within the monastery enclosure. These guests became disorderly when food was plentiful, and the Buddha contrasted their conduct with the monks’ steadiness through scarcity and plenty.

Retold by Banya from the traditional commentary, after E. W. Burlingame, Buddhist Legends (1921).

Explanation by Banya. Traditional readings vary.