translated and edited by F. Max Müller
2000 • Dover Publications
64 pages / ISBN 0486411206 (paperback)
Just as Moses is thought to have found divine revelation on Mount Sinai and Jesus supposedly gained his fortitude in the Judean desert, Siddhartha Gautama discovered truth after intense meditation under a tree. Siddhartha, born perhaps in the 560s BC, was the son of a tribal lord in Nepal who provided him with any comforts he wanted and shielded him from pain and adversity. Separated from the family's populous throughout his youth, the prince began to travel through their land by the age of 30 and witnessed the effects of misery and sickness.
Moved by the sufferings of mankind, Siddhartha left his palaces to become a mendicant, or wanderer who survives through alms. He spent years with Hindu scholars and went through a period of self-mortification before attaining enlightenment after nearly 50 days under a Bodhi tree in the Indian region of Bihar. Siddhartha then became Shakyamuni Buddha, or 'the Awakened One,' and organized a travelling ministry that grew to over 1,000 disciples.The Dhammapada (Pali for 'path to virtue') is one of mankind's oldest existing spiritual texts. It is the result of Buddhist scholars who collected Shakyamuni Buddha's numerous teachings as a minister and social philosopher. The principles advanced in the Dhammapada remain a treasure-trove to practicing Buddhists, those of other faiths, and non-religious persons alike, largely because of its all-encompassing ideals and simple, clear-minded views of human existence.
Dover Publications, who continues to impress with its Thrift Editions of classic literature, offers a strong translation of the Dhammapada in Wisdom of the Buddha: The Unabridged Dhammapada. In this softcover edition, Dover reprints from a frequently-referenced collection of religious writings, Sacred Books of the East, published by The Colonial Press in 1900. Sacred Books of the East is a 50-volume collection of translations that is still regarded as a landmark of Victorian scholarship.
The Dhammapada's translation is supplied by F. (for Friedrich) Max Müller, a German philologist who helped to found Indian studies and comparative religion in academia during the mid to late 1800s. Müller was an established scholar in eastern languages and became an authority on Indian culture after relocating to England, where he reviewed Sanskrit texts held by the British East India Company.
Müller's translation is a steady, well-phrased rendering that honors Buddhism's intensely meditative states, frequent irony, and endless poetics. The Dhammapada is itself made up of 26 brief chapters with titles that illustrate the simple elements of Buddhist thought, such as 'Evil,' 'Happiness,' 'Anger,' and 'The Way.' Most chapters last for one to 1 ½ pages, each offering its philosophy in long lines that are self-contained forms of verse. A reader may find himself taking a breath before each line of the Dhammapada, since each reads like an incantation.
If there is any flaw in the translation, it is due to the fact that English was not Müller's first language. This may explain an occasional contradiction between points in the text and a sometimes loose usage of vocabulary. Buddhism is also known for its double entendres and the Pali-based ideas may not readily convert to English, leaving the reader to figure things out for himself. Siddhartha would likely have approved of this demand, as Buddhism calls for a particular drive in attaining Nirvana.
The Dhammapada remains a motivating and highly influential text around the world, whether its readers are in need of pure spirituality or not. While inspiring Buddhist practitioners, New Age devotees, and those of other persuasions, Siddhartha's teachings have been of great interest to the western intelligentsia. Hermann Hesse's novel Siddhartha, for instance, helped him to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946. In his poem 'Finding the Space in the Heart,' poet Gary Snyder remarks 'O, ah! The / awareness of emptiness / brings forth a heart of compassion!'
Wisdom of the Buddha, Dover's 64-page, softcover release of the Dhammapada, is widely available on the Internet and at bookstores carrying the Dover Thrift Editions label. The book retails for $2.50, which is a pretty low fee for improving one's karma.
