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โครงการรวบรวมและจัดทําเอกสารวารสารอิเล็กทรอนิกส์ มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์

วารสารมนุษยศาสตร์ปีที่ 24 ฉบับที่ 2 (กรกฎาคม-ธันวาคม 2560) 179

6. A Brief Discussion of the Differences between the Pali Original
and the English Translations and How to Understand the

Dhammapda Verses

The Dhammapadaṭṭhakathā (Roebuck, 2010, p. xi-xii), a commentary
on the Dhammapada in Pali, attributed to the greatest commentator of the Pali
th
canon, the Sri Lankan monk and scholar Buddhaghosa of the 4 or 5 century
th
CE provides an extensive collection of stories and commentaries to the verses
of the Dhammapada. Some of the more recent translations draw from the
Dhammapadaṭṭhakathā and give brief summaries of the commentarial stories
which explain the context and the intended audience of the individual verses,
for example Roebuck (pp. 113-225). The translation by Anandajoti Bhikkhu of 2016

gives a brief summary of the story for each verse along with the Pali original
followed by the English translation. This arrangement of commentarial material,
but in a more extensive form, is also given by Weragoda Sarada Mahathera
in his translation, along with the Pali original.

Without the aid of some kind of commentary for each verse it is
difficult to understand the intended meaning and the context of the verse.
Without the commentaries or stories behind the individual verses, the verses
seem gathered together loosely on the basis of being more or less on the

same topic as given in the name of the chapter. These explanations in the
form of short narratives are indispensible for English-speaking readers from
non-Buddhist societies who have no familiarity with the traditional stories as
collected in Buddhaghosa’s magisterial commentary. They add depth to the
understanding of the verses and explain the frequent apparent disconnection
between the verses. The Dhammapada is an anthology of the Buddha’s saying

and can be fully understood by knowing the story that underlies them.