THE DHAMMAPADA ~ Teachings of The Buddha ~ Full Audio Book

The Dhammapada is a collection of sayings and stories of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures. The original version of the Dhammapada is in the Khuddaka Nikaya, a division of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. Each saying and story recorded in the collection was made on a different occasion in response to a unique situation that had arisen in the life of the Buddha and his monastic community. Altogether they form a rich source of legend for the life and times of the Buddha. According to tradition, the Dhammapada's verses were spoken by the Buddha on various occasions. By distilling the complex models, theories, rhetorical style and sheer volume of the Buddha's teachings into concise, crystalline verses - the Dhammapada makes the Buddhist way of life available to anyone. In fact, it is possible that the very source of the Dhammapada in the third century B.C.E. is traceable to the need of the early Buddhist communities in India to secularize the ascetic impetus of the Buddha's original words. The title, "Dhammapada," is a compound term composed of “dhamma” and “pada,” each word having a number of denotations and connotations. Generally, dhamma can refer to the Buddha's "doctrine," an "eternal truth," a "righteousness," or all "phenomena." At its root, pada means "foot" and thus by extension, especially in this context, means either "path" or "verse.” English translations of this text's title have used various combinations of these and related words – such as: “The Path of the Righteous,” or "The Way of the Truth."