(OPRC) Lesson 106 (November 20, 2025) | Dhammapada 85-86 | Bhante Dr. G. Chandima

                         

Dhammapda 85-86
(Sayings of the Dhamma)

Paṇḍita
(Wise)

85. Appakā te manussesu

Few indeed among humans

Ye janā pāragāmino;
Are the people who go to the far shore (Nibbāna/liberation)

Athāyaṃ itarā pajā,
But this other crowd (the rest of beings)

Tīramevānudhāvati.
Runs along only this shore (the near side, samsāra)

Full Translation:

Few indeed among humans are those who journey to the far shore. But the rest of the people merely run along this shore.

86. Ye ca kho sammadakkhāte,

But those who, in the rightly taught

Dhamme dhammānuvattino;
Dhamma, live in accordance with the Dhamma

Te janā pāramessanti,
Those people will reach the far shore

Maccudheyyaṃ suduttaraṃ.
Death’s domain, so hard to cross

Full Translation:

But those who live in accordance with the rightly taught Dhamma — they will reach the far shore, crossing over Death’s domain, so hard to pass.

Story: Dhammasavana Thera Vatthu

Notes for context: 

pāragāmino = “going to the far shore,” a metaphor for crossing over to liberation.

tīra = “shore”; here the “near shore” is samsāra (the cycle of birth and death).

maccudheyya = “the realm/domain of Death,” meaning mortality and rebirth.

sammadakkhāte dhamme = “in the rightly taught Dhamma,” i.e., the Buddha’s teaching.