The Dhammapada: The Path of Perfection (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Anonymous (Author), Juan Mascaro (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 1973

"The Dhammapada" is a collection of aphorisms that illustrate the moral teachings of Buddha - the spiritual path to the supreme Truth. Probably compiled in the third century BCE, the verses are arranged according to theme, covering ideas such as self-possession, good and evil, watchfulness and endurance. Together they describe how an individual can attain the enlightenment of Nirvana, the supreme goal of Buddhism. The road to Nirvana, as illustrated in "The Dhammapada", is narrow and difficult to negotiate, but the reward of eternal life gives hope and determination to the traveller.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)

About the Author

Juan Mascaro read Modern and Oriental Languages at Cambridge, lectured in Oxford and eventually became Professor of English at Barcelona University. He has translated the Upanisads and the Bhagavad Gita. He died in 1987. Juan Mascaro read Modern and Oriental Languages at Cambridge, lectured in Oxford and eventually became Professor of English at Barcelona University. He has translated the Upanisads and the Bhagavad Gita. He died in 1987.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (May 30, 1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140442847
• ISBN-13: 978-0140442847
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A work of timeless insight and gentle beauty, November 13, 2000

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dhammapada: The Path of Perfection (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

The Dhammapada is one of the essential works of Buddhist scripture, and this book represents Juan Mascaro's translation of that timeless classic from Pali into English. Not knowing Pali, I cannot judge the linguistic accuracy of Mascaro's translation. But as a lover of both poetry and spiritual philosophy, I can say that this English text is a quiet masterpiece.

The text is divided up into 423 short verses, each of which represents a teaching of the Buddha. This is one of those marvelous books which one can open at any page and begin reading. Often poetic, often practical, but always intriguing, the Dhammapada invites the reader to return again and again. Through its verses we can hear the Buddha challenging us to look at life from a radically new perspective; we hear him encouraging us to break free from the psychological prisons which we too often help build ourselves.

Also fascinating is Juan Mascaro's substantial introduction, in which he discusses the life of the historical Buddha and puts his legacy in a broad context that is both multifaith and multicultural. Scholars of comparative religion will probably be as interested in Mascaro's introduction as they are in the actual translation of the Dhammapada.

In the Dhammapada, we read, "Better than a thousand useless verses is one single verse that gives peace" (verse 101). Juan Mascaro's version of the Dhammapada is certainly a beautiful work of literature. But it is also a profoundly moving spiritual classic. Whatever your religious inclination (or lack thereof), you just might find in this wonderful book some verses that do indeed bring you closer to inner peace.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and inspiring, February 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dhammapada: The Path of Perfection (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

The Dhammapada is one of the world's great religious classics, and its pithy, poetic style makes it very direct and inspiring. Like some of the other reviewers, I don't read Pali, and it's probably true that this isn't the most literal translation. However, I've read several translations of the Dhammapada and this has been my favorite for a long time. In any translation of a poetic nature, the translator must choose a certain balance between a strictly literal translation of the source material and a poetic rendering of the material in the target language, and Mascaro leans a little toward the latter. I've been a student of Buddhism for some years, though, and I find very few places where Mascaro's translation seems to be inaccurate --- even though there are other translations that may be a little more precise and literal. In any case, there are many Buddhist philosophical works where precision of terminology is critical, but, since the Dhammapada is a more general work consisting mainly of aphorisms, it's one work where a little poetic license seems acceptable.

34 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poetic but outdated translation, September 7, 2002

By 

Riku Simonen - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dhammapada: The Path of Perfection (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Having read Max Muller's over 100 year misleading translation, Carter's and Palihawadana's philosophical, dry, but excellent translation, which, with annonations builds up whole buddhist philosophical system, Mascaro's translation is deeply disappointing. While I can't understand Pali, Carter's translation is -or at least seems to be very convincing translation. Mascarara's translation is beatiful and poetic but has same grave philosophical errors than Muller's outdated translations. Let's see one example.

Chapter one, verse one is translated by Muller as:
All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage

Mascaro's also misleading translation goes like:
What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and out present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind.
If a man speaks or act with an impure mind, suffering follows him as the wheel of the cart follows the beast that draws the cart.

But Carter's et al. translation reveals the (propably) true (philosophical) meaning of the verse:
Proceeded by perception are mental states,*1
for them is perception supreme,
from them perception have they sprung.
If, with perception polluted*2, one speaks or acts,
Thence suffering follows
As a wheel the draughts wheel ox's foot.

annonations of Carter's book:

*1 perception...mental states: the pure event of seeing, hearing, smelling etc. an object is 'perception'; the concurrent rise of attachment, hate, anger, desire etc. with regard to it ís the mental states.

*2 polluted: that is, with mental states such as anger.