1.1Ekaṁ samayaṁ aññataro bhikkhu kosalesu viharati aññatarasmiṁ vanasaṇḍe.At one time one of the mendicants was staying in the land of the Kosalans in a certain forest grove.

1.2Tena kho pana samayena so bhikkhu yaṁ sudaṁ pubbe ativelaṁ sajjhāyabahulo viharati so aparena samayena appossukko tuṇhībhūto saṅkasāyati.Now at that time that mendicant had previously been spending too much time rehearsing. But some time later they adhered to passivity and silence.¹1.3Atha kho yā tasmiṁ vanasaṇḍe adhivatthā devatā tassa bhikkhuno dhammaṁ asuṇantī yena so bhikkhu tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā taṁ bhikkhuṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:Not hearing the teaching, the deity haunting that forest approached that mendicant, and addressed them in verse:

2.1“Kasmā tuvaṁ dhammapadāni bhikkhu,“Mendicant, why don’t you recite <j>passages of the teaching,²2.2Nādhīyasi bhikkhuhi saṁvasanto;living together with other mendicants?2.3Sutvāna dhammaṁ labhatippasādaṁ,Hearing the teaching, one garners confidence;2.4Diṭṭheva dhamme labhatippasaṁsan”ti.and in this very life, one garners praise.”

3.1“Ahu pure dhammapadesu chando,“I used to be zealous for <j>passages of the teaching,³3.2Yāva virāgena samāgamimha;until I encountered dispassion.3.3Yato virāgena samāgamimha,When I encountered dispassion,3.4Yaṁ kiñci diṭṭhaṁva sutaṁ mutaṁ vā;whatever was seen, heard, and thought,3.5Aññāya nikkhepanamāhu santo”ti.this, good people say, is the laying down <j>by complete understanding.”