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Translation Into English of Dhammapada Verse 372

By Twenty-five Authors:

May 26, 2004

By the contemplative recluse monk Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)

copyright 2004

As evidence the translation of the Pali canon is highly variable because there is a range of meaning for each word, it becomes clear that only a skilled contemplative can understand the meanings of the Discourse of the Buddha.

Dhammapada Verse 372, (Pali)

"Natthi jhanam apannassa

panna natthi ajhayato

yamhi jhananca panna ca

sa ve nibbanasantike."

Twenty-five Translations of Verse 372

Bancroft, Anne

"If you do not meditate, how will you gain insight?

And if you have no insight, how will you concentrate?

But if you concentrate with insight,

You will come near Nirvana."

Banerjee, Nikunja Vihari,

"There is no meditation without knowledge

and there is no knowledge without meditation

He who has both knowledge and meditation,

Is close to nirvana."

Brahmavamso, Ajahn

"There is no jhana without wisdom

There is no wisdom without jhana

But for one with both jhana and wisdom

They are in the presence of Nibbana"

Brooks, Jeffrey S. (Jhanananda)

"There is no ecstasy without wisdom,

There is no wisdom without ecstasy.

Whoever is close to enlightenment

truly has both wisdom and ecstasy."

Bryom, Thomas

"If you are not wise,

How can you steady the mind?

If you cannot quieten yourself,

What will you ever learn?

How will you become free?"

Buddhadatta, A.P.

"There is no concentration for him who lacks wisdom,

Nor is there wisdom for him who lacks concentration.

In whom are found both concentration and wisdom--

He, indeed, is in the presence of Nibbana."

Buddharakkhita, Acharya:

"There is no meditative concentration for him who lacks insight,

and no insight for him who lacks meditative concentration.

He in whom are found both meditative concentration and insight,

indeed, is close to Nibbana."

Burma Pitaka Association:

"There can be no concentration in one who lacks wisdom;

there can be no wisdom in one who lacks concentration.

He who has concentration as well as wisdom

is, indeed, close to Nibbana."

Carter, John Ross and Palihawadana, Mahinda,

"There is no meditative absorption for one who lacks insight,

There is no insight for one who is not meditating.

In whom there is meditative absorption and insight,

Truly, he is in NibbanaÕs presence."

Dharma Publishing "Staff"

"Without wisdom there is no meditation;

without meditation there is no wisdom;

Whoever is endowed with both meditation and wisdom,

Abides very near to nirvana."

Fausböll, V.:

"Without knowledge there is no meditation,

without meditation there is no knowledge:

he who has knowledge and meditation

is near unto Nirvana"

Kaviratna, Harischandra: 

"There is no perfect contemplation for him who is not wise,

and no wisdom for him who does not concentrate.

He in whom there is both perfect contemplation and wisdom

is, indeed, close to nirvana."

Lal, P.,

"How can one without wisdom meditate?

How can one without meditation be wise?

Both together, meditation and wisdom, lead to Nirvana."

Muller, F. Max:

"Without knowledge there is no meditation,

without meditation there is no knowledge:

he who has knowledge and meditation

is near unto Nirvana."

Neuman, Karl Eugene

"Nicht wird Vertiefung Unweisem,

Und Weisheit Unvertieftem nicht;

Der selbstvertiefte weise Mšnch,

O, der ist dem Nibbanam nah."

Radhakrishnan, S.

"There is no meditation for one who is without wisdom;

No wisdom for one without meditation.

He in whom there are meditation and wisdom,

he indeed is close to nirvana."

Raja, Kunhan, C. Dr.

"There is no meditation for one who has no understanding;

there is no understanding for one who does not meditate.

He in whom there is both meditation and understanding,

he verily is in the vicinity of nirvana (Beautitude)."

Rajnish (plagiarized from Bryom, Thomas)

"If you are not wise,

How can you steady the mind?

If you cannot quieten yourself,

What will you ever learn?

How will you become free?"

Ramacandrudu, Pullela, Dr. Sri,

"There is no meditation for him who is without wisdom;

there is no wisdom for him who is without meditation.

Nearer to Nibbana is he, in whom meditation and wisdom meet."

Richards, John:

"There is no meditation without wisdom,

and there is no wisdom without meditation.

When a man has both meditation and wisdom,

he is indeed close to nirvana."

Sara, Wergoda,

"No concentration wisdom lacks,

No wisdom concentration lacks

In whom are both these qualities

Near to Nibbana is that one."

Sparham, Gareth,

"Without stability there is no wisdom,

Without wisdom, no stability.

The ones who have stability

And wisdom are to be called Ômonks."

Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff):

"  There's no jhana for one with no discernment,

no discernment for one with no jhana.

But one with both jhana & discernment:

he's on the verge of Unbinding."

Tin, Daw Mya,

"There is no concentration in one who lacks wisdom;

there can be no wisdom in one who lacks concentration.

He who has both concentration as well as wisdom is,

indeed, close to Nibbana."

U Pannadipa, Sayadaw:

"There is no concentration in him who lacks wisdom;

nor is there wisdom in him who lacks concentration.

In whom are found both concentration and wisdom,

... he indeed, is in the presence of Nibbana."

Wagiswara, W.D.C

"There is no meditation apart from wisdom;

there is no wisdom apart from meditation;

Those in whom wisdom and meditation meet

 are not far from Nirvana."

Sources:

Bancroft, Anne, The Dhammapada, Element, Massachusetts, 1997

Banerjee, Nikunja Vihari, The Dhammapada, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, 1989

Brahmavamso, Ajahn, The Jhanas, Buddhist Fellowship, Singapore

Brooks, Jeffrey S. (Jhanananda), Great Western Vehicle website, 2004:

Bryom, Thomas, The Dhammapada, Wildwood House, London, 1976, 1979

Buddhadatta, A.P. (Ambalangoda Polvatte, (1887-1962), Dhammapadam: an anthology of sayings of the Buddha, The Colombo Apothecaries Co, Ltd, Colombo, Ceylon,

Buddhaghosa, Buddhist Legends, Pali Text Society, London, 1969 [c. 1921]

Carter, John Ross and Palihawadana, Mahinda,The Dhammapada, Oxford University Press,  New York,1987

The Dhammapada, translated from the Pali to Tibetan by dGeÕdun Chos-Ôphel, then from Tibetan to English, Dharma Publishing, 1985

Fausböll, V. (Viggo), 1821-1908, Tipitaka. Suttapitaka. Khuddakanik_aya. Jataka. English, Selections, Trubner, London, 1880, Translated by Childers.

Kaviratna, Harischandra, Tipitaka. Suttapitaka. Khuddakanik_aya. Dhammapada. English & Pali, Theosphical University Press, 1980, Pasadena, CA

Lal, P., The Dhammapada, translated from the Pali, Farrar, Straus & Groux, New York, 1967

Muller, F. Max: (1823-1900)

Neuman, Karl Eugene, Der Wahrheitspfad. Leipzig: Verlag von Veit, 1893; 2^nd ed. Dhammapadam. Munich, 1921; 3^rd ed.,1949.

Radhakrishnan, S. (Sarvepalli), 1888-1975, Tipitaka. Suttapitaka. Khuddakanik_aya. Dhammapada. English & Pali, Oxford University Press, 1996, c1950, Reader in Sanskrit, Osmania Univeristy, Hyderabad India, 1976

Raja, Kunhan, C. Dr., "Dhammapada Pali text in Devanagari with English Translation," The Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Madras 20, India, 1956, 1984

Rajnish "Osho,"  "the Dhammapada, the way of the Buddha," Rebel Publishing House GmbH, Cologne, West Germany, undated. Page 109, volume 11.

Ramacandrudu, Pullela, Dr. Sri,Tipitaka. Suttapitaka. Khuddakanik_aya. Dhammapada. English & Pali. Pullela Subblakshmi, Hyderabad, India, 1976

Sara, Wergoda, Treasury of Truth, Illustrated Dhammapada, Buddha Educational Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan, 1993

Sparham, Gareth, The Tibetan Dhammapada, Mahayana Publications, New Delhi, India 1983

Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff):

Tin, Daw Mya, the Dhammapada, A reprint of Burma Pitaka Association Publication 1986, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi, 1990

Wagiswara, W.D.C and Saunders K.J., The Buddha's "Way of Vertue" A translation of the Dhammapada from the Pali Text. John Murray, London, 1912, 1920, 1927

This document, updated 11-10-04, can be retrieved at this URL:

http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/dhammapada372.htm

May you become enlightened in this very lifetime,

Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks)

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