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The Dhammapada, “sayings of dhamma” – that is, religiously inspiring statements – is the Pali version of one of the most popular texts of the Buddhist canon. Like all religious texts in Pali, it belong to the Theravada school of the Buddhist tradition whose participants are at present found primarily in Kampuchea, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Compiled in verse, it is a religious work meant to inculcate a certain set of religious and ethical values, as well as a certain manner of perception of life and its problems and their solutions. That it has performed this task with remarkable success is hardly debatable. Perhaps the best testimony for that is its enduring popularity among Buddhists of all denominations, throughout the centuries of their existence.
John Ross Carter is Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion and the Robert Hung-Ngai Ho Professor of Asian Studies at Colgate University. He has written, edited, and contributed to several other books on the religious traditions of Asia.
Mahinda Palihawadana is Professor of Sanskrit Emeritus at Sri Jayawardhanapura University in Sri Lanka. He has written several articles on Theravada Buddhist thought.