One of the best-known texts of the Pali canon, the Dhammapada gathers short verses attributed to the Buddha into a form that has been read, recited and memorised for centuries. This English edition carries the name of E. W. Adikaram, the Sri Lankan Buddhist scholar and educationist, and comes from M. D. Gunasena & Co., the Colombo publishing house.
The verses set out the essence of the Buddha's teaching in compressed form, which is much of why the text has stayed in continuous use. Its publisher describes it as offering wisdom for the ordinary difficulties of daily life, and notes its practical role for monks, who draw on it when selecting themes for sermons — a use that says something about how the book is read in Sri Lanka, as a working text rather than only a devotional one.
For readers coming to Buddhist literature for the first time, the Dhammapada is usually where they are sent, and an English edition published in Colombo places it in the hands of readers outside Sri Lanka in the form it takes at home. It suits anyone wanting the Buddha's teaching in its most direct and quotable shape: students of Buddhism, visitors to Sri Lanka who want to read further, and those who keep a copy to open at random.
- Author: E.W. Adikaram
- Publisher: M. D. Gunasena & Co. (Pvt) Ltd
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9789552107733
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