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Dhammika – Pure Protection
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Introduction
This poem is from the Theragatha. The Theragatha preserves 264 poems of elder monks and is the eighth section in the Khuddaka Nikāya. The Khuddaka Nikāya is a collection of short texts in (mostly) verse. The Khuddaka Nikāya is the last Nikaya (collection) of the Sutta Piṭaka, the second book of the Pāli Canon.
In this poem, the awakened monk Dhammika shows the importance of a well-practiced and authentic Dhamma practice and the protection from worldly entanglements provided.
My comments below are in italics.
Dhammika – Pure Protection
Theragatha 4:10
The Buddha’s Dhamma protects
those who integrate his Dhamma.
The Buddha’s Dhamma, well-practiced,
Brings peace and freedom.
The rewards are obvious,
From a well-practiced Dhamma:
What is to be,
Is what is here.
(A well- practiced Dhamma practice brings mindful peace here and now, and will continue to the next moment.)
The Dhamma brings peace,
Ignorance brings suffering. [1,2]
So generate skillful desire
For developing the Dhamma,
Rejoice in the Great Teacher, standing firm, [3]
Foremost in understanding.
Whose disciples are awakened
To the foremost refuge.
The root of the boil is burst!
The net of craving destroyed!
The Rightly Self-Awakened one wanders no more.
He is clear and bright
As a cloudless full moon night.
End Of Poem
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My Dhamma articles and talks are based on the Buddha's teachings (suttas) as preserved in the Sutta Pitaka, the second book of the Pali Canon. I have relied primarily on Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s excellent and insightful translation of the Pali generously made freely available at his website Dhammatalks.org, as well as the works of Acharya Buddharakkhita, Nyanaponika Thera, John Ireland, Maurice Walsh, Hellmuth Hecker, and Sister Khema, among others, as preserved at Access To Insight.
Also, I have found Bhikkhu Bodhi's translations from Wisdom Publications Pali Canon Anthologies to be most informative and an excellent resource.
I have made edits to the suttas from these sources for further clarity, to modernize language, to minimize repetition, and maintain contextual relevance to Dependent Origination and Four Noble Truths.
Becoming-Buddha.com and Dhamma articles and recordings by John Haspel are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
