Dhammapada — Chapter 24: Tanhavagga

26 verses

Verse 1

Craving grows in one who is heedless, like a creeper in the forest. Such a one leaps from life to life, like a monkey seeking fruit in the forest.

Verse 2

Whoever is overcome by this wretched, clinging craving in the world — their sorrows increase like grass after rain.

Verse 3

Whoever overcomes this wretched craving, so hard to overcome in this world — from that one sorrows fall away like drops of water from a lotus leaf.

Verse 4

This I tell you: good fortune to all assembled here. Dig up the root of craving, as one seeking the fragrant root digs up the birana grass. Let not M…

Verse 5

Just as a tree, though cut down, grows again if its root is strong and uncut, so too does suffering arise again and again if the underlying tendency …