The Teachings of Buddha 425 Dhammapadas In English Poetry

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Lord Buddha relinquished his entire kingdom in search of nirvana, which is the ultimate path to get deliverance from this difficult cycle of birth and death. Human beings yearn for pleasure (sukha), but they get suffering and grief (dukha) due to their ego (ahankar) and incessant yearning for materialistic things (trishna).

According to Lord Buddha, the only way to achieve dieliverance from this tedious process of rebirth is to abandon all desires and attachments and resort to meditation. This is the only way to be absolved of the cycle of life and death and achieve eternal bliss and happiness.

Dhammapada entails the teachings of Lord Buddha which were give in Varansi in India after h e attained enlightenment. These teachings were originally written in Pali language and were translated into various languagegs later. The Teachings of Buddha is a collection of the same 423 sermons delivered by Lord Buddha. The sermons have been translated into English poetry and presented 26 chapters based on the different attributes of man.

Dr. Sant Kumar Bhatnagr, Scientist and technologist by profession holds M. Sc. (Vikarm University), and M. Tech. and Ph. D. from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India His career spanned over four decades where he dedicated himself to the service of Rubber Industry. After a short stint as a Lecturer in IIT and as a scientist with CSIR, he moved to the industry and worked with Bata (India) Limited, Bayer India Limited, Indian Petrochemical Corp, and finally with Aditya Birla Group in Thailand. There he worked with Thai Carbon Black Co. and later joined Thai Epoxy & Allied Products Co. of the group as the President. He retired in 2000.

Dr Bhatnagar lately started writing books related to religion. His first book , Srimad Bhagavad Gita in simple Hindi poetry, became a success and he received letters of appreciation from the former President of India and also from the former Prime Minister of India. Its English version has been published by Pustak Mahal. His another book Dhammapada in Hindi Poetry, is also ready for publication.

Although there are volumes of teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, later called Buddha, these are considered to be canonical. The Lord Buddha, these are considered to be canonical. The Lord Buddha- the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, gave sermons at Benaras (now called varansi, situated in Uttar Pradesh in India) called Dhamma-chakka-ppavattana-sutra (The Turning of the Wheel of Dharma). The text of these sermons was extracted from the stories of the life of Gautama Buddha which form the Holy book called Dhammapada (in Sanskrit called Dharampath i. e. the Path of Dharma). It contains 423 saying categorized into 26 chapters based on different attributes of man. Sayings of Lord Buddha show the path to salvation and must be followed with utter sincerity and devotion and practiced in principal I daily life so that one can be absolved of the process of rebirth.

The sayings are narrated in very simple methods giving appropriate similes to make them easily understandable. These sayings are not supposed to be static and unchanging, but are paths for us to practice.

Lord Buddha explained some of the aspects which need a careful heed if one needs to get rid of pain and anguish. According to him, man suffers from infinite pain and suffering from the cycle of rebirth i.e. after death he again comes back into this (Samsara). He returns into this mortal world based on his old actions and has to pay the price in every rebirth for his old birth’s actions. The process of rebirth is , therefore, a very painful experience.

According to Lord Buddha, renunciation or asceticism is not the answer to get out of these sufferings. One has no work hard to attain nirvana, salvation or liberation from the cycle of the rebirth. To attain nirvana one needs to meditate, letting go all the lustful desires, anger and pride. That way man would be able to absolve himself from the rut of the cycle of birth and death. The man who is close to attain nirvana, is called the Awakened One i.e.. ‘Buddha’. He does not have to come back into this mortal world again and he is freed from the cycle of life and death.

Although Dhammapada has been translated from Pali language into English language by many dedicated worshippers of Buddha’s teachings, I have tried in my own humble way, to place before you this book in the form of rhyming poetry.

My attempt is not to undermine or seek recognition over others who have translated Dhamapada in English language. They have done an excellent work. It is only that when I started reading the scripture lately I decided to present it in poetic form.

I hope that this book will be unique, as reading poetic script is more pleasing and joyful. I shall be happy to receive views and criticism from my readers so that the book could be improved in the next edition.

I would like to record my thanks to my elder brother, Professor Uttam Chand, who has been the most inspiring force and how made useful corrections and gave suggestions to improve the script. The other source of immense help has been Mr. s. K. Roy and his editorial staff at Pustak Mahal who gave very useful suggestions to bring the book to its present form.