The Comparative Dhammapada - Ancient Buddhist Texts

A Study of the Dhammapada Collection - 8
Method of Presentation
When lines in a verse of one of the parallels are not found in the Pāḷi Dhammapada, I
have included those lines, so as to represent better the form of the original, but have
placed them in square brackets [ ], and they are written in grey coloured text.
It should also be pointed out here that a verse that is only partially paralleled in the
Dhammapada may find a complete parallel elsewhere in the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka, though it
appears that normally when a verse as a whole is absent from the parallels it is also
absent from the rest of the Canon.
I have occasionally included more than one parallel where it seemed to me that the
inclusion was justified by the light it throws on the Pāḷi verse. But normally I have only
chosen the closest parallel to the Pāḷi verse that I could find - this applies particularly
to the Udānavarga, where there are often a number of parallels to choose from.
The layout adopted in regard to the parallels has been maintained throughout this
presentation:
Pāḷi
Gāndhārī
Patna
Udānavarga
This layout has normally been preserved even when it leads to a lot of white space, as it
makes referencing a lot easier if one is looking for a parallel from a particular text;
also it seems useful to be able to see where no parallel exists in any of these texts.
There are a few parallels from other sources, the Mahāvastu, Divyāvadāna,
Avadānaśataka, & Mūlasarvāstivādivinaya; these have normally been omitted from the
table if no parallel has been found, but when they are included the layout is expanded
thus:
Pāḷi
Gāndhārī
Mahāvastu
Patna
Udānavarga
Other Texts