Dhammapada

The way of the Buddha.

The Dhammapada exposes, in the form of poetic stanzas, the fundamental concepts of ancient Buddhism. The title of the work, probably composed around the third century BC. C., means "words of Dharma" where Dharma is a word derived from a linguistic root meaning "to support" and indicates something solid and stable: the term has passed to indicate the law that sustains the universe, both the physical law and the moral law. The translation presented in this volume was carried out directly on the Pali original: an attempt was made to keep it as close as possible to the original text, and is followed by comments explaining each verse. The commentary thus illustrates step by step the fundamental principles of primitive Buddhism or of the origins, in a simple but rigorous way, with the aim of guiding the reader, even the fasting one of Buddhism and oriental doctrines, to the knowledge of the Buddha's teaching.