Translated by Oxford professor Dr. Max Muller, a great scholar and Orientalist with an introduction by Kevin Trainor, Associate Professor of Religion at the University of Vermont.
In more than 400 verses the Buddha clearly expounds his noble path of virtue for everyman. This foundation scripture teaches the supreme doctrine of nirvana and the way to the highest possible happiness for mankind.
The Dhammapada - the Path of Truth - is a beautiful anthology of proverbs and aphorisms which are considered to be as close to the Buddha's own words as we can ever reach. The work outlines the Buddha's Four Noble Truths: that life is full of suffering, which all of us must accept, that the cause of suffering is desirer, that the removal of desire removes suffering; and finally that deliverance might be obtained by following the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Dhammapada is arranged in chapters which cover themes and topics such as Choices, Wakefulness, the World, the Awakened, Joy, Pleasure, Anger, Impurity, Justice, the Way, Desire, the Seeker and The True Master.
