The Dhammapada [Paperback]

TheDhammapada, the Pali version of one of the most popular texts of the Buddhist canon, also ranks among the classics of the world's religious literature. This critical edition presents to the English reader for the first time theDhammapadaas it has been known throughout the centuries. With this volume, Carter and Palihawadana make a major contribution to the understanding of theDhammapada, not only by presenting a new and accurate translation of the verses, but also by enabling readers to see the wake of this remarkable text through centuries of Buddhist tradition. In addition to the original Pali, the editors provide a translation of the commentary on the verses and the subsequent brief explanations of verse and commentarial passages provided by Sinhala sources.

Far surpasses any previous translation of theDhammapadain terms of its scope and contextual accuracy. Carter and Palihawadana have not only proivde a fresh English translation of the Pali but a transliteration of theDhammapada(which makes it eminently useful for students of Pali) and, most impressively, a translation of the exhaustive and extremely commentarial PaliDhammapadatthakatha....This, then, is a work of wide scholarly magnitude and great philological erudition. --Religious Studies Review