Okay so now that we're into the Dhammapada, I feel completely comfortable saying that I don't think I'm going to enjoy it. It's very repetitive and contradictory. It's like one entire paragraph is the same sentence three times over. Then, the paragraph after that, is saying the exact opposite. It's just aggravating.
Please excuse this short blog post. It is quite hard to do this on a cell phone that isn't meant for internet.
I feel the complete opposite about the chapters. This is my favorite reading thus far. Not because I am planning on becoming Buddhist, I just think that all the quotes are said so well and I think we should all aspire to be better people. But I can see your point as well, the verses can be someone repetitive at times.
ReplyDeleteThe verses of the Dhammapada are indeed quite repetitive in form. However, I do not think that this is at all a result of bad writing or bad translation. In ancient times, when oral tradition was much more prominent in many cultures, people would frequently set stories or advice in poetic or chanted form, because poems and songs are typically easier to remember than straight prose. I do not know a whole lot about Indian poetry, or about the oral tradition there, but I would guess that it was not totally dissimilar to that in Europe and the Middle East.
ReplyDeleteAs for the contradictory nature of juxtaposed verses, it makes sense in the context of a poetic collection of sayings. Because the Dhammapada's format is so structured, it typically has one verse describing bad actions or traits and the negative results thereof, and then positive actions or traits and the corresponding results of those. It may seem unnecessary, but if one thinks about it like the lyrics to a song, or the verses in a poem, it seems less strange.
P.S. I also posted this on my blog if you'd rather read it there.