Dhammapada Verses in Uttarajjhaya 9

Summary

In this comparative note, Gustav Roth examines verses in the ninth chapter of the Jaina Uttarādhyayana‑sūtra that parallel sayings found in the Buddhist Dhammapada. Both texts are collections of moral teachings delivered in aphoristic verse. Roth identifies several verses in Uttarajjhaya 9 that share thematic and linguistic similarities with Dhammapada couplets: teachings on impermanence, self‑control, the dangers of sensual attachment and the value of wisdom. He transcribes and translates the verses and points out correspondences in imagery – for example, likening the mind to a restless monkey or comparing the body to a fragile clay pot. The article then discusses possible explanations for these parallels. Roth suggests that both Jainism and Buddhism drew on a common pool of proverbial wisdom circulating in northern India during the early centuries BCE. Traveling ascetics, storytellers and lay communities exchanged moral aphorisms that were later codified in canonical collections. Alternatively, the compilers of one text may have borrowed directly from the other; however, Roth notes that doctrinal differences are often preserved: the Jaina versions emphasise self‑mortification and the accumulation of karma, whereas the Buddhist versions underscore the middle path. By comparing the textual contexts in which the verses appear, Roth highlights how each tradition uses the sayings to support its own ethical framework. In the Uttarajjhaya, a verse exhorting mindfulness might preface a story about a monk who attains kevalajñāna (omniscience) after years of penance; in the Dhammapada, the same image warns against complacency in meditation. The note concludes that recognizing these shared verses enriches our understanding of cross‑cultural transmission and the interplay of doctrinal innovation and shared moral heritage.