by Juan Mascaró, 1973

The Pali word Dhamma corresponds to the Sanskrit Dharma, the first word of the Bhagavad Gita when the field of Dharma, the field of Truth, is mentioned. Pali, the language of the Buddhist scriptures of Ceylon, Burma and Indochina, is connected with Sanskrit just as Italian is connected with Latin. As in Italian, most words end in a vowel sound, and most consonants are softened to a double consonant: thus Sanskrit Dharma becomes Dhamma in Pali, and Nirvana becomes Nibbana. The Pali scriptures are reckoned to be about eleven times as long as the Bible. Besides the scriptures in Pali, there is vast Buddhist literature written in Sanskrit and in Chinese and Tibetan translations.

The word Dhamma is of supreme importance in Buddhism, and behind the mere word there is the highest spiritual meaning. Dhama comes from the Sanskrit root DHR, which carries the meaning ‘to support, to remain’ and thus of ‘law, a moral law, a spiritual law of righteousness, the eternal law of the Universe, Truth.’ In Christian terms it corresponds to ‘the will of God.’ Pada, both in Sanskrit and Pali, means ‘foot, step’ and thence has the meaning of a path. Thus Dhammapada suggests the Path of Dhamma, the right path of life which we make with our own footsteps, our own actions, and which leads us to the supreme Truth. The Dhammapada is the path of Truth, the path of light, the path of love, the path of life, the path of Nirvana. In Christian terms it is the path of God. Even if we do not reach the end of the path, the joys of the pilgrimage are ours. We can buy them ‘without money and without price.’ What is in truth the Path supreme becomes for us all the Path of Perfection.