— The Dhammapada, verse 177 (tr. F. Max Müller, 1881)
About this quote
हिन्दी में
कंजूस देवलोक में नहीं जाते; मूर्ख ही दान की प्रशंसा नहीं करते। बुद्धिमान दान से प्रसन्न होता है, और इसी से परलोक में सुखी होता है।
What it means
Three clauses, and they are not saying the same thing three times. The first is about not giving. The second is about not praising giving — a separate failure, and the verse reserves the word fools for it. The third goes further still: the wise one does not merely approve, but rejoices, and the verse counts that gladness itself as the thing that carries him.
So the usual reading — donate now, collect later — misses where the line actually puts its finger. Praise costs nothing and can still be withheld; a person with no money at all can meet or fail this verse. What is being graded is a disposition, and the middle clause names the specific meanness of resenting someone else’s generosity.
What it teaches you
Watch your first reaction the next time someone gives publicly — the reflex that goes looking for the motive, the tax angle, the photograph. That reflex is the exact thing the middle clause is about. The correction is small and external: say the praise out loud, to them or to someone else, instead of letting the private reservation stand as your verdict.
अर्थ और सीख
इस श्लोक के तीन हिस्से तीन अलग बातें कहते हैं — न देना, दान की प्रशंसा न करना, और दान से प्रसन्न होना। बीच वाली बात सबसे तीखी है: प्रशंसा में कुछ ख़र्च नहीं होता, फिर भी लोग उसे रोक लेते हैं, और उसी कंजूसी को यहाँ मूर्खता कहा गया है। सीख यह है कि जब कोई दान करे तो पहले उसकी नीयत पर शक करने के बजाय उसकी सराहना कह देना चाहिए।
Where it comes from
This is verse 177 of the Dhammapada, from the chapter called The World — seeing the world as bubble and mirage, and rising above it.
The Dhammapada is a collection of 423 verses in Pali, among the oldest and most widely read records of the Buddha’s teaching. This English translation is by F. Max Müller (1881), the pioneering Oxford scholar of Indian texts; the verse number is cited with this quote.
