Dhammapada Chapter VI — The Wise Man (Paṇḍita) (vv. 76–89)

N=1 fine-grained distillation. Source: Müller, SBE X (1881), Gutenberg #2017. Quote anchors are working text pending Phase 7 char-for-char verification. Methodology & tags: ../00-methodology.md.

Chapter role

The paṇḍita (wise man) vagga is the positive counterpart to the fool: it counsels welcoming the reprover, choosing virtuous friends, self-fashioning, unshakable equanimity amid blame and praise, freedom from craving for son/wealth/lordship, and the crossing to "the other shore" — the few who reach awakening by following the well-preached law.

Atomic statements

Ch6-C1: Follow the wise reprover who shows treasures and faults — it is better, not worse. (OPERATIONAL / TRUTH+DISCIPLINE)

• Dhp 76: "If you see an intelligent man who tells you where true treasures are to be found, who shows what is to be avoided, and administers reproofs, follow that wise man; it will be better, not worse, for those who follow him."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core

Ch6-C2: Let one admonish and forbid the improper; the good will love him, the bad will hate him. (OPERATIONAL / ETHICS)

• Dhp 77: "Let him admonish, let him teach, let him forbid what is improper!—he will be beloved of the good, by the bad he will be hated."
• Stance: assert · Importance: supporting

Ch6-C3: Do not befriend evil-doers or low people; befriend the virtuous and the best of men. (OPERATIONAL / ETHICS)

• Dhp 78: "Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not have low people for friends: have virtuous people for friends, have for friends the best of men."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core

Ch6-C4: He who drinks in the law lives happily with a serene mind, rejoicing in the law of the elect. (EXHORTATION / TRUTH+MIND)

• Dhp 79: "He who drinks in the law lives happily with a serene mind: the sage rejoices always in the law, as preached by the elect (Ariyas)."
• Stance: assert · Importance: supporting

Ch6-C5: As makers guide water and craftsmen bend arrows and wood, wise people fashion themselves. (FOUNDATIONAL / DISCIPLINE+MIND)

• Dhp 80: "Well-makers lead the water (wherever they like); fletchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion themselves."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core

Ch6-C6: Like solid rock unshaken by wind, the wise falter not amid blame and praise; hearing the law they grow serene as a deep, still lake. (FOUNDATIONAL / MIND+DISCIPLINE)

• Dhp 81–82: "As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, wise people falter not amidst blame and praise." / "Wise people, after they have listened to the laws, become serene, like a deep, smooth, and still lake."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core

Ch6-C7: The good walk on whatever befalls, never elated or depressed by happiness or sorrow. (FOUNDATIONAL / MIND+ETHICS)

• Dhp 83: "Good people walk on whatever befall, the good do not prattle, longing for pleasure; whether touched by happiness or sorrow wise people never appear elated or depressed."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core

Ch6-C8: The good man wishes neither son, wealth, nor lordship for self or others, nor success by unfair means. (OPERATIONAL / CRAVING+ETHICS)

• Dhp 84: "If, whether for his own sake, or for the sake of others, a man wishes neither for a son, nor for wealth, nor for lordship, and if he does not wish for his own success by unfair means, then he is good, wise, and virtuous."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core

Ch6-C9: Few cross to the other shore; those who follow the well-preached law pass beyond death's dominion — leaving home for the homeless, purging the mind, free even in this world. (FOUNDATIONAL / LIBERATION+DISCIPLINE)

• Dhp 85–89: "Few are there among men who arrive at the other shore (become Arhats); the other people here run up and down the shore." / "But those who, when the law has been well preached to them, follow the law, will pass across the dominion of death…" / "A wise man should leave the dark state… and follow the bright state (of the Bhikshu)… Leaving all pleasures behind, and calling nothing his own, the wise man should purge himself from all the troubles of the mind." / "Those whose mind is well grounded in the (seven) elements of knowledge… rejoice in freedom from attachment… are free (even) in this world."
• Stance: assert · Importance: core · Note: "the other shore"/Arhat and nibbāna-as-freedom themes; saṅgha/Bhikshu and "calling nothing his own" (anattā resonance).

Step 4 — Clusters

Cluster	Atomic statements	Intent
Welcome correction	C1, C2	Follow the reprover; admonish rightly
Choose good company & law	C3, C4	Befriend the virtuous; delight in the law
Self-fashioning	C5	The wise shape themselves as craftsmen shape material
Equanimity	C6, C7	Unshaken by blame/praise, joy/sorrow
Non-craving and crossing over	C8, C9	Wish no son/wealth/lordship; cross to the other shore

Step 5 — Internal tensions

None genuine. The chapter is a coherent positive portrait of the paṇḍita.

Step 6 — Synthesized chapter principles

Ch6-P1: Welcome the wise reprover

Follow the one who shows you where true treasure lies, what to avoid, and who reproves you — it is better, not worse; let the wise admonish and forbid the improper, loved by the good though hated by the bad.

• Tier: OPERATIONAL · Domain: TRUTH+ETHICS · Covers: C1, C2 · Evidence: Dhp 76–77

Ch6-P2: Choose virtuous company and delight in the law

Do not befriend evil-doers or the low; befriend the virtuous and the best of men. He who drinks in the law lives happily with a serene mind.

• Tier: OPERATIONAL · Domain: ETHICS+TRUTH · Covers: C3, C4 · Evidence: Dhp 78–79

Ch6-P3: The wise fashion themselves

As irrigators guide water, fletchers bend arrows, and carpenters bend wood, so wise people shape and master themselves.

• Tier: FOUNDATIONAL · Domain: DISCIPLINE+MIND · Covers: C5 · Evidence: Dhp 80

Ch6-P4: The wise are unshaken by fortune's extremes

Like solid rock unmoved by wind, the wise do not falter amid blame and praise; hearing the law they grow serene as a deep still lake, never elated or depressed by happiness or sorrow.

• Tier: FOUNDATIONAL · Domain: MIND+DISCIPLINE · Covers: C6, C7 · Evidence: Dhp 81–83

Ch6-P5: Non-craving carries the few across to the other shore

The good wish neither son, wealth, nor lordship, nor any success by unfair means. Few cross to the other shore, but those who follow the well-preached law pass beyond death's dominion — leaving home, calling nothing their own, purging the mind, free even in this world.

• Tier: FOUNDATIONAL · Domain: LIBERATION+CRAVING · Covers: C8, C9 · Evidence: Dhp 84–89 · Untranslatable: taṇhā (the craving renounced), nibbāna/Arhat ("the other shore"), anattā ("calling nothing his own"), saṅgha ("Bhikshu")

Step 7 — Traceability

Principle	Atomic statements	Verses
Ch6-P1	C1, C2	Dhp 76–77
Ch6-P2	C3, C4	Dhp 78–79
Ch6-P3	C5	Dhp 80
Ch6-P4	C6, C7	Dhp 81–83
Ch6-P5	C8, C9	Dhp 84–89

Step 8 — Quality

• Coverage: 14/14 verses (76–89, counting the merged 87,88) captured by ≥1 atomic statement (100%).
• Orphaned: 0%.
• Principles: 5 (within the 3–12 range).
• Traceability: 100%.

Step 9 — Validation

• Standalone comprehension (frame-independent): Ch6-P1, P2, P3, and P4 read as intelligible ethical/psychological claims (welcome correction; keep good company; we shape ourselves; remain equanimous under blame/praise and joy/sorrow) without presupposing Buddhist metaphysics — these are strong cross-tradition convergence candidates. Ch6-P5 carries frame-specific content — the claim (release from craving for status and possessions brings freedom) may converge cross-tradition, while the warrant invokes "the other shore"/Arhatship, passing "the dominion of death," anattā ("calling nothing his own"), and the homeless renunciant life of the saṅgha. Flagged for the Atlas as a convergent-claim / divergent-foundation candidate.