The Thousands (Sahassa Vagga)
Verse 103
Pāli Source
Yo sahassaṃ sahassena saṅgāme mānuse jine; ekañ ca jeyyamattānaṃ sa ve saṅgāmajuttamo.
English Translation
One might conquer a thousand times a thousand others in battle, but the one who truly conquers is the one who conquers himself.
Way to Enlightenment draft translation — not yet reviewed for accuracy.
Editorial Note
One of the Dhammapada’s most famous lines on self-mastery, from the Sahassa Vagga (The Thousands) — a chapter built around comparisons of quantity versus quality.
Source
Pali critical edition: O. von Hinüber & K.R. Norman (Pali Text Society, 1995), digitized by the Dhammakaya Foundation via GRETIL, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0