The Dhammapada is probably the most frequently translated Buddhist text in the world today. This article looks at the history of translations of the Dhammapada since it was first translated into English in the nineteenth century. I start by comparing the little known first English translation by Daniel Gogerly from 1840 with the influential 1870 translation by Max Müller. The paper then examines the main translations which have appeared since the mid-twentieth century. I show how they represent Buddhist, Hindu and other views on the Dhammapada and that they continue to be influenced by the pioneering nineteenth-century translations. I argue that translations of the Dhammapada are conditioned not only by the viewpoints of the translators but also by the existence of a tradition of translating the Dhammapada. Both factors I conclude have contributed to the importance placed on the Dhammapada as a representative Buddhist text.Introductionj orh_795 215..234 The earliest English language translations from the Pāli Buddhist text of the Dhammapada were published in 1840 by Daniel Gogerly in the journal called the The Friend in Colombo. 1 Since that time, the Dhammapada has become probably one of the most frequently translated religious texts in the world. There have been over eighty different translations into English, and it has been translated into most of the world's major languages. 2 In this paper, I will start by considering what the Dhammapada is and then examine Gogerly's translation and its relationship to the Dhammapada translations published by Max Müller between 1870 and 1881 and more recent translations. I will then show that Gogerly's Dhammapada translation is based on an interpretation of it made by the monks, or ex monks, who were teaching Gogerly Pāli. The importance of this, I will suggest, is that it means his translation represents