17. Evil Deeds (T210.17)

He who does not follow suit on seeing good done,
Will revert to follow his evil mind,
He who does not seek to make merit properly
Will reverse to delight in sexual misconduct.

The ordinary worldlings, when doing evil,
Are not aware of [the danger involved].
Being foolish, they find pleasure in it,
And thereby accumulate poison for the future.

When a bad man does vices,
He gets submerged in them again and again,
Doing them with joyful desires.
He receives accordingly the retribution of his evil.

When a good man does virtuous deeds
[His virtues] increase progressively.
Doing them with a willing mind,
He receives accordingly the retribution of his merit.

[Though] the evil man might see as merit
His evil, while it has not ripened;
When his evil ripens,
He will experience the result of his evil.

[Though] the virtuous man might see as evil
His good deed, while it has not ripened;
When his good deed ripens
He will experience the blessing.

He who strikes others will be struck.
He who hates others will be hated.
He who abuses others will be abused.
He who gets angry with others will get anger in return.

The worldlings have no learning,
And do not understand the True Dharma.
Our life here is short;
How is it proper to do evil?

Do not regard a tiny evil lightly,
Thinking that it will bring no troubles.
Water drops, though very tiny,
Gradually fill up a big vessel:
An evil is filled up,
Bit by bit, to its accomplishment.

Do not regard a tiny good lightly,
Thinking that it will bring no merit
Water drops, though very tiny,
Gradually fill up a big vessel:
A merit is filed up,
By accumulating from the tiniest.

When a man performs an action
Whether it be a good or evil one;
It is in each case for himself,
And [its effect] is not obliterated at death.

He who is fond of taking [others’ things]
May think that there’s nothing wrong with it;
[But] if you take things belonging to others
Others will also take your things.

Evil done does not immediately [bear fruits];
As in milking a cow,
Its retribution awaits in the nether world,
As a fire concealed beneath ashes.

One may laugh in doing an evil;
[But] having done it personally,
One will cry in experiencing its retribution,
When following one’s action the result of evil comes.

Doing evil, [the fool] does not rise up,
As if he has been blocked by an army.
On being dragged along, he then realizes,
That he has fallen into evil practice.
He subsequently suffers the result,
Of what he has done earlier.

Like poison being rubbed into a wound
Like a ship getting into an eddy,
When evil deeds multiply
They do harm to all.

He who falsely accuses one
Who is pure and unsullied
Harm will bounce back to this fool,
Like dust thrown against the wind.

Committing a mistake is not [necessarily] evil.
It becomes good when one repents subsequently.
Such a person illuminates the world,
Like the unclouded sun.

Whatever act a man has done,
He will himself witness [the result]:
A good act yields good [result],
An evil act yields bad [result].

The consciousness of some enter the womb:
The evil ones are born in hells:
The doers of good ascend to heavens.
Those unattached to existence attain Nirvāṇa.

Neither in the sky, nor in mid-ocean
Nor hiding places in the mountains and rocks
No place is to be found here
To escape the misfortune resulting from evil deed.

All beings are [similarly] afflicted:
Not being able to escape old-age and death.
Only the kind and wise [are spared].
Not being bent on wrong and evil like others.

Translated from the Chinese by Bhikkhu Kuala Lumpur Dhammajoti

From his book The Chinese Version of Dharmapada, Translated with introduction and annotations.

Published here with the kind permission of the author.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Ayya Vimala.