Evil (DHP116-128)

Hasten to do good;
Restrain your thoughts from evil.
When the mind is slow in doing good
It delights in evil.

Should one do evil,
He should not do it again and again.
He ought not to desire this.
Accumulated evil brings great suffering.

Should one do good,
He should do it again and again.
He ought to desire this.
Accumulated good brings great happiness.

An evil person sees benefit
As long as the evil has not ripened.
When the evil does ripen,
He realizes misfortune.

Even a good person sees detriment
Before the goodness has ripened.
When the good does ripen,
He realizes benefit.

Do not disregard evil, thinking, “It will not come to
me.” Even as falling drops of water can fill a jug,
So the fool becomes full of evil,
Collecting it little by little.

Do not disregard good, thinking, “It will not come
to me.” Even as falling drops of water can fill a jug,
So the wise one becomes full of goodness,
Collecting it little by little.

One should avoid evil deeds,
As a merchant with great wealth in a small caravan
Avoids the dangerous road,
As one who desires life avoids poison.

Without a wound, the hand can carry poison.
With no wound, the poison has no effect.
So evil has no effect for those who do not practice it.

As fine dust thrown against the wind,
So does evil return to the fool
Who wrongs the innocent, the faithful, and the pure.

Some arise in the womb;
Evildoers arise in hell;
The righteous emerge in heaven;
And those without toxins enter final-Nibbāna.

There is no place in the world—
Neither in the sky, nor the ocean depth,
Nor inside a mountain cave—
Where one would be free from one’s evil deed.

There is no place in the world—
Neither in the sky, nor the ocean depth,
Nor inside a mountain cave—
Where death is not victorious.

© Peter Feldmeier, 2013.

First published in Dhammapada — The Way of Truth : A Fresh Translation and Commentary on Buddhism’s Most Beloved Text by Buddhist Publication Society.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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