Hell (DHP306-319)

One who claims what is not so goes to hell;
So also one having done something who says, “I did
not do this.” Both do base deeds, and both are equal after death
in the other world.

Many in saffron robes are unrestrained with evil
character.
By evil deeds these wicked ones are reborn in hell.

Better to eat an iron ball, hot like a fire’s point,
Than if one, immoral and unrestrained,
Would eat the country’s alms food.

The negligent man, who pursues the wife of
another,
Encounters four conditions: accumulation of
demerit,
An unpleasant bed, reproach, and finally hell.

So, a man ought not resort to another’s wife,
Accumulating demerit, a bad destination, and the
king’s harsh punishment.
Little is the delight of a fearful man with a fearful
woman.

Just as wrongly grasped kusa grass cuts the hand,
So the renunciant life, wrongly handled, pulls toward
hell.

A lax action, an impure observance,
A dubious holy life:
This is hardly fruitful.

Do what ought to be done,
Undertake it firmly.
The lax religious life simply scatters more dust.

An evil deed is better not done.
Such a deed torments one later.
A good deed is better done,
Which, when done, does not cause regret.

Just as a border city is protected inside and out,
So you ought to guard yourself.
Let not a moment escape.
They who let the moment pass grieve
When consigned to hell.

Ashamed of what is not shameful,
And not ashamed of what is shameful;
Those undertaking wrong view
Go to a miserable destination.

Being afraid of what is not frightful,
And being unafraid of the frightful,
Those undertaking wrong view
Go to a miserable destination.

Imagining fault in the faultless,
And perceiving no fault in the sinful,
Those undertaking wrong view
Go to a miserable existence.

Having known fault as fault
And faultless as faultless,
Those undertaking right view
Go to a favorable destination.

© 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.

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