70. Wrong View (ITI70)

This was said by the Lord…

“Bhikkhus, I have seen beings who practise misconduct by body, speech, and mind, who vilify the noble ones, who hold wrong view and perform various deeds because of their wrong view. When the body perishes, those beings are reborn after death in a state of misery, a bad bourn, a state of ruin, in hell. I say this, bhikkhus, without having learnt it from another recluse or brahmin. It is just because I myself have known it, seen it, and observed it that I say: ‘Bhikkhus, I have seen beings who practise misconduct by body, speech, and mind … reborn after death in a state of misery … in hell.’”

An individual here with
A wrongly directed mind
Who utters wrong speech
And performs wrong deeds,
One of little learning,
Who does demerit in this short life—
Upon the perishing of the body
That foolish one is reborn in hell.

Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.

Digital Transcription Source: BPS Transcription Project

Extracted from The Udāna & the Itivuttaka, translated and introduced by John D. Ireland. Published in 1997.

The complete book, including introduction and notes by the translator, is available from the Buddhist Publication Society.

ISBN 955–24-0164-X

Copyright © 1997 by John D. Ireland.

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