Verses
Make haste in doing good; restrain your mind from evil. For the mind of one who is slow in doing merit delights in evil.
Verse 1
If a person commits evil, let him not do it again and again; let him not set his heart upon it, for painful is the accumulation of evil.
Verse 2
If a person performs good, let him do it again and again; let him set his heart upon it, for joyful is the accumulation of merit.
Verse 3
Even an evildoer sees good fortune as long as his evil deed does not ripen; but when his evil deed ripens, then the evildoer sees bitter suffering.
Verse 4
Even a good person sees misfortune as long as his good deed does not ripen; but when his good deed ripens, then the good person experiences abundant blessings.
Verse 5
Do not underestimate evil, thinking, 'It will not come to me.' Drop by drop of falling water, a water jar is filled. Likewise, a fool becomes full of evil, gathering it little by little.
Verse 6
Do not underestimate good, thinking, 'It will not come to me.' Drop by drop of falling water, a water jar is filled. Likewise, a wise person becomes full of merit, gathering it little by little.
Verse 7
Just as a wealthy merchant with a small caravan avoids a dangerous road, and just as one who loves life avoids deadly poison, so should one shun all evil deeds.
Verse 8
If there is no wound on the hand, one may carry poison with that hand; poison does not affect the unwounded. There is no evil for one who does no evil.
Verse 9
Whoever harms an innocent, pure person free from moral stain, that evil falls back upon that very fool, like fine dust thrown against the wind.
Verse 10
Some are reborn in a womb; evildoers are reborn in hell; those of good conduct go to heaven; the taintless attain Nibbāna.
Verse 11
Not in the sky, nor in the middle of the ocean, nor entering a mountain cave — there is no place found on earth where standing one can escape from one's evil deed.
Verse 12
Not in the sky, nor in the middle of the ocean, nor entering a mountain cave — there is no place found on earth where standing death cannot overcome one.
Verse 13
Background
This chapter belongs to the Pali Dhammapada (Khuddaka Nikaya, Pali Canon), Papavagga, verses 116–128. Recorded in the Dhammapada-Atthakathā, these verses address varied scenarios at Sāvatthi, Rājagaha and Kapilavatthu. Incidents include the householder Anathapindika (Verses 119–120), the merchant Mahadhana (Verse 123), the hunter Koka whose own ferocious hunting dogs turned upon him after he wronged an innocent monk (Verse 125), three groups of monks who asked the Buddha about a crow burned in mid-air, a woman thrown overboard from a ship, and seven monks trapped in a cave, to whom he taught that no place on earth lets one escape the results of wrong deeds (Verse 127), and the Sakyan Suppabuddha, who shut himself in the top floor of his palace to disprove the Buddha's words and was swallowed by the earth on the seventh day (Verse 128).
About this Text
Composed by: Gautama Buddha · Founder of Buddhism · c. 5th–6th century BCE, Northern India/Nepal
Born Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini, he attained enlightenment and spent the rest of his life teaching the Dhamma across northern India. His discourses (Suttas), preserved orally for generations before being written down in the Pali Canon, form the doctrinal foundation of Buddhism.
Did You Know?
Haste in Goodness (Verse 116)
One should make haste in doing good and hold back the mind from evil; for the mind of one who hesitates in doing good naturally slips toward delight in wrong.
The Water-Pot Metaphor (Verses 121–122)
Do not despise even minor wrongs thinking 'it will not touch me'—drop by drop of falling water, a large jar is filled. Likewise, the fool gradually fills himself with evil, and the wise gradually fills himself with merit.
The Unwounded Hand (Verse 124)
If one has no wound on the hand, one can safely hold deadly poison; poison penetrates only where there is an open cut. Similarly, evil cannot affect one who does no evil.
Dust Thrown Against the Wind (Verse 125)
Whoever harms an innocent, pure person free from malice, that evil rebounds directly upon the fool, like fine dust thrown against a strong headwind.
No Hiding Place in the Cosmos (Verses 127–128)
Neither in the open sky, nor in the depths of the ocean, nor inside the clefts of mountains is there any place on earth where one can hide from one's own past evil or escape death.
Buddha
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