Dhammapada verse 118
Chapter 9, Wickedness (Pāpavagga) · verses 116–128
“If you do something good, do it again and again, set your heart on it, for piling up goodness is joyful.”
Puññañce puriso kayirā, kayirā naṁ punappunaṁ; Tamhi chandaṁ kayirātha, sukho puññassa uccayo.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 118 mean?
Verse 118 belongs to chapter 9, Wickedness (Pāpavagga), which gathers verses 116–128 on wickedness and its ripening. It is filed under happiness. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 117 and verse 119 are part of the same passage.
Thirteen verses on wickedness and its ripening. The chapter’s repeated claim is that an evil deed is not done in one motion — it is done, then repeated, then made a habit — and that the person who does it grieves in both places, here and after. It is one of the chapters most explicitly concerned with consequence rather than intention.
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