Dhammapada Verses on Good and Evil

“Here they grieve, hereafter they grieve, an evildoer grieves in both places. They grieve and fret, seeing their own corrupt deeds.”

“Here they’re tormented, <j>hereafter they’re tormented, an evildoer is tormented in both places. They’re tormented <j>thinking of bad things they’ve done; when gone to a bad place, <j>they’re tormented all the more.”

“Much though they may recite scripture, if a negligent person does not apply them, then, like a cowherd who counts the cattle of others, they miss out on the blessings of the ascetic life.”

“Little though they may recite scripture, if they live in line with the teaching, having given up greed, hate, and delusion, with deep understanding and heart well freed, not grasping to this life or the next, they share in the blessings of the ascetic life.”

“Heedful among the heedless, wide awake while others sleep— a true sage leaves them behind, like a swift horse passing a feeble.”

“Fools and simpletons behave like their own worst enemies, doing wicked deeds that ripen as bitter fruit.”

“The fool imagines that evil is sweet, so long as it has not yet ripened. But as soon as that evil ripens, they fall into suffering.”

“For a wicked deed that has been done does not curdle quickly like milk. Smoldering, it follows the fool, like a fire smothered over with ash.”

“Advise and instruct; curb wickedness: for you shall be loved by the good, and disliked by the bad.”

“Better than a thousand meaningless sayings is a single meaningful saying, hearing which brings you peace.”

“Better than a thousand meaningless verses is a single meaningful verse, hearing which brings you peace.”

“Better than reciting a hundred meaningless verses is a single saying of Dhamma, hearing which brings you peace.”

“The supreme conqueror is not he who conquers a million men in battle, but he who conquers a single man: himself.”

“Rather than a thousandfold sacrifice, every month for a full century, it’s better to honor for a single hour one who has developed themselves. That offering is better than the hundred year sacrifice.”

“Rather than serve the sacred flame in the forest for a hundred years, it’s better to honor for a single hour a personage who has developed themselves. That offering is better than the hundred year sacrifice.”

“Whatever sacrifice or offering in the world a seeker of merit may make for a year, none of it is worth a quarter of bowing to the sincere.”

“For one in the habit of bowing, always honoring the elders, four blessings grow: lifespan, beauty, happiness, and strength.”

“Better to live a single day ethical and absorbed in meditation than to live a hundred years unethical and lacking immersion.”

“Better to live a single day wise and absorbed in meditation than to live a hundred years witless and lacking immersion.”

“Better to live a single day energetic and strong, than to live a hundred years lazy and lacking energy.”

“Better to live a single day seeing rise and fall than to live a hundred years blind to rise and fall.”

“Better to live a single day seeing the state free of death than to live a hundred years blind to the state free of death.”

“Better to live a single day seeing the supreme teaching than to live a hundred years blind to the supreme teaching.”

“Rush to do good, shield your mind from evil; for when you’re slow to do good, your thoughts delight in wickedness.”

“If you do something bad, don’t do it again and again, don’t set your heart on it, for piling up evil is suffering.”

“Even the wicked see good things, so long as their wickedness has not ripened. But as soon as that wickedness ripens, then the wicked see wicked things.”

“Even the good see wicked things, so long as their goodness has not ripened. But as soon as that goodness ripens, then the good see good things.”

“Think not lightly of evil, that it won’t come back to you. The pot is filled with water falling drop by drop; the fool is filled with wickedness piled up bit by bit.”

“Avoid wickedness, as a merchant with rich cargo and small escort would avoid a dangerous road, or one who loves life would avoid drinking poison.”

“Whoever wrongs a man who has done no wrong, a pure man who has not a blemish, the evil backfires on the fool, like fine dust thrown upwind.”

“Some are born in a womb; evildoers go to hell; the virtuous go to heaven; the undefiled are fully extinguished.”

“Not in midair, nor mid-ocean, nor hiding in a mountain cleft; you’ll find no place on the planet to escape your wicked deeds.”

“The fool does not understand the evil that they do. But because of those deeds, that simpleton is tormented as if burnt by fire.”

“For the evil that is done by oneself, born and produced in oneself, grinds down a simpleton, as diamond grinds a lesser gem.”

“On account of wicked views— scorning the guidance of the perfected ones, the noble ones living righteously— the idiot begets their own self’s demise, like the bamboo bearing fruit.”

“For it is by oneself that evil’s done, one is corrupted by oneself. It’s by oneself that evil’s not done, one is purified by oneself. Purity and impurity are personal matters, no one can purify another.”

“When a personage, spurning the hereafter, transgresses in just one thing— lying— there is no evil they would not do.”

“It’s hard to gain a human birth; the life of mortals is hard; it’s hard to hear the true teaching; the arising of Buddhas is hard.”

“Not to do any evil; to embrace the good; to purify one’s mind: this is the instruction of the Buddhas.”

“Happy, the arising of Buddhas! Happy, the teaching of Dhamma! Happy is the harmony of the Saṅgha, and the striving of the harmonious is happy.”

“Health is the ultimate blessing; contentment, the ultimate wealth; trust is the ultimate family; extinguishment, the ultimate happiness.”

“Having drunk the nectar of seclusion and the nectar of peace— free of stress, free of evil, drink the joyous nectar of truth.”

“Just so, when one who has done good goes from this world to the next, their good deeds receive them there, as family welcomes home one they love.”

“Not rehearsing is the stain of hymns. The stain of houses is neglect. Laziness is the stain of beauty. A guard’s stain is negligence.”

“Know this, my man: they are unrestrained and wicked. Don’t let that greed and unrighteousness inflict pain on you for long.”

“You don’t become just by passing hasty judgment. An astute person evaluates both what is pertinent and what is irrelevant.”

“One who stops all wicked deeds, great and small, because of stopping wicked deeds is said to be an ascetic.”

“But one living a spiritual life, who has banished both merit and evil, who wanders having appraised the world, is said to be a mendicant.”

“Seeking their own happiness by imposing suffering on others, intimate with enmity, they’re not freed from enmity.”

“The good shine from afar, like the Himalayan peaks, but the wicked are not seen, like arrows scattered in the night.”

“Many who wear a scrap of ocher cloth are unrestrained and wicked. Being wicked, they are reborn in hell due to their bad deeds.”

“Four things befall a heedless man who sleeps with another’s wife: wickedness, poor sleep, ill-repute, and rebirth in hell.”

“He accrues wickedness and is reborn in a bad place, all so a frightened couple <j>may snatch a moment’s pleasure, for which rulers impose a heavy punishment. That’s why a man should not <j>sleep with another’s wife.”

“A bad deed is better left undone, for it will plague you later on. A good deed is better done, one that does not plague you.”

“Those who have tamed themselves are better than fine tamed mules, thoroughbreds from Sindh, or giant tuskers.”

“A friend in need is a blessing; it’s a blessing to be content with whatever; good deeds are a blessing at the end of life, and giving up all suffering is a blessing.”

“In this world it’s a blessing to serve one’s mother and one’s father. And it’s a blessing also to serve ascetics and brahmins.”

“It’s a blessing to keep precepts until you grow old; a blessing to be grounded in faith; the getting of wisdom’s a blessing; and it’s a blessing to avoid doing wrong.”

“For a personage churned by thoughts, very lustful, focusing on beauty, their craving grows and grows, tying them with a stout bond.”

“I am the vanquisher of all, the knower of all, unsullied in the midst of all things. I’ve given up all, freed in the ending of craving. Since I know for myself, whose follower should I be?”

“One for whom there is no crossing over or crossing back, or crossing over and back; stress-free, detached, that’s who I declare a brahmin.”

“A brahmin’s so-called <j>since they’ve banished evil, an ascetic’s so-called <j>since they live a serene life. One who has renounced all stains is said to be a “renunciant”.”

“They know the passing away and rebirth of all beings; unattached, holy, awakened: that’s who I declare a brahmin.”