[19] One should make haste in doing good;
one should restrain the mind (citta) from evil;
for when one is slow in making merit (puñña),
the mind delights in evil (pāpa).
If a person should do evil,
let him not do it again and again;
let him not conceive a desire for it:
the accumulation of evil is suffering (dukkha).
If a person should make merit,
let him make it again and again;
let him conceive a desire for it:
the accumulation of merit is happiness.
Even the evil one sees good
so long as the evil has not ripened;
but when the evil ripens,
then (the evil one) sees evils.
Even the good one sees evil
so long as the good has not ripened;
but when the good ripens,
then (the good one) sees good things.
Let one not think lightly of evil:
"A trifling measure will not come to me."¹
By the falling of drops of water
even a water-jar is filled:
the fool becomes full of evil,
gathering it little by little.
Let one not think lightly of merit:
"A trifling measure will not come to me."
By the falling of drops of water
even a water-jar is filled:
the wise one becomes full of merit,
gathering it little by little.
As a merchant with a small caravan and great wealth
avoids a perilous road,
as one who desires to live avoids poison,
so should one shun evils.
If there were no wound on the hand,
one might carry poison with the hand;
poison does not follow one who has no wound:
there is no evil for one who does not do it.
Whoever wrongs a man who has done no wrong,
a pure person, free from blemish (anaṅgaṇa),
upon that very fool the evil recoils,
like fine dust thrown against the wind.
Some are reborn in a womb;
doers of evil deeds (kamma) arise in hell (niraya);
those of good conduct go to heaven (sagga);
those free from taints (āsava) attain final Nibbāna.
Not in the sky, not in the middle of the ocean,
not by entering² a cleft of the mountains,
is there found that spot on earth
where, standing, one might be freed from an evil deed.
Not in the sky, not in the middle of the ocean,
not by entering a cleft of the mountains,
is there found that spot on earth
where, standing, one would not be overpowered by Death (maccu).
The Chapter on Evil (Pāpavagga), the Ninth.
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Dhammapada Verses: the Tenth Chapter, the Chapter on the Rod (Daṇḍavagga)
¹ European ed.: "na mantaṃ"; Burmese ed.: "na mandaṃ". ² Burmese, European eds.: "pavissa".
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.