Minor Collection

Sayings of the Dhamma 116–128

9. Wickedness

dhp116:1 Rush to do good,

dhp116:2 shield your mind from evil;

dhp116:3 for when you’re slow to do good,

dhp116:4 your thoughts delight in wickedness.

dhp117:1 If you do something bad,

dhp117:2 don’t do it again and again,

dhp117:3 don’t set your heart on it,

dhp117:4 for piling up evil is suffering.

dhp118:1 If you do something good,

dhp118:2 do it again and again,

dhp118:3 set your heart on it,

dhp118:4 for piling up goodness is joyful.

dhp119:1 Even the wicked see good things,

dhp119:2 so long as their wickedness has not ripened.

dhp119:3 But as soon as that wickedness ripens,

dhp119:4 then the wicked see wicked things.

dhp120:1 Even the good see wicked things,

dhp120:2 so long as their goodness has not ripened.

dhp120:3 But as soon as that goodness ripens,

dhp120:4 then the good see good things.

dhp121:1 Think not lightly of evil,

dhp121:2 that it won’t come back to you.

dhp121:3 The pot is filled with water

dhp121:4 falling drop by drop;

dhp121:5 the fool is filled with wickedness

dhp121:6 piled up bit by bit.

dhp122:1 Think not lightly of goodness,

dhp122:2 that it won’t come back to you.

dhp122:3 The pot is filled with water

dhp122:4 falling drop by drop;

dhp122:5 the attentive one is filled with goodness

dhp122:6 piled up bit by bit.

dhp123:1 Avoid wickedness,

dhp123:2 as a merchant with rich cargo and small escort

dhp123:3 would avoid a dangerous road,

dhp123:4 or one who loves life would avoid drinking poison.

dhp124:1 You can carry poison in your hand

dhp124:2 if it has no wound,

dhp124:3 for poison does not infect without a wound;

dhp124:4 nothing bad happens unless you do bad.

dhp125:1 Whoever wrongs a man who has done no wrong,

dhp125:2 a pure man who has not a blemish,

dhp125:3 the evil backfires on the fool,

dhp125:4 like fine dust thrown upwind.

dhp126:1 Some are born in a womb;

dhp126:2 evildoers go to hell;

dhp126:3 the virtuous go to the Garden;

dhp126:4 the undefiled attain peace.

dhp127:1 Not in midair, nor mid-ocean,

dhp127:2 nor hiding in a mountain cleft;

dhp127:3 you’ll find no place on the planet

dhp127:4 to escape your wicked deeds.

dhp128:1 Not in midair, nor mid-ocean,

dhp128:2 nor hiding in a mountain cleft;

dhp128:3 you’ll find no place on the planet

dhp128:4 where you won’t be vanquished by death.