Dhammapada

The Path of Dhamma

XXII. Nirayavagga: Hell (306-319)

By Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

[306] He goes to hell,
the one who asserts
what didn't take place,
as does the one
who, having done,
says, 'I didn't.'
Both -- low-acting people --
there become equal:
after death, in the world beyond.

[307] An ochre robe tied 'round their necks,
many with evil qualities
-- unrestrained, evil --
rearise, because of their evil acts,
in hell.

[308] Better to eat an iron ball
-- glowing, aflame --
than that, unprincipled and
unrestrained,
you should eat the alms of the country.

[309] Four things befall the heedless man
who lies down with the wife of another:
a wealth of demerit;
a lack of good sleep;
third, censure;
fourth, hell.

[310] A wealth of demerit, an evil destination,
and the brief delight of a
fearful man with a
fearful woman,
and the king inflicts a harsh punishment.
So
no man should lie down
with the wife of another.

[311] Just as sharp-bladed grass,
if wrongly held,
wounds the very hand that holds it --
the contemplative life, if wrongly grasped,
drags you down to hell.

[312] Any slack act,
or defiled observance,
or fraudulent life of chastity
bears no great fruit.

[313] If something's to be done,
then work at it firmly,
for a slack going-forth
kicks up all the more dust.

[314] It's better to leave a misdeed
undone.
A misdeed burns you afterward.
Better that a good deed be done
that, after you've done it,
won't make you burn.

[315] Like a frontier fortress,
guarded inside and out,
guard yourself.
Don't let the moment pass by.
Those for whom the moment is past
grieve, consigned to hell.

[316] Ashamed of what's not shameful,
not ashamed of what is,
beings adopting wrong views
go to a bad destination.

[317] Seeing danger where there is none,
and no danger where there is,
beings adopting wrong views
go to a bad destination.

[318] Imagining error where there is none,
and seeing no error where there is,
beings adopting wrong views
go to a bad destination.

[319] But knowing error as error,
and non-error as non-,
beings adopting right views
go to a good
destination.

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