Summary: The Pāpavagga ("Evil") is the ninth chapter of the dhammapada, thirteen verses (Dhp 116–128) on pāpa (evil, moral wrong) and the certainty of its ripening. Its central canonical move is to refuse the fool's complacency: evil that has not yet ripened is not evil escaped. The vagga is the locus classicus for the "drop by drop" image of moral accumulation and is paired implicitly with the puñña (merit) framing introduced in the Yamakavagga (Dhp 1–2).
Themes
- Urgency of the good (Dhp 116): rush toward kalyāṇa (the wholesome) and shield the mind from pāpa; a slow turn toward the good leaves the mind delighting in evil.
- Don't repeat what you regret (Dhp 117–118): if a deed (pāpa or puñña) is done, the mind's chanda (inclination) toward repeating it is itself the moral fact that matters; piling evil yields dukkha, piling merit yields sukha.
- The lag before ripening (Dhp 119–120): the evil-doer "sees good things" while the vipāka (fruit) has not yet matured, and the good-doer "sees bad things" likewise — the two verses form a deliberate mirror pair (kamma action and fruit).
- The drop-by-drop accumulation (Dhp 121–122): the famous udabindu (water-drop) image — neither evil nor merit should be dismissed as small; "even a vessel fills with falling drops."
- Avoid evil as a caravan avoids a dangerous road (Dhp 123): the bhīruka / jīvitukāma (one who fears, one who loves life) imagery makes evil-avoidance instinctive rather than abstract.
- Hands free of wounds carry poison safely (Dhp 124): one who has no inner vraṇa (wound — i.e. inner moral injury) is not harmed by contact with what would otherwise injure; evil rebounds on the heedless transgressor (Dhp 125: suddhassa posassa anaṅgaṇassa).
- Inescapability (Dhp 127–128): there is no place — sky, sea, mountain cleft — where one can hide from one's own pāpa-kamma; nor where death itself does not reach.
The vagga's underlying logic is moral realism: evil is not metaphysically external but the vipāka of one's own cetanā (intention). The reader is repeatedly redirected from "did anyone notice?" to "what is ripening in me?"
Verses
<!-- Stacked-block format: Pali + English + Sinhala per verse, stable #dhp-N anchors. -->
Verse 116
Pali (dhp116:1–116:4)
Abhittharetha kalyāṇe,
pāpā cittaṁ nivāraye;
Dandhañhi karoto puññaṁ,
pāpasmiṁ ramatī mano.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp116:1–116:4)
Rush to do good,
shield your mind from evil;
for when you’re slow to do good,
your thoughts delight in wickedness.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
සුචරිත ධර්මයන්හි යුහුසුලු වන්නේය. අකුසලයෙන් සිත වළකන්නේය. (දානාදී කුශල කර්මය) සෙමෙන් කරන්නහුගේ සිත අකුශලයෙහි ඇලෙයි.
Key terms: pending staged extraction Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 117
Pali (dhp117:1–117:4)
Pāpañce puriso kayirā,
Na naṁ kayirā punappunaṁ;
Na tamhi chandaṁ kayirātha,
Dukkho pāpassa uccayo.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp117:1–117:4)
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.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
පුරුෂතෙම ඉදින් අකුශල කර්මයක් කෙළේ නමුදු ඒ (අකුශල කර්මය) නැවත නැවත නොකරන්නේය. ඒ (අකුශල කර්මයෙහි) ආලයක් නොකරන්නේය. පව් රැස්වීම දුක්ය.
Key terms: pending staged extraction Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 118
Pali (dhp118:1–118:4)
Puññañce puriso kayirā,
kayirā naṁ punappunaṁ;
Tamhi chandaṁ kayirātha,
sukho puññassa uccayo.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp118:1–118:4)
If you do something good,
do it again and again,
set your heart on it,
for piling up goodness is joyful.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
පුරුෂයා ඉදින් පිනක් කරන්නේ වීනම් එය නැවත නැවතද කරන්නේය. ඒ කුශලයෙහි ආලය කරන්නේය. පින් රැස්වීම සුවය.
Key terms: pending staged extraction Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 119
Pali (dhp119:1–119:4)
Pāpopi passati bhadraṁ,
Yāva pāpaṁ na paccati;
Yadā ca paccati pāpaṁ,
Atha pāpo pāpāni passati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp119:1–119:4)
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.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම්තාක් කල් අකුශල කර්මය (පව) විපාක නොදේද, ඒතාක් කල් පාපකාරී පුද්ගලතෙමේ පව් කරන්නේද යහපත දක්නේය. යම්කලෙක වනාහි ඔහු විසින් කරණ ලද පාප කර්මය විපාක දේද එකල්හි පව්කම් කළ පුද්ගලතෙම පාපයෙහි විපාක දක්නේය.
Key terms: pending staged extraction Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 120
Pali (dhp120:1–120:4)
Bhadropi passati pāpaṁ,
Yāva bhadraṁ na paccati;
Yadā ca paccati bhadraṁ,
Atha bhadro bhadrāni passati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp120:1–120:4)
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.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම්තාක් කල් කුශල කර්මය විපාක නොදේද, ඒතාක් කල් පාපකාරී පුද්ගල තෙමේද අකුශල විපාකවූ අවැඩ දක්නේය. යම්කලෙක වනාහි ඔහු විසින් කරණ ලද සුචරිතය විපාක දේද, එකල්හි කුශලකාරීවූ සත්පුරුෂතෙම ඉෂ්ටවිපාකයන් දක්නේය.
Key terms: pending staged extraction Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 121
Pali (dhp121:1–121:6)
Māvamaññetha pāpassa,
na mantaṁ āgamissati;
Udabindunipātena,
udakumbhopi pūrati;
Bālo pūrati pāpassa,
thokaṁ thokampi ācinaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp121:1–121:6)
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.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ඒ (සුලුවූ අකුශල කර්මය) (විපාකදීම වශයෙන්) නොඑන්නේයයි අකුශල කර්මය සුලුකොට නොසිතන්නේය. (අකුශල කර්මය ස්වල්පයයි නොසිතන්නේය) (එක එක) දිය බිඳ වැටීමෙන් දිය බඳුන යම්සේ පිරේද, එමෙන්ම මඳ මඳ කොටද පව් රැස් කරන අඥානතෙම අකුශලයෙන් පිරෙයි.
Key terms: pending staged extraction Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 122
Pali (dhp122:1–122:6)
Māvamaññetha puññassa,
na mandaṁ āgamissati;
Udabindunipātena,
udakumbhopi pūrati;
Dhīro pūrati puññassa,
thokaṁ thokampi ācinaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp122:1–122:6)
Think not lightly of goodness,
that it won’t come back to you.
The pot is filled with water
falling drop by drop;
the attentive one is filled with goodness
piled up bit by bit.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ඒ (සුලු කුශලය) (විපාකදීම් වශයෙන්) නොඑන්නේයයි කුශල කර්මය සුලුකොට නොසිතන්නේය. (කුශල කර්මය සුළුයයි නොසිතන්නේය) එක එක දිය බිඳ වැටීමෙන් කළය යම්සේ පිරේද, (එසේම) මඳ මඳ කොටද කුශල් රැස්කරන්නාවූ නුවණැත්තා කුශල කර්මයෙන් පිරෙන්නේය.
Key terms: pending staged extraction Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 123
Pali (dhp123:1–123:4)
Vāṇijova bhayaṁ maggaṁ,
appasattho mahaddhano;
Visaṁ jīvitukāmova,
pāpāni parivajjaye.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp123:1–123:4)
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.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
බොහෝ ධනය ඇති, කැටිව යන බොහෝ වෙළඳුන් නැති වෙළෙඳෙකු භය සහිත මඟ මෙන්ද ජීවත්වනු කැමති එකක්හු විස මෙන්ද අකුශල කර්මයන් දුරින් දුරුකරන්නේය.
Key terms: pending staged extraction Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 124
Pali (dhp124:1–124:4)
Pāṇimhi ce vaṇo nāssa,
hareyya pāṇinā visaṁ;
Nābbaṇaṁ visamanveti,
natthi pāpaṁ akubbato.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp124:1–124:4)
You can carry poison in your hand
if it has no wound,
for poison does not infect without a wound;
nothing bad happens unless you do bad.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ඉදින් අත්ලෙහි වනයක් නොවීනම් අත්ලෙන් විෂය ගන්නේය. විෂය තෙමේ වණ නැතියහු අනුව නොයන්නේය. එසේම නොකරන්නාහට අකුශලයෙක් නැත්තේය.
Key terms: pending staged extraction Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 125
Pali (dhp125:1–125:4)
Yo appaduṭṭhassa narassa dussati,
Suddhassa posassa anaṅgaṇassa;
Tameva bālaṁ pacceti pāpaṁ,
Sukhumo rajo paṭivātaṁva khitto.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp125:1–125:4)
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.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් පුද්ගලයෙක් ද්වෙෂයෙන් දූෂිත නොවූ (තරහ නැති) පව් නැති, පිරිසිදුවූ පුරුෂයෙකුට අපරාධ කෙරේද, ඒ පාපකර්මය තෙම උඩු සුළඟට දමන ලද ධූවිලි මෙන් (මෙලෝ හෝ පරලෝ හෝ විපාක දෙමින්) ඒ අනුවණයා පැසවන්නේය.
Key terms: pending staged extraction Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 126
Pali (dhp126:1–126:4)
Gabbhameke uppajjanti,
nirayaṁ pāpakammino;
Saggaṁ sugatino yanti,
parinibbanti anāsavā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp126:1–126:4)
Some are born in a womb;
evil-doers go to hell;
the virtuous go to heaven;
the undefiled are fully extinguished.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
(යම් තැනක සිටියාවූ) එකෙක් පාපකර්මයෙන් මිදේද, එබඳුවූ භූමි ප්රදේශයක් නැත්තේය. ආකාශයෙහිදු නැත්තේය. මුහුද මැදද නැත්තේය. පර්වතයන්ගේ විවරයට වැදද පාපකර්මයෙන් මිදෙන්නට සුදුසු ප්රදේශයක් නැත්තේය.
Key terms: pending staged extraction Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 127
Pali (dhp127:1–127:4)
Na antalikkhe na samuddamajjhe,
Na pabbatānaṁ vivaraṁ pavissa;
Na vijjatī so jagatippadeso,
Yatthaṭṭhito mucceyya pāpakammā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp127:1–127:4)
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.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් තැනෙක්හි සිටි සත්වයා මරණය තෙම නොමඩීද එබඳු භූමි ප්රදේශයක් නැත. ආකාශයෙහිද නැත. මුහුද මැදද නැත. පර්වතයන්ගේ විවරයට වැදද නැත.
Key terms: pending staged extraction Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 128
Pali (dhp128:1–128:4)
Na antalikkhe na samuddamajjhe,
Na pabbatānaṁ vivaraṁ pavissa;
Na vijjatī so jagatippadeso,
Yatthaṭṭhitaṁ nappasaheyya maccu.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp128:1–128:4)
Not in midair, nor mid-ocean,
nor hiding in a mountain cleft;
you’ll find no place on the planet
where you won’t be vanquished by death.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් තැනෙක්හි සිටි සත්වයා මරණය තෙම නොමඩීද එබඳු භූමි ප්රදේශයක් නැත. ආකාශයෙහිද නැත. මුහුද මැදද නැත. පර්වතයන්ගේ විවරයට වැදද නැත.
Key terms: pending staged extraction Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Supporting work pending
- Concept extraction pending
- Glossary/person/place extraction pending
- Editorial enrichment pending
- High-risk review pending where applicable
Related pages
- dhammapada — parent text