Summary: The Nirayavagga ("Hell") is the twenty-second chapter of the dhammapada, fourteen verses (Dhp 306–319) on falsehood, corrupted renunciant life, sexual misconduct, missed opportunity, wrong view, and the difference between mistaking fault and actually knowing it. The chapter is not a speculative map of the afterlife so much as a relentless exposure of moral inversion: lying as truth, corruption as sanctity, danger as safety, and faultlessness as fault. Hell language here functions as the endpoint of that inversion.
Themes
- Falsehood and denial are equalized by deed (Dhp 306): both the liar and the one who commits a deed and denies it are described as sharing the same degraded consequence.
- Monastic marks do not protect corrupt conduct (Dhp 307–308): wearing the ocher robe without restraint is condemned sharply, and eating the people's alms while immoral is presented as more terrible than swallowing a burning iron ball.
- Sexual misconduct brings agitation, disgrace, and bad destination (Dhp 309–310): the chapter does not romanticize adulterous pleasure; it emphasizes wickedness, poor sleep, blame, punishment, and a bad rebirth.
- Wrongly undertaken ascetic life harms the practitioner (Dhp 311–313): grasping the religious life badly is like grasping kusa grass badly — the damage returns to the grasping hand. Lax effort only stirs up more dust.
- Better to leave a bad deed undone (Dhp 314): the chapter briefly restates the Dhammapada's wider kamma logic through regret and non-regret.
- Guard yourself as a frontier city is guarded (Dhp 315): the urgency here is framed as guarding inner and outer boundaries before the decisive moment is lost.
- Wrong view is moral inversion (Dhp 316–318): shamelessness about what is shameful, fear where there is no danger, and fault where there is no fault all culminate in micchādiṭṭhi (wrong view).
- Right view restores true discrimination (Dhp 319): the chapter closes not with hell but with the corrective — knowing fault as fault and the faultless as faultless, and thereby taking up sammādiṭṭhi (right view).
Verses
<!-- Stacked-block format: Pali + English + Sinhala per verse, stable #dhp-N anchors. -->
Verse 306
Pali (dhp306:1–306:4)
Abhūtavādī nirayaṁ upeti,
Yo vāpi katvā na karomi cāha;
Ubhopi te pecca samā bhavanti,
Nihīnakammā manujā parattha.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp306:1–306:4)
A liar goes to hell,
as does one who denies what they did.
Both are equal in the hereafter,
those men of base deeds.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
බොරු කියන පුද්ගලතෙම නරකයට යන්නේය. නැවත යමෙක් පව්කම කොට නොකෙළෙමියි කියාද (හෙද නරකයට යන්නේය.) ලාමකවූ ක්රියා ඇති ඒ මිනිස්සු දෙදෙනාම මෙයින් මිය ගොස් පරලොවදී සමවන්නාහුය.
Key terms: abhūtavādī (liar), denying what one has done, base deeds bringing equal consequence Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 307
Pali (dhp307:1–307:4)
Kāsāvakaṇṭhā bahavo,
pāpadhammā asaññatā;
Pāpā pāpehi kammehi,
nirayaṁ te upapajjare.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp307:1–307:4)
Many who wear a scrap of ocher cloth
are unrestrained and wicked.
Being wicked, they are reborn in hell
due to their bad deeds.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
කාෂාය වස්ත්රයෙන් වෙළන ලද ග්රීවා ඇති, ලාමක ස්වභාව ඇති සංයම නැති පුද්ගලයෝ බොහෝය. ඒ ලාමක පුද්ගලයෝ පාප කර්මයෙන් නරකයෙහි උපදනාහ.
Key terms: kāsāva robe, asaññatā (unrestrained), wicked conduct under monastic signs, hell through bad deeds Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 308
Pali (dhp308:1–308:4)
Seyyo ayoguḷo bhutto,
tatto aggisikhūpamo;
Yañce bhuñjeyya dussīlo,
raṭṭhapiṇḍamasaññato.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp308:1–308:4)
It’d be better for the immoral and unrestrained
to eat an iron ball,
scorching, like a burning flame,
than to eat the nation’s alms.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
සිල් නැත්නාවූ, සංයම රහිතවූ, පුද්ගලතෙම රට වැස්සන් විසින් දුන් අහර ඉදින් වළඳන්නේ වේද, (එයට වඩා) තැවී දිලිසුණු ගිනි සිලක් වැනිවූ ලෝ ගුලියක් වළඳනා ලද්දේ උතුම්ය.
Key terms: burning iron ball image, dussīla (immoral), raṭṭhapiṇḍa (the people's alms), unrestrained consumption of offerings Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 309
Pali (dhp309:1–309:4)
Cattāri ṭhānāni naro pamatto,
Āpajjati paradārūpasevī;
Apuññalābhaṁ na nikāmaseyyaṁ,
Nindaṁ tatīyaṁ nirayaṁ catutthaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp309:1–309:4)
Four things befall a heedless man
who sleeps with another’s wife:
wickedness, poor sleep,
ill-repute, and rebirth in hell.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
පරස්ත්රීන් සේවනය කරණ සුලුවූ ප්රමාදශීලි පුරුෂතෙම අකුසල් ලැබීමය. කැමති පරිද්දෙන් නිදි නොලැබීමය. තුන්වනුවූ නින්දාවය, සතරවනුවූ නරකොත්පත්තියද යන මේ දුක් සතරට පැමිණෙන්නේය.
Key terms: pamatto (heedless), sleeping with another's wife, wickedness, poor sleep, blame, rebirth in hell Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 310
Pali (dhp310:1–310:4)
Apuññalābho ca gatī ca pāpikā,
Bhītassa bhītāya ratī ca thokikā;
Rājā ca daṇḍaṁ garukaṁ paṇeti,
Tasmā naro paradāraṁ na seve.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp310:1–310:4)
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.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
අකුසල් ලැබීමද, (නරකයෙහි ඉපදීම යයි කියන ලද) පාපයෙහි ගතියද (මෙසේ ඒ පුරුෂයාට වෙයි.) භය පත්වූ පුරුෂයාගේ භයපත්වූ ස්ත්රීය හා සමඟ කාම රතියද, ස්වල්ප වන්නීය. රජද ගරුවූ දඬුවම් පමුණුවන්නේය. එහෙයින් පුරුෂතෙම පරස්ත්රී සේවනය නොකරන්නේය.
Key terms: bad destination, brief fearful pleasure, heavy punishment, warning against adultery Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 311
Pali (dhp311:1–311:4)
Kuso yathā duggahito,
hatthamevānukantati;
Sāmaññaṁ dupparāmaṭṭhaṁ,
nirayāyupakaḍḍhati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp311:1–311:4)
When kusa grass is wrongly grasped
it only cuts the hand.
So too, the ascetic life, when wrongly taken,
drags you to hell.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම්සේ කුස තණපතක් වරදවා ගන්නා ලද්දේ හෙවත් නොපිටට අදනා ලද්දේ ගත් අතම කපාද (එපරිද්දෙන්ම) මහණදමද වරදවා ගන්නා ලද්දේ නරකයට අදනේය.
Key terms: kusa grass badly grasped, sāmaññaṁ (the ascetic life), wrongly undertaken renunciation dragging one downward Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 312
Pali (dhp312:1–312:4)
Yaṁ kiñci sithilaṁ kammaṁ,
saṅkiliṭṭhañca yaṁ vataṁ;
Saṅkassaraṁ brahmacariyaṁ,
na taṁ hoti mahapphalaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp312:1–312:4)
Any lax act,
any corrupt observance,
or suspicious spiritual life,
is not very fruitful.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
(පසු බැස බැස) සිථිල කොට කරණ ලද යම්කිසි කුශල කර්මයෙක් ඇද්ද, සකිලිටුවූ යම් ව්රතයක් ඇද්ද, සැකයෙන් යුක්තව හැසිරිය යුතුවූ යම් මහණ දමකුත් ඇද්ද, ඒ සියල්ල මහත් ඵල නොවේ.
Key terms: lax action, corrupt observance, suspicious or compromised holy life, little fruit Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 313
Pali (dhp313:1–313:4)
Kayirā ce kayirāthenaṁ,
daḷhamenaṁ parakkame;
Sithilo hi paribbājo,
bhiyyo ākirate rajaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp313:1–313:4)
If one is to do what should be done,
one should staunchly strive.
For the life gone forth when laxly led
just stirs up dust all the more.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ඉදින් යම් කුශල කර්මයක් කරන්නේ නම් එය කරන්නේමය. ඒ කුශල කර්මයද තරකොටම කරන්නේය. කුමක් හෙයින්ද යත්? යම් හෙයකින් චණ්ඩාදී භාවයට පමුණුවන ලද ශ්රමණ ධර්මය (-පැවිද්ද) බොහෝකොටම රාගාදී රජස් වගුරු වන්නේද එහෙයිනි.
Key terms: if it should be done, do it firmly; parakkama (striving), lax going-forth stirring up more dust Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 314
Pali (dhp314:1–314:4)
Akataṁ dukkaṭaṁ seyyo,
pacchā tappati dukkaṭaṁ;
Katañca sukataṁ seyyo,
yaṁ katvā nānutappati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp314:1–314:4)
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.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
අකුශල කර්මය නොකරන ලද්දේම උතුමි. අකුශල කර්මය තෙම පසුව තවන්නේය. යම් කර්මයක් කොට පසුව නොතැවේද එසේවූ කුශල කර්මය කරන ලද්දේ උතුමී.
Key terms: better not done if it is a bad deed, regret and non-regret, wholesome action as what does not plague later Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 315
Pali (dhp315:1–315:6)
Nagaraṁ yathā paccantaṁ,
guttaṁ santarabāhiraṁ;
Evaṁ gopetha attānaṁ,
khaṇo vo mā upaccagā;
Khaṇātītā hi socanti,
nirayamhi samappitā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp315:1–315:6)
As a frontier city
is guarded inside and out,
so you should ward yourselves—
don’t let the moment pass you by.
For if you miss your moment
you’ll grieve when sent to hell.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ඇතුළතින් පිටතින් රක්නා ලද ප්රත්යන්තයෙහිවූ නුවරෙක් යම්සේ වේද, එපරිද්දෙන්ම ආත්මය හෙවත් සිත රකිව්. (බුද්ධොත්පාද) ක්ෂණය තෙම ඒකාන්තයෙන් නොයික්මේවා. යම්හෙයකින් බුද්ධොත්පාදක්ෂණය ඉක්මවූවාහු නරකයෙහි උපදින්නාහු ශෝක කෙරෙද්ද එහෙයිනි.
Key terms: frontier city simile, guarding oneself inside and out, not missing the moment, grief when opportunity is lost Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 316
Pali (dhp316:1–316:4)
Alajjitāye lajjanti,
lajjitāye na lajjare;
Micchādiṭṭhisamādānā,
sattā gacchanti duggatiṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp316:1–316:4)
Unashamed of what is shameful,
ashamed of what is not shameful;
beings who uphold wrong view
go to a bad place.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ලජ්ජා නොකොටයුතු තන්හි යමෙක් ලජ්ජාවෙත්ද, ලජ්ජා කටයුතු තන්හි ලජ්ජා නොවෙත්ද, මෙසේ හිස්වූ දෘෂ්ටිය ගෙණ වසන්නාවූ ඒ සත්වයෝ දුගතියට යෙති.
Key terms: shame for the shameless and shamelessness for the shameful, micchādiṭṭhi (wrong view), bad destination Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 317
Pali (dhp317:1–317:4)
Abhaye bhayadassino,
bhaye cābhayadassino;
Micchādiṭṭhisamādānā,
sattā gacchanti duggatiṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp317:1–317:4)
Seeing danger where there is none,
and blind to the actual danger,
beings who uphold wrong view
go to a bad place.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
භය නොකළමනා තන්හි භය දක්නා සුලුවූ, භය කළමනා තන්හි අභය දක්නා සුලුවූ, මෙසේ හිස්වූ දෘෂ්ටිය ගෙණ වසන්නාවූ ඒ සත්වයෝ දුගතියට යෙති. 13. නිරවද්යයෙහි මේ සාවාද්යය (නිවැරැද්ද වරදැයි) යන බුද්ධි ඇත්තාවූද, සාවාද්යයෙහි නිරවද්යයයි දක්නා සුලුවූද (මෙසේ) විපරීත දෘෂ්ටිය ගෙණ වසන්නාවූ සත්වයෝ දුගතියට යෙති.
Key terms: seeing danger in the safe and safety in the dangerous, wrong view as inversion of discernment Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 318
Pali (dhp318:1–318:4)
Avajje vajjamatino,
vajje cāvajjadassino;
Micchādiṭṭhisamādānā,
sattā gacchanti duggatiṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp318:1–318:4)
Seeing fault where there is none,
and blind to the actual fault,
beings who uphold wrong view
go to a bad place.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
නිරවද්යයෙහි මේ සාවාද්යය (නිවැරැද්ද වරදැයි) යන බුද්ධි ඇත්තාවූද, සාවාද්යයෙහි නිරවද්යයයි දක්නා සුලුවූද (මෙසේ) විපරීත දෘෂ්ටිය ගෙණ වසන්නාවූ සත්වයෝ දුගතියට යෙති.
Key terms: seeing fault in the faultless and faultlessness in the faulty, distorted moral perception Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 319
Pali (dhp319:1–319:4)
Vajjañca vajjato ñatvā,
avajjañca avajjato;
Sammādiṭṭhisamādānā,
sattā gacchanti suggatiṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp319:1–319:4)
Knowing a fault as a fault
and the faultless as faultless,
beings who uphold right view
go to a good place.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
වරද වරද හෙයින් දැන, නිරවද්ය (නිවැරැද්ද) නිරවද්ය හෙයින් දැන මෙසේ සම්යග් දෘෂ්ටිය මනාකොට ගන්නාවූ නුවණැති සත්වයෝ සුගතියට යති.
Key terms: vajja and avajja (fault and faultless), sammādiṭṭhi (right view), good destination through correct discernment Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Textual notes
- The chapter's title and repeated mention of hell should not tempt a reader to treat the page as a free-standing cosmology note. The chapter's real work is moral diagnosis: falsehood, hypocrisy, lax renunciation, and wrong view are shown as self-destructive inversions that culminate in a bad destination.
- Dhp 307–313 should be read together as a critique of corrupted ascetic life. The chapter does not attack robes, alms, or renunciation themselves; it attacks their misuse by the unrestrained.
- Dhp 316–319 are tightly structured in pairs of inversion and correction. The repeated formula matters: wrong view is not merely "having a wrong opinion," but repeatedly mis-seeing what is shameful, dangerous, or blameworthy.