Dhammapada verse 117
Chapter 9, Wickedness (Pāpavagga) · verses 116–128
“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.”
Pāpañce puriso kayirā, Na naṁ kayirā punappunaṁ; Na tamhi chandaṁ kayirātha, Dukkho pāpassa uccayo.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 117 mean?
Verse 117 belongs to chapter 9, Wickedness (Pāpavagga), which gathers verses 116–128 on wickedness and its ripening. It is filed under good & evil, suffering & grief. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 116 and verse 118 are part of the same passage.
Thirteen verses on wickedness and its ripening. The chapter’s repeated claim is that an evil deed is not done in one motion — it is done, then repeated, then made a habit — and that the person who does it grieves in both places, here and after. It is one of the chapters most explicitly concerned with consequence rather than intention.
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