Dhammapada verse 119
Chapter 9, Wickedness (Pāpavagga) · verses 116–128
“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.”
Pāpopi passati bhadraṁ, Yāva pāpaṁ na paccati; Yadā ca paccati pāpaṁ, Atha pāpo pāpāni passati.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 119 mean?
Verse 119 belongs to chapter 9, Wickedness (Pāpavagga), which gathers verses 116–128 on wickedness and its ripening. It is filed under good & evil. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 118 and verse 120 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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