Dhammapada verse 121
Chapter 9, Wickedness (Pāpavagga) · verses 116–128
“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.”
Māvamaññetha pāpassa, na mantaṁ āgamissati; Udabindunipātena, udakumbhopi pūrati; Bālo pūrati pāpassa, thokaṁ thokampi ācinaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 121 mean?
Verse 121 belongs to chapter 9, Wickedness (Pāpavagga), which gathers verses 116–128 on wickedness and its ripening. It is filed under wisdom & folly, good & evil. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 120 and verse 122 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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