Dhammapada 66

Fools with little understanding go about as their own enemies, doing wrong actions that bear bitter…

Fools with little understanding go about as their own enemies, doing wrong actions that bear bitter fruit.

Translated from the Pāli by Banya

In plain words

Doing wrong can make someone act like an enemy to themselves. The bitter fruit image links the action with its painful consequences, even when that link is not understood at first.

Key words

kaṭukapphala

having bitter fruit — An image for the painful result of wrongdoing.

The story behind the verse

A leper is tempted to deny his faith

In the commentary, Suppabuddha, a man living with leprosy, heard the Buddha’s teaching and reached the first stage of awakening. Sakka tested him by offering wealth if he would deny his faith, and Suppabuddha refused the offer. He visited the Buddha and then set out for home, and a heifer struck and killed him. The Buddha related earlier harmful deeds, including insulting a solitary Buddha, to his suffering, and the commentary also identifies the heifer with a being seeking revenge for a killing in a former life.

Retold by Banya from the traditional commentary, after E. W. Burlingame, Buddhist Legends (1921).

Explanation by Banya. Traditional readings vary.