Bad Character (1st)

Paṭhamapāpadhammasutta

Bad Character (1st)

Paṭhamapāpadhammasutta

EN
“Mendicants, I will teach you who’s bad and who’s worse, who’s good and who’s better. And who’s bad? It’s someone who kills living creatures, steals, and commits sexual misconduct. They use speech that’s false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical. And they’re covetous, malicious, with wrong view.
PL
“Pāpañca vo, bhikkhave, desessāmi, pāpena pāpatarañca; kalyāṇañca, kalyāṇena kalyāṇatarañca. Taṁ suṇātha …pe…. Katamo ca, bhikkhave, pāpo? Idha, bhikkhave, ekacco pāṇātipātī hoti …pe… micchādiṭṭhiko hoti.
EN
This is called bad. And who’s worse? It’s someone who kills living creatures, steals, and commits sexual misconduct. They use speech that’s false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical. They’re covetous, malicious, with wrong view. And they encourage others to do these things. This is called worse.
PL
Ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, pāpo. Katamo ca, bhikkhave, pāpena pāpataro? Idha, bhikkhave, ekacco attanā ca pāṇātipātī hoti, parañca pāṇātipāte samādapeti …pe… attanā ca micchādiṭṭhiko hoti, parañca micchādiṭṭhiyā samādapeti. Ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, pāpena pāpataro.
EN
And who’s good? It’s someone who doesn’t kill living creatures, steal, or commit sexual misconduct. They don’t use speech that’s false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical. And they’re contented, kind-hearted, with right view. This is called good. And who’s better?
PL
Katamo ca, bhikkhave, kalyāṇo? Idha, bhikkhave, ekacco pāṇātipātā paṭivirato hoti …pe… sammādiṭṭhiko hoti. Ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, kalyāṇo. “Katamo ca, bhikkhave, kalyāṇena kalyāṇataro?
EN
It’s someone who doesn’t kill living creatures, steal, or commit sexual misconduct. They don’t use speech that’s false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical. They’re contented, kind-hearted, with right view. And they encourage others to do these things. This is called better.”
PL
Idha, bhikkhave, ekacco attanā ca pāṇātipātā paṭivirato hoti, parañca pāṇātipātā veramaṇiyā samādapeti …pe… attanā ca sammādiṭṭhiko hoti, parañca sammādiṭṭhiyā samādapeti. Ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, kalyāṇena kalyāṇataro”ti. Sattamaṁ.

Pāli root text and English translation by Bhikkhu Sujato from SuttaCentral (https://suttacentral.net), CC0.

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