Verses 246, 247 and 248

Dhammapada Verses 246, 247 and 248

The Story of Five Lay-Disciples

On one occasion five lay-disciples were keeping sabbath at the Jetavana monastery. Most of them were observing only one or two of the five moral precepts (sila). Each one of them observing a particular precept claimed that the precept observed by him was the most difficult and there were a lot of arguments. In the end, they came to the Buddha with this problem. To them the Buddha said, "You should not consider any individual precept as being easy or unimportant. Each and every one of the precepts must be strictly observed. Do not think lightly of any of the precepts; none of them is easy to observe."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Yo panamatipateti
musavadanca bhasati
loke adinnamadiyati
paradaranca gacchati.

Suramerayapananca
yo naro anuyunjati
idheva meso lokasmim
mulam khanati attano.

Verses 246 & 247: He who destroys life, tells lies, takes what is not given him, commits adultery and takes intoxicating drinks, digs up his own roots even in this very life.

Evam bho purisa janahi
papadhamma asannata
ma tam lobho adhammo ca
ciram dukkhaya randhayum.

Verse 248: Know this, O man! Not restraining oneself is evil; do not let greed and ill will subject you to prolonged misery.