Quotation
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“Not to do any evil, to cultivate good, to purify one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.”
The Buddha · Buddhism · Ancient · verse collection of the early tradition
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading takes the verse as a summary of the teaching: refrain from evil, do good, and clean the mind. A competing reading says a summary this wide fits almost any moral system, so it cannot by itself tell you what this tradition means by evil, good, or purity. It is Dhammapada 183, in the section on the Buddha, and the following verses add patience and not harming. The line is a map, not the territory of the path.
Did The Buddha really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. A standard English of Dhammapada 183, close to Narada Thera's translation. The verse is canonical tradition, compiled in the community, not a book the Buddha published.
Where it comes from
Dhammapada 183
Approximate date: verse collection of the early tradition.
How to use it
Skipping a chance to embarrass someone, doing the unshowy helpful thing on the ward, and noticing the resentment you were about to feed: those are the three clauses on a Thursday. The verse does not specify the cases. A tradition's rules, precepts, and meditation instructions are what fill them in, and quoted alone, it can sound like a greeting card, and used as a checklist, it still needs a content for each verb.
A mindset reading
The habit is to keep the three parts from collapsing into one vague niceness. Not doing harm, actively cultivating good, and purifying the mind are different jobs. Ask which one you have dropped while praising the verse, and purity here is a practice, not a self-description.
Understand the philosophy
The verse answers what the Buddhas' teaching comes to, in a form meant to be remembered. The three clauses are restraint, cultivation, and purification of mind. 'Buddhas' is plural because the verse states a pattern of the awakened, not a private motto. What counts as evil and good is filled in elsewhere, by the precepts and the path, and the summary is famous because it is short, which is also why it is easy to under-read.
- ethics
- virtue
FAQ
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading takes the verse as a summary of the teaching: refrain from evil, do good, and clean the mind. A competing reading says a summary this wide fits almost any moral system, so it cannot by itself tell you what this tradition means by evil, good, or purity. It is Dhammapada 183, in the section on the Buddha, and the following verses add patience and not harming. The line is a map, not the territory of the path.
Did The Buddha really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. A standard English of Dhammapada 183, close to Narada Thera's translation. The verse is canonical tradition, compiled in the community, not a book the Buddha published.
Which work is it in?
Dhammapada 183 Approximate date: verse collection of the early tradition.