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iti.20 Itivuttaka

A Corrupt Mind

This was said by the Lord…

“Here, bhikkhus, some person has a corrupt mind. Having examined his mind with my mind, I know that if this person were to die at this time, as if carried there he would be placed in hell. What is the reason for that? It is because his mind is corrupt. It is because of the mind’s corruption that some beings here, when the body perishes, are reborn after death in a state of misery, a bad bourn, a state of ruin, hell.”

Understanding the corrupt mind
Of some person dwelling here,
The Buddha explained its meaning
In the presence of the bhikkhus.

If that person were to die
At this very moment now,
He would be reborn in hell
Because of his corrupt mind.

As if they were carried off
And placed there, thus
Beings go to a bad bourn
Because of mind’s corruption.

- Translator: John D. Ireland

- Editor: Bhikkhu Sujato