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iti.39 Itivuttaka

Dhamma-teachings

This was said by the Lord…

“There are, bhikkhus, two successive Dhamma-teachings of the Tathāgata, the Arahant, the Fully Enlightened One. What are the two? ‘See evil as evil’— this is the first Dhamma-teaching. ‘Having seen evil as evil, be rid of it, be detached from it, be freed from it’—this is the second Dhamma-teaching. These, bhikkhus, are the two successive Dhamma-teachings of the Tathāgata…”

Regard the ordered words he spoke,
The Tathāgata, the Awakened One,
Compassionate for all beings,
And the two things he proclaimed:

“See what is evil” is one,
The other “Be detached from it.”
With a mind become detached from evil
You will make an end of suffering.

- Translator: John D. Ireland

- Editor: Bhikkhu Sujato