อารัมภบทI shall now explain and expand upon the meaning of the Dhamma theme written above, as a guide for study and practice.

อธิบายบทตั้งTo explain: The words "the evil" mean people who have the habit of liking to do evil and whose minds are accustomed to what is bad. This saying teaches that evil is something the evil can do easily. In other words, for a person whose mind is already accustomed to evil, doing evil is not difficult at all. He does it without hesitation, without shame and without feeling guilty. This saying of the Buddha is found in a verse which says: good is easy for the good to do, good is hard for the evil to do, evil is easy for the evil to do, evil is hard for the noble ones to do.

ขยายความบทตั้งThe reason the evil can easily do evil is habit. Just as water always flows along its old channel, a mind that is used to doing evil also flows easily towards evil. The more evil one does, the more one's shame of evil and fear of evil fade away, until in the end one cannot see that evil is something bad. On the contrary, good people who keep their minds clean feel that doing evil is difficult, because hiri and ottappa hold them back. Good and evil are therefore a matter of training the mind: whichever way one trains, one becomes skilled in that way.

ประโยคสะพาน + ที่มา ๑One who does not keep to the truth and habitually lies is ready to do any evil at all, having already cast aside the most important safeguard of goodness. This accords with the sense of the Buddha's saying found in Khuddaka Nikāya, Dhammapada:

อธิบายบทเชื่อม ๑To explain: The word "lying" (musā) means falsehood, telling lies, speaking what does not match the truth in order to deceive others. This saying teaches that for a person who habitually lies, there is no evil at all that he would not do. In other words, a person who does not keep to truthfulness is ready to do every kind of evil, because he has already abandoned the most important safeguard of goodness.

อธิบายบทเชื่อม ๑In the Dhammapada, the Buddha said that for a person who transgresses the one principle, namely truthfulness, who habitually tells lies and has no regard for the next world, there is no evil he would not do. The reason is that lying is the tool for concealing all evil. A person who does wrong and dares to lie thinks he can hide his wrongdoing, and so he dares to go on doing wrong. A person who keeps to the truth, however, admits it when he does wrong, so his wrongdoing does not pile up. Truthfulness is therefore like a gate that holds back all evils; when this gate breaks down, other evils flow in easily.

ตัวอย่างในชีวิตIn real life, a person who lies habitually can make up false stories fluently without feeling guilty, while a person who always speaks the truth feels uncomfortable even when trying to lie. One who commits fraud for the first time may have trembling hands, but on later occasions he does it with ease. A student who associates with bad friends and starts skipping classes may become someone who skips classes without caring about any harmful consequences at all.

สรุปTo conclude: Those who wish to be good people must therefore be careful not to let their minds become accustomed to evil, even the very first time, and should train themselves to do good until it becomes a habit, so that good becomes easy to do and evil becomes hard to do for them. This accords with the Dhamma saying set forth as the theme at the beginning:

ปิดท้ายThus has the meaning been explained, as set forth above.