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 "good people" mean those who are good and have virtue. As for the word "austerity" (tapa), in Buddhism it does not mean tormenting the body, but the qualities that burn up the defilements until they are scorched and gone, such as effort, patience, restraint of the sense faculties, and the cultivation of virtue, concentration and wisdom. This saying teaches that good people are able to abandon evil kamma through austerity, that is, through an ardent effort to purify their own minds.

ขยายความบทตั้งEvil kamma is like rust clinging to iron, or a stain stuck fast in a vessel: only with heat and earnest scrubbing will it come off. A mind accustomed to evil is the same; to abandon it, one must rely on austerity, that is, unflagging effort. The Buddha said in the Dhammapada that patience, that is, forbearance, is the highest austerity. This shows that patience with temptations, patience with anger and patience with craving are the most important means of burning up the defilements. One who has such austerity can gradually remove evil from his life.

ประโยคสะพาน + ที่มา ๑One of evil nature, with bad habits rooted in the mind, suffers hardship and distress through their own deeds, not because of others, for whoever does a deed receives its result. This accords with the Buddha's saying found in Majjhima Nikāya, Majjhimapaṇṇāsaka:

อธิบายบทเชื่อม ๑To explain: The words "one of evil nature" mean a person in whose mind an evil disposition is deeply rooted, who habitually likes to do evil. As for the words "suffers because of his own kamma", they mean that the trouble he meets does not come from others, but from his own actions. This saying emphasises the principle of kamma: whoever does a certain kamma must receive the result of that kamma, and no one can receive it in his place.

อธิบายบทเชื่อม ๑In the verse from which this saying comes, there is a comparison: just as a thief caught at the very hole he broke through in order to steal is punished because of his own action, so beings who have done evil, after leaving this world, suffer because of their own kamma. That thief cannot blame anyone at all, because the hole where he was caught is the hole he broke through himself. Evil is the same: it is a trap that the doer digs for himself. When the time comes for the result of kamma to appear, there is no escaping it.

ตัวอย่างในชีวิตIn real life, a person who used to be addicted to alcohol and resolves to give it up must endure the craving that arises every day; that endurance is the austerity that burns the craving away. A person with a quick temper who resolves to correct it must train himself to restrain his mind every time anger arises. A student who used to be so addicted to games that his studies suffered, and who resolves to change, must have the effort to manage his time strictly. All of these are the abandoning of evil through austerity in the Buddhist way.

สรุปTo conclude: Those who wish to abandon bad habits must therefore have austerity, that is, firm effort and patience, not yielding to the defilements in their own minds. When they keep trying continuously, the evil kamma that used to dominate the mind will gradually disappear. This accords with the Dhamma saying set forth as the theme at the beginning:

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