Avoiding Evil and Cultivating Good: A Reminder for Daily Chanting | สัพพะปาปัสสะ → Sabbapāpassa → 薩巴巴巴沙

This short Pali verse is Dhammapada 183. Thai chanting books also include it within the Ovāda-pāṭimokkha verses, titled โอวาทปาติโมกขคาถา in the Wat Pa Sukato book. Its four lines describe avoiding wrongdoing, cultivating good and purifying one’s own mind, then identify these as the Buddhas’ teaching. This selection contains that one complete verse, recited once.

Meaning: Refrain from every kind of wrongdoing, develop wholesome conduct fully, and purify your own mind: this is the teaching of the Buddhas. The familiar Chinese verse beginning 諸惡莫作 expresses the same central message.

When to use it: Recite it during daily chanting, before meditation or when reviewing your day. As practical reminders, pause before saying something hurtful, offer help when you can, and notice greed, anger or distraction without simply acting on them.

These four lines form one verse within a longer chanting passage; they are not the entire Ovāda-pāṭimokkha. Let the meaning guide reflection on three everyday tasks: preventing harm, developing good actions and attending to your own mind.