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Buddhism

Iti 65 · uttaka 65

Thai temple painting: Prince Vessantara gives away the white elephant
Vessantara Jātaka, Chapter 2 (Himavanta Forest) · Thai, Rattanakosin, c. 1850–1870 · Walters Art Museum

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: “Monks, there are these three kinds of good conduct. Which three? Bodily good conduct, verbal good conduct, mental good conduct. These are the three kinds of good conduct.”

Having abandoned

bodily misconduct,

acts of verbal misconduct,

misconduct of mind,

& whatever else is flawed,

not having done what’s not skillful,

having done much that is,

at the break-up of the body,

the discerning one reappears

in heaven.


Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 licence, for free distribution only. Source: dhammatalks.org (Metta Forest Monastery).

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