An evil person may even see goodness [in his evil deeds] as long as the evil has not ripened.
When the evil has ripened, then the evil person sees those evil deeds.

pāpo       pi      passati   bhadraṃ  yāva       pāpaṃ   na     paccati
|               |           |              |           |               |         |           |
N.m.      conj. V.act.in.     N.n.    Rel.Adv.    N.n.    neg.  V.pas.in.
Nom.Sg.   |     3.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg.      |         Nom.Sg.  |     3.Sg.pres.
|               |           |________|           |               |        |_______|
|               |__________|                   |               |________|
|_____________|                             |_____________|
           |______________________________|

List of Abbreviations

yadā        ca      paccati   pāpaṃ   atha    pāpo    pāpāni    passati
|                |            |             |          |         |             |            |
Rel.Adv. conj.  V.pas.in.    N.n.    Adv.   N.m.      N.n.    V.act.in.
|                |     3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg.   |    Nom.Sg. Acc.Pl. 3.Sg.pres.
|                |            |_______|          |          |             |_______|
|                |__________|                 |          |___________|
|______________|                           |___________|
            |_____________________________|

pāpo: pāpa-, Adj.: evil, wrong. As an N.m.: evil person. Nom.Sg. = pāpo.

pi, conj.: also, even.

passati: sees. The verb root is dis- (to see). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = passati.

bhadraṃ: bhadra-, Adj.: good, beneficial. As an N.n.: good deed, something bringing benefit.
Acc.Sg. = bhadraṃ.

yāva, Rel.Adv.: as long as, as far as.

pāpaṃ: pāpa-, Adj.: evil, wrong. As an N.n.: evil, wrong doing. Nom.Sg. = pāpaṃ.

na, neg.: not.

List of Abbreviations

paccati, V.: to be cooked, fig.: to ripe. It is a pas. of the verb pac- (to cook). 3.Sg.pas.in.pres. = paccati.

yadā, Rel.Adv.: when.

ca, conj.: and.

paccati: see above.

pāpaṃ: see above

atha, Adv.: then.

pāpo: see above.

pāpāni: pāpa-, Adj.: evil, wrong. As an N.n.: evil, wrong doing. Acc.Pl. = pāpāni.

passati: see above.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) pāpo pi passati bhadraṃ yāva pāpaṃ na paccati (an evil person may even see goodness [in his evil deeds] as long as the evil has not ripened). This can be further analyzed into two segments:
    a) pāpo pi passati bhadraṃ (an evil person may even see goodness [in his evil deeds]). The subject of this sentence is the adjective/noun pāpo (evil person, nominative singular). The verb is passati (sees, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the adjective/noun bhadraṃ (goodness, accusative singular). The sentence is modified by the conjunction pi (even).
    b) yāva pāpaṃ na paccati (as long as the evil has not ripened). The subject is the adjective/noun pāpaṃ (evil, nominative singular). The verb is in passive, paccati (has ripened, 3^rd person, singular, passive, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The relative adverb yāva (as long as) connects this segment to the previous one.
    2) yadā ca paccati pāpaṃ atha pāpo pāpāni passati (when the evil has ripened, then the evil person sees those evil deeds). This contains two related sentences:
    a) yadā ca paccati pāpaṃ (when the evil has ripened). The subject is the adjective/noun pāpaṃ (evil, nominative singular). The verb is in passive, paccati (has ripened, 3^rd person, singular, passive, indicative, present tense). The relative adverb yadā (when) introduces the sentence and connects it to the following one. The conjunction ca (and) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
    b) atha pāpo pāpāni passati (then the evil person sees those evil deeds). The subject of this sentence is the adjective/noun pāpo (evil person, nominative singular). The verb is passati (sees, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the adjective/noun pāpāni (evils, accusative plural). The adverb atha (then) introduces the sentence and connects it to the previous one.

    One of the most famous benefactors of the Buddha was Anāthapindika from the city of Sāvatthi. He built the Jetavana monastery and regularly donated food and other requisites to the community of the Buddha's followers. By doing so, he gave away most of his wealth and became poor. The guardian spirit of his house came to him and told him to stop donating for some time, make money, become rich again, and then continue giving. Anāthapindika told the spirit to leave his house for saying such things.
    The guardian spirit went to see Sakka, the king of the gods, and asked him what should he do to get pardon from Anāthapindika. Sakka told him that there was some money Anāthapindika loaned to others and did not collect it back yet. He also pointed to the guardian spirit some wealth buried by Anāthapindika's ancestors. The spirit collected all those riches and brought them to Anāthapindika’s house.
    Anāthapindika then permitted the spirit to enter the house and continue living there. The Buddha learned about this story and told them these two verses (DhP 119 and 120). Even though the good person can come to misfortune sometimes, the results of his good deeds will come sure enough - and so will the results of evil deeds of a bad person, even though for some time he might enjoy luck and happiness.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

pāpo
pi
passati
bhadraṃ
yāva
pāpaṃ
na
paccati
yadā
ca
atha
pāpāni