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# SN 2:22 · Khema the Deva’s Son (Khema Sutta)
- URL: https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-2-22/
- Published: 2026-06-01T00:33:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-13T16:41:43.000Z
- Description: Saṁyutta Nikāya · SN 2:22. Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.
- Author: Ninth Heaven Literature & Arts Association (NHLAA)
- Tags: Buddhism, Sutta Piṭaka, Text, Indian, The Buddha, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Saṁyutta Nikāya, Verse, Pali, Early Buddhist, Library, #Import 2026-07-06 03:31

Standing to one side, Khema the deva’s son recited these verses in the Blessed One’s presence.

“Foolish people, lacking wisdom,

behave like enemies to themselves.

They do[1](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN2%5F22.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) evil deeds

that bear bitter fruit.

It’s not good,

the doing of the deed

that, once it’s done,

you regret,

whose result you reap crying,

your face in tears.

It’s good,

the doing of the deed

that, once it’s done,

you don’t regret,

whose result you reap gratified,

happy at heart.[2](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN2%5F22.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co)

You should do prudently, right away,

what you know is for your own benefit.

A thinker, enlightened, you shouldn’t strive

for the sake of the cart driver’s thinking.

Just as a cart driver who—having left

the smoothed,[3](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN2%5F22.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) even highway,

and climbed onto an uneven path—

his axle broken, broods;

in the same way,

a fool—having departed from Dhamma

to follow non-Dhamma,

having fallen into the mouth of death—

his axle broken, broods.”

Notes

1\. Reading *karonti* with the Thai edition.

2\. These two verses = [Dhp 67–68](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/dhp-05/).

3\. Reading *maṭṭhaṁ* with the Burmese edition. The Thai has *pasatthaṁ*, “recommended,” which makes sense, but *pasatthaṁ* doesn’t fit the meter. The PTS edition has *panthaṁ,* “road.”

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*Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) licence, for free distribution only. Source: [dhammatalks.org](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN2%5F22.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) (Metta Forest Monastery).*