That kamma’s not well-made
from which there is remorse,
of which one senses the result
with weeping and a tear-stained face.
Explanation: It is good if one were to avoid committing such actions which would later lead to regret. When one regrets one weeps.
The Story of a Farmer (Verse 67)
While residing at the Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha spoke this verse, with reference to a farmer who handled poison.
A farmer tilled a field not far from Savatthi. One day some thieves robbed the house of a rich man. One of the thieves outwitted his companions and secretly put away a purse containing a thousand pieces of money in a fold of his garment. As the thief departed with his share, the purse dropped out of the fold of his garment, but he did not notice his loss.
That day, early in the morning, the Buddha surveyed the world, and seeing that a certain farmer had entered his net of vision, he considered within himself what would happen.
Early in the morning the farmer went to till his field. The Buddha was also there with the Venerable Ananda. Seeing the Buddha, the farmer went and paid obeisance to the Buddha, and then resumed tilling his field. The Buddha said nothing to him. Going to the place where the purse had fallen and seeing it, he said to the Venerable Ananda, “See, Ananda, a poisonous snake” “I see, Venerable, a deadly, poisonous snake!” The farmer heard their conversation and said to himself, “I will kill the snake.” So saying, he took a goad-stick, went to the spot, and discovered the purse. “The Buddha must have referred to this purse,” thought he. Not knowing exactly what to do about it, he laid the purse aside, covered it with dust, and resumed his plowing.
Later men discovered the theft, and trailed the thieves to the field, and coming to the spot where they had divided their spoils, saw the foot-prints of the farmer. Following his footsteps to the spot where the purse was buried, they removed the earth and picked up the purse. Thereupon they reviled him, saying, “So you robbed the house, and here you are plowing the field! ,r And having given him a good beating, they took him and censured him before the king.
When the king heard what had happened, he ordered the farmer to be put to death. As the farmer walked along and the king’s men lashed him with whips, he kept repeating the words, “See, Ananda, a poisonous snake!” “I see, Venerable, a deadly, poisonous snake!” Not another word did he utter. The king’s men asked him, “You are repeating words of the Buddha and of the Venerable Ananda. What does this mean?” The farmer replied, “I will say, if I am permitted to see the king.”
He told the king, “I am not a thief, your majesty.” The farmer told him the whole story. The king took the farmer to the Buddha, and asked him about this. The Buddha said, “Yes, your majesty, I said just that when I went there. A wise man should not do a deed of which he must afterwards repent.”