Here one grieves, after one grieves: the evildoer grieves in both worlds. One grieves, one suffers, seeing one’s own impure actions.

Pāpakārī — one who does evil, who acts from moral darkness. The verse describes the double effect of impure action: idha (here, in this life) and pecca (after, in the next existence or in the immediate moment of remorse). Buddhist time is not only eschatological future; pecca can also refer to the instant following the act, when consciousness registers what it has done.

Kammakiliṭṭhamattano — seeing one’s own impure actions: the source of suffering is not an external judge but one’s own conscience. Whoever acts from selfishness, deception, or cruelty carries with them the record of that act. Moral memory is the most intimate form of consequence.

Vihaññati — suffers, is tormented: there is a quality of non-rest here. The mind that has acted from impurity cannot settle; it is continuously disturbed by what it knows about itself. This disturbance is both present suffering and the impulse toward change.

Buddhist compassion toward evil is not justification but understanding that whoever acts cruelly is already suffering, even if they don’t recognize it. Cruelty is born from suffering and generates more suffering.