That deed is not well done which, having done it, one regrets; whose consequence one experiences weeping with tear-stained face.

Na taṃ kammaṃ kataṃ sādhu — that action is not good: the criterion of goodness is not declared intention nor immediate pleasure but subsequent resonance. How do you feel afterhaving done it?

Yaṃ katvā anutappati — which having done, one regrets: anutappati is the burning of remorse, the internal scorching of regret. Not religious repentance seeking absolution but the internal signal of misalignment between action and deep values.

Assumukho rodaṃ — weeping with tear-stained face: the image is pathetic in the classical sense — it awakens compassion. The human being weeping over their own past actions is trapped between what they did and what they know they should have done.

This verse offers a pragmatic criterion of ethics: observe the internal consequences of your own actions. Not as a system of guilt but as an instrument of learning. The practice of sīla has precisely this function: to avoid this suffering of later remorse.