Do not underestimate evil thinking it will not reach you. With the falling of drops even a water pot fills. The fool fills with evil accumulating little by little.

Māppamaññetha pāpassa — do not underestimate evil: appamaññeti is to underestimate, to take lightly. The warning is against complacency: “it’s just a small thing”, “it has no importance”, “this time doesn’t count”.

Udabindunipātena udakumbhopi pūrati — with falling drops even a pot fills: the image is brilliant in its simplicity. One drop fills nothing; a thousand drops fill a pot. Thus small harmful actions.

Bālo pūrati pāpassa thokaṃ thokampi ācinaṃ — the fool fills with evil accumulating little by little: thokam thokam (bit by bit) creates the rhythm of gradual accumulation. The fool does not make one big evil act at once — fills up with small impurities that summed up are devastating.

This teaching is relevant for daily practice: not waiting for big moments of temptation but being attentive to small daily complacencies that fill, drop by drop, the pot.