Misdeeds

Misdeeds (Skt. avadya; Tib. ཁ་ན་མ་ཐོ་བ, Wyl. kha na ma tho ba) — actions which will lead to suffering. The Sanskrit and Tibetan terms literally refer to something not to be spoken of, or something not to be praised.

There are two kinds:

• Inherent misdeeds (Skt. prakṛtisāvadya; Tib. རང་བཞིན་གྱིས་ཁ་ན་མ་ཐོ་བ, Wyl. rang bzhin gyis kha na ma tho ba)
• Proscribed misdeeds (Skt. pratikṣepaṇasāvadya; Tib. བཅས་པའི་ཁ་ན་མ་ཐོ་བ, Wyl. bcas pa'i kha na ma tho ba)

Inherent misdeeds are acts such as killing and stealing, which are unwholesome by their very nature. Proscribed misdeeds are acts such as consuming intoxicants or eating after noon, that the Buddha prohibited lay practitioners or monks from doing. Although they are not necessarily unwholesome, they are negative actions since one is breaking the rules of the vows one has taken.

Alternative Translations

• Wrong doings
• Unspeakable actions (Berzin)
• Prohibited uncommendable actions (Berzin)
• Unwholesome actions, prohibited and inherently (David Karma Choepel)