The Fool
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16 Verses | Page 1 / 1
(John Richards version)


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(Ⅰ)
(Ⅱ)
(Ⅴ)


5. 60  
Long is the night for the sleepless. Long is the road for the weary. Long is samsara (the cycle of continued rebirth) for the foolish, who have not recognised the true teaching.
- Long is the night to a sleepless person; long is the distance of a league to a tired person; long is the circle of rebirths to a fool who does not know the true Law. (Ⅰ)
- diighaa jaagarato ratti diighaM santassa yojanaM
diigho baalaanaM saMsaaro saddhammaM avijaanataM.
(Ⅴ)
5. 61  
If on one's way one does not come across one's better or an equal, then one should press on resolutely alone. There is no companionship with a fool.
- If a genuine seeker, who sets forth in search of a superior friend, does not come in contact with such a one or at least an equal, then he should resolutely choose the solitary course, for there can be no companionship with the ignorant. (Ⅰ)
- charaM che n'aadhigachchheyya seyyaM sadisam attano
eka-chariyaM daLhaM kayiraa n'atthi baale sahaayataa.
(Ⅴ)
5. 62  
"I've got children", "I've got wealth." This is the way a fool brings suffering on himself. He does not even own himself, so how can he have children or wealth?
- "I have children, I have wealth," thinking thus, the fool torments himself. But, when he is not the possessor of his own self, how then of children? How then of wealth? (Ⅰ)
- puttaa m'atthi dhanaM m'atthi iti baalo vihaññati
attaa hi attano n'atthi kuto puttaa kuto dhanaM.
(Ⅴ)
5. 63  
A fool who recognises his own ignorance is thereby in fact a wise man, but a fool who considers himself wise - that is what one really calls a fool.
- The fool who knows of his ignorance, indeed, through that very consideration becomes a wise man. But that conceited fool who considers himself learned is, in fact, called a fool. (Ⅰ)
- yo baalo maññati baalyaM paNDito vaa'pi tena so
baalo cha paNDita-maanii sa ve baalo ti vuchchati.
(Ⅴ)
5. 64  
Even if a fool lived with a wise man all his life, he would still not recognise the truth, like a wooden spoon cannot recognise the flavour of the soup.
- A fool who associates with a wise man throughout his life may not know the Dhamma any more than the ladle the taste of soup. (Ⅰ)
- yaava-jiivam pi che baalo paNDitaM payirupaasati
na so dhammaM vijaanaati dabbii suupa-rasaM yathaa.
(Ⅴ)
5. 65  
Even if a man of intelligence lives with a wise man only for a moment, he will immediately recognise the truth, like one's tongue recognises the flavour of the soup.
- As the tongue detects the taste of the broth, so the intelligent person who associates with a wise man even for a moment comes to realize the essence of the Law. (Ⅰ)
- muhuttam api che viññuu paNDitaM payirupaasati
khippaM dhammaM vijaanaati jivhaa suupa-rasaM yathaa.
(Ⅴ)
5. 66  
Stupid fools go through life as their own enemies, doing evil deeds which have bitter consequences.
- The unwise, fools who are enemies to themselves, go about committing sinful deeds which produce bitter fruits. (Ⅰ)
- charanti baalaa dummedhaa amitten'eva attanaa
karontaa paapakaM kammaM yaM hoti kaTuka-pphalaM.
(Ⅴ)
5. 67  
A deed is not well done if one suffers after doing it, if one bears the consequences sobbing and with tears streaming down one's face.
- Not well done is that deed which one, having performed, has to repent; whose consequence one has to face with tears and lamentation. (Ⅰ)
- na taM kammaM kataM saadhu yaM katvaa anutappati
yassa assu-mukho rodaM vipaakaM paTisevati.
(Ⅴ)
5. 68  
But a deed is well done if one does not suffer after doing it, if one experiences the consequences smiling and contented.
- Well done is that deed which one, having performed, does not repent, and whose consequence one experiences with delight and contentment. (Ⅰ)
- taM cha kammaM kataM saadhu yaM katvaa n'aanutappati
yassa patiito sumano vipaakaM paTisevati.
(Ⅴ)
5. 69  
A fool thinks it like honey so long as the bad deed does not bear fruit, but when it does bear fruit he experiences suffering.
- So long as an evil deed does not mature (bring disastrous results), the fool thinks his deed to be sweet as honey. But, when his evil deed matures, he falls into untold misery. (Ⅰ)
- madhuM vaa maññati baalo yaava paapaM na pachchati
yadaa cha pachchati paapaM atha dukkhaM nigachchhati.
(Ⅴ)
5. 70  
Even if a fool were to take his food month after month off the tip of a blade of grass, he would still not be worth a fraction of those who have understood the truth.
- Though a fool (practicing austerity) may eat his food from the tip of a blade of kusa grass for months and months, he is not worth one-sixteenth part of those who have realized the Good Law. (Ⅰ)
- maase maase kus'aggena baalo bhuñjeyya bhojanaM
na so sankhaata-dhammaanaM kalaM agghati soLasiM.
(Ⅴ)
5. 71  
Like fresh milk a bad deed does not turn at once. It follows a fool scorching him like a smouldering fire.
- As fresh-drawn milk from the cow does not soon curdle, so an evil deed does not produce immediate fruits. It follows the wrongdoer like a smoldering spark that burns throughout and then suddenly blazes up. (Ⅰ)
- na hi paapaM kataM kammaM sajju-khiiraM va muchchati
DahaM taM baalam anveti bhasma-chchhanno va paavako.
(Ⅴ)
5. 72  
A fool acquires knowledge only to his own disadvantage. It destroys what good he has, and turns his brains.
- Whatever knowledge a fool acquires causes him only harm. It cleaves his head and destroys his good nature (through conceit). (Ⅰ)
- yaavad-eva anatthaaya ñattaM baalassa jayati
hanti baalassa sukkaMsaM muddham assa vipaatayaM.
(Ⅴ)
5. 73  
One may desire a spurious respect and precedence among one's fellow monks, and the veneration of outsiders.
- Unwise is the monk who desires undue adoration from others, lordship over other monks, authority among the monastic dwellings and homage even from outside groups. (Ⅰ)
- asantaM bhaavanaM ichchheyya purekkhaaraM cha bhikkhusu

aavaasesu cha issariyam puujaM para-kulesu cha.
(Ⅴ)
5. 74  
"Both monks and laity should think it was my doing. They should accept my authority in all matters great or small." This is a fool's way of thinking. His self-seeking and conceit just increase.
- Moreover, he thinks, "May both laymen and monks highly esteem my action! May they be subject to me in all actions, great or small." Such is the grasping desire of a worldly monk whose haughtiness and conceit ever increase. (Ⅰ)
- mam'eva kata maññantu gihii pabbajitaa ubho
mam'ev'aativasaa assu kichch'aakichchesu kismichi
iti baalassa sankappo ichchhaa maano cha vaDDhati.
(Ⅴ)
5. 75  
One way leads to acquisition, the other leads to nirvana. Realising this a monk, as a disciple of the Buddha, should take no pleasure in the respect of others, but should devote himself to solitude.
- One path leads to worldly gain and honor; quite another path leads to nirvana. Having realized this truth, let not the monk, the true follower of the Enlightened One, yearn for homage from others, but let him cultivate serenity of mind and dispassion. (Ⅰ)
- aññaa hi laabh'uupanisaa aññaa nibbaana-gaaminii
evam etaM abhiññaaya bhikkhu buddhassa saavako
sakkaaraM n'aabhinandeyya vivekam anubhuuhaye.
(Ⅴ)


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