Dhammapada, Dhamma Verses (KN 2)

34
Bālavaggo
5. The Chapter about Fools
Dīghā jāgarato ratti, dīghaṁ santassa yojanaṁ,
Long is the night for one awake, long is a league for one tired,
dīgho bālānaṁ saṁsāro Saddhammaṁ avijānataṁ. [60]
long is the round of births and deaths for fools who know not True Dhamma. 1
Carañ-ce nādhigaccheyya seyyaṁ sadisam-attano,
If while roaming one cannot find one better or the same as oneself,
ekacar i yaṁ daḷhaṁ kay i rā: natthi bāle sahāyatā. [61]
one should resolve to go alone: there is no friendship with fools. 2
“Puttā matthi, 3 dhanam-matthi,” iti bālo vihaññati,
“Sons are mine, riches are mine,” so the fool suffers vexation,
attā hi attano natthi, kuto puttā, kuto dhanaṁ? [62]
when even self is not his own, 4 how then sons, how then riches?
Yo bālo maññati bālyaṁ, paṇḍito vāpi tena so,
The fool who knows (his) foolishness, is at least wise in that (matter),
bālo ca paṇḍitamānī, sa ve bālo ti vuccati. [63]
the fool who is proud of his wisdom, he is said to be a fool indeed.
Yāvajīvam-pi ce bālo paṇḍitaṁ pay i rupāsati,
Even if a fool attends on a wise man for his whole life long,
na so Dhammaṁ vijānāti, dabbī sūparasaṁ yathā. [64]
he does not learn Dhamma, just as spoon learns not the taste of curry.
1
The similes do not quite match the statement, nights feel long, leagues feel long, but the
continuance in saṁsāra actually is long for a fool. The verse provides a good illustration of how
adjectives, here dīgha, adapt to the nouns they qualify: ratti, feminine; yojana, neut, and
saṁsāra, masculine.
2
Although this does express a common Buddhist sentiment, we should remember that in the early
Tuvaṭakasuttaṁ of the Aṭṭhakavagga (Sn 4, XIV vs. 4), we are cautioned about thinking of others
as better, the same or worse than ourselves.
3 This parses as me atthi.
4
If his self was really his, he would have control over it, and be able to say: let this body be thus,
let it not be thus, but he cannot (see Anattalakkhaṇasuttaṁ, http://bit.ly/ABT-Anatta).