Dhammapada, Dhamma Verses (KN 2)
Pāli verses with English translation in this collection of 423 Dhamma verses, along with a discussion of their meaning and their collection.
Pāli verses with English translation in this collection of 423 Dhamma verses, along with a discussion of their meaning and their collection.
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34<br />
Bālavaggo<br />
5. The Chapter about Fools<br />
Dīghā jāgarato ratti, dīghaṁ santassa yojanaṁ,<br />
Long is the night for one awake, long is a league for one tired,<br />
dīgho bālānaṁ saṁsāro Saddhammaṁ avijānataṁ. [60]<br />
long is the round of births and deaths for fools who know not True <strong>Dhamma</strong>. 1<br />
Carañ-ce nādhigaccheyya seyyaṁ sadisam-attano,<br />
If while roaming one cannot find one better or the same as oneself,<br />
ekacar i yaṁ daḷhaṁ kay i rā: natthi bāle sahāyatā. [61]<br />
one should resolve to go alone: there is no friendship with fools. 2<br />
“Puttā matthi, 3 dhanam-matthi,” iti bālo vihaññati,<br />
“Sons are mine, riches are mine,” so the fool suffers vexation,<br />
attā hi attano natthi, kuto puttā, kuto dhanaṁ? [62]<br />
when even self is not his own, 4 how then sons, how then riches?<br />
Yo bālo maññati bālyaṁ, paṇḍito vāpi tena so,<br />
The fool who knows (his) foolishness, is at least wise in that (matter),<br />
bālo ca paṇḍitamānī, sa ve bālo ti vuccati. [63]<br />
the fool who is proud of his wisdom, he is said to be a fool indeed.<br />
Yāvajīvam-pi ce bālo paṇḍitaṁ pay i rupāsati,<br />
Even if a fool attends on a wise man for his whole life long,<br />
na so <strong>Dhamma</strong>ṁ vijānāti, dabbī sūparasaṁ yathā. [64]<br />
he does not learn <strong>Dhamma</strong>, just as spoon learns not the taste of curry.<br />
1<br />
The similes do not quite match the statement, nights feel long, leagues feel long, but the<br />
continuance in saṁsāra actually is long for a fool. The verse provides a good illustration of how<br />
adjectives, here dīgha, adapt to the nouns they qualify: ratti, feminine; yojana, neut, and<br />
saṁsāra, masculine.<br />
2<br />
Although this does express a common Buddhist sentiment, we should remember that in the early<br />
Tuvaṭakasuttaṁ of the Aṭṭhakavagga (Sn 4, XIV vs. 4), we are cautioned about thinking of others<br />
as better, the same or worse than ourselves.<br />
3 This parses as me atthi.<br />
4<br />
If his self was really his, he would have control over it, and be able to say: let this body be thus,<br />
let it not be thus, but he cannot (see Anattalakkhaṇasuttaṁ, http://bit.ly/ABT-Anatta).