[443] Then the Blessed One, having dressed in the morning, taking his bowl and robe, entered Kosambī for alms. Having walked for alms in Kosambī, when he had returned from the almsround after the meal, he set the lodging in order and, taking his bowl and robe, spoke these verses while still standing there:
With many voices the crowd cries out, all alike; not one thinks himself a fool; even as the Saṅgha was splitting apart, they thought of nothing further beyond that.
Muddled in mind, yet learned in talk, speakers ranging only in the field of words, they stretch open their mouths as far as they wish; by what they are led on, that they do not know.
"He abused me, he struck me, he defeated me, he robbed me" — for those who harbor such thoughts, their enmity (vera) is never stilled.
"He abused me, he struck me, he defeated me, he robbed me" — for those who do not harbor such thoughts, enmity is stilled.
For never in this world are enmities stilled by enmity; by non-enmity are they stilled — this is an eternal law.
Others do not understand that we here are coming to an end; but for those there who understand this, quarrels are thereby stilled.
Breakers of bones, takers of life, thieves of cattle, horses, and wealth — even for those who plunder the realm there comes to be concord; why should there not be for you?
If one should find a prudent companion, a fellow traveler, of good conduct and wise, then, overcoming all perils, let one wander with him, glad at heart and mindful.
If one should not find a prudent companion, a fellow traveler, of good conduct and wise, then, as a king abandons the realm he has conquered, let one wander alone, like a mātaṅga elephant in the forest.
Better is the wandering of one alone: there is no companionship with a fool. Let one wander alone and do no evil, at ease and unconcerned, like a mātaṅga elephant in the forest.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.