[281] Standing to one side, the young deva (devaputta) Khema spoke these verses in the presence of the Blessed One:
"Fools of feeble wisdom go about
like an enemy to their very own selves;
they do evil deeds (kamma)
that bear bitter fruit.
That deed is not well done
which, having done, one afterward regrets,
the result (vipāka) of which one experiences
weeping, with tear-stained face.
But that deed is well done
which, having done, one does not regret,
the result of which one experiences
pleased, with glad mind.
One should do beforehand
what one knows to be for one's own welfare;
not with the carter's thinking
does the sage steadfast in wisdom make his endeavor.
Just as a carter who has forsaken
the excellent, even highway
and mounted upon a rugged track
broods there, his axle broken—
so too, having strayed from the Dhamma,
conforming to what is contrary to the Dhamma,
the dullard, fallen into the mouth of Death,
broods like one whose axle is broken."
[Siam edition variant notes: ¹ Ma., Yu.: karontā. ² Ma., Yu.: pītito. ³ Sī.: paṭigacceva. ⁴ Ma., Yu.: parakkame. ⁵ Po.: satthaṃ; Ma.: maṭṭhaṃ; Yu.: panthaṃ.]
The Serī Sutta, the third.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.