[15] 5. Long is the night for one who lies awake;
long is a league (yojana) for one who is weary;
long is saṃsāra for fools
who do not know the true Dhamma (saddhamma).
If in his wanderings he should not find
a companion better than or equal to himself,
let him resolutely pursue the solitary course:
there is no companionship with a fool.
"I have sons, I have wealth" —
so the fool is troubled.
He himself is not even his own:
whence sons? whence wealth?
The fool who knows his own folly
is to that extent a wise man;
but the fool who conceives himself wise —
he indeed is called a fool.
Though a fool should attend upon a wise man
even his whole life long,
he does not come to know the Dhamma,
any more than the spoon knows the taste of the soup.
If a discerning person attends upon a wise man
even for a moment,
he quickly comes to know the Dhamma,
just as the tongue knows the taste of the soup.
Fools of poor wisdom fare about
with their own self as their very enemy,
doing evil deeds (kamma)
whose fruit is bitter.
That deed is not well done which,
having done it, one regrets,
the result (vipāka) of which one experiences
weeping, with tearful face.
But that deed is well done which,
having done it, one does not regret,
the result of which one experiences
pleased and glad at heart.
So long as the evil has not ripened,
the fool thinks it honey;
but when the evil ripens,
then (the fool) comes to suffering (dukkha).
Month after month the fool may eat his food
with the tip of a blade of kusa grass,
yet he is not worth a sixteenth part
of those who have comprehended the Dhamma.
For an evil deed, once done,
does not curdle at once, as fresh milk does not;
smouldering, it follows the fool
like fire covered over with ashes.
Only to his harm
does knowledge arise for the fool:
it destroys the fool's bright portion,
cleaving his head.
He may crave unwarranted eminence,¹
precedence among bhikkhus,
authority in the monasteries,
and veneration among other families.
"Let both householders and those gone forth
think that it was my doing alone;
in whatever duties, great or small,
let them be subject to my will alone" —
such is the fool's intention;
his envy and conceit only increase.
For one thing is the means to gain;
quite another is [the way] leading to Nibbāna.
Having fully understood this,
let a bhikkhu, a disciple of the Buddha,
take no delight in honors,
but foster seclusion (viveka).
The Chapter on Fools (Bālavagga), the fifth.
_____________
¹ Po. Ma. Yu. editions read: bhāvanam iccheyya ("may crave veneration").
Dhammapada Verses: the sixth chapter, the Chapter on the Wise (Paṇḍitavagga).
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.