[400] I am no deva, nor a gandhabba,
nor yet Sakka Purindada;
I am the son of the King of Kāsi —
the one you are burying in a pit.
I am the son of that king
on whom, friend, you depend for your living.
You would be doing what is unrighteous (adhamma), charioteer,
if you were to bury me in the forest.
In the shade of whatever tree
one would sit or lie down,
one should not break a branch of that tree;
for a betrayer of friends is an evil man.
As the tree is, so is the king;
as the branch is, so am I;
as the man who comes to its shade,
so, charioteer, are you.
You would be doing what is unrighteous, charioteer,
if you were to bury me in the forest.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.