[632]
"Heedless, you overrode all counsel; your counsel is shattered, O khattiya!
Now then, let the wise men of counsel protect you!
Not having done the word of the minister,
who desired your benefit and sought your welfare,
delighting in your own pleasure, O king,
you are like a deer fallen into a trap.
Just as a fish, greedy for the raw flesh,
knows not that the curved hook,
concealed by flesh, is its own death,
even so you, O king, greedy for sensual pleasure,
know not that the daughter of Cūḷaneyya
is your own death — just like the fish.
If you go to Pañcāla, you will quickly forsake your very life;
like a deer strayed onto the road, you will meet with great danger.
A man of ignoble nature, O lord of the people,
would bite like a snake come into one's lap;
with him the wise one should form no friendship:
association with a base man is suffering (dukkha) indeed.
But that man whom one would know, O lord of the people,
as 'This one is virtuous, much learned' —
with him alone should the wise one form friendship:
association with good men is happiness indeed."
[Note to the Pali text: the Burmese edition reads "paduṭṭho brahmadattena" ("betrayed by Brahmadatta"), evidently for "pamatto mantanātīto" in the first line.]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.