Saṃyutta Nikāya
II. Nidāna Vagga
12. Nidāna Saṃyutta
2. Āhāra Vagga
Sutta 19
Bāla-Paṇḍita Suttaṃ
The Foolish — the Wise
Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds
Translator's Introduction
I did this translation because Mrs. Rhys Davids construction does not make it clear that what is being talked about is that though the wise man and the fool begin at the same point it is how they deal with the situation that makes the difference.
[1][pts][than][bodh] I HEAR TELL:
Once upon a time, The Lucky man,
Sāvatthi-town revisiting.
There then The Lucky Man addressed the beggars, saying:
"Beggars!"
And the beggars responding "Bhante!"
The Lucky Man said this to them:
"Diverted by blindness, beggars,
to the foolish,
yoked to thirst,
this body appears owned.
Thus it is that there is here
this duality:
this body
and external named-forms —
a duality that results
in contact of the six-sense-spheres
wherewith,
stimulated by one or another,
the foolish experience pleasure and pain.
Diverted by blindness, beggars,
to the wise,
yoked to thirst,
this body appears owned.
Thus it is that there is here
this duality:
this body
and external named-forms —
a duality that results
in contact of the six-sense-spheres
wherewith, stimulated by one or another,
the wise experience pleasure and pain.
This being so, beggars,
what is the distinction,
what the deeper consideration,
what makes one so,
and the other such:
the foolish — the wise?"
"For us, Bhante,
The Lucky Man gets to the root of things,
The Lucky Man is the guide,
The Lucky Man is the salvation.
It would be well, Bhante,
if the Lucky Man were to reveal
the point of this saying.
Hearing it from The Lucky Man,
the beggars would hold it in memory."
"Then listen up beggars,
pay good attention
I will speak!"
"Even so, Bhante!"
The Lucky Man then said to them:
"By whatever diversion, beggars,
the foolish are blinded,
and by whatever thirst yoked
to apparent ownership of body —
that blindness has not been let go,
and that thirst has not been thoroughly slaked.
How come?
The foolish, beggars, do not carry on
the best carrying on
for the consummate destruction of pain.
Therefore the foolish,
at the breakup of body,
arise in a body.
Arising in bodily existence,
he is not free from birth
aging and death
grief and lamentation
pain and misery
and despair.
He is not free from pain, say I.
By whatever diversion, beggars,
the wise are blinded,
and by whatever thirst yoked
to apparent ownership of body —
that blindness has been let go,
and that thirst has been thoroughly slaked.
How come?
The wise, beggars, carry on
the best carrying on
for the consummate destruction of pain.
Therefore the wise,
at the breakup of body,
do not arise in a body.
Not arising in bodily existence,
he is free from birth
aging and death
grief and lamentation
pain and misery
and despair.
He is free from pain, I say.
This, beggars,
is the distinction
the deeper consideration
that makes one so,
and the other such:
the foolish — the wise."
