Bālapaṇḍitasutta

Majjhima Nikāya 129

The Foolish and the Astute · Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral

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Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, puriso ekacchiggalaṁ yugaṁ mahāsamudde pakkhipeyya.
Tamenaṁ puratthimo vāto pacchimena saṁhareyya, pacchimo vāto puratthimena saṁhareyya, uttaro vāto dakkhiṇena saṁhareyya, dakkhiṇo vāto uttarena saṁhareyya.
Tatrāssa kāṇo kacchapo, so vassasatassa vassasatassa accayena sakiṁ ummujjeyya.
Taṁ kiṁ maññatha, bhikkhave,
api nu so kāṇo kacchapo amusmiṁ ekacchiggale yuge gīvaṁ paveseyyā”ti?
“No hetaṁ, bhante”.
“Yadi pana, bhante, kadāci karahaci dīghassa addhuno accayenā”ti.
“Khippataraṁ kho so, bhikkhave, kāṇo kacchapo amusmiṁ ekacchiggale yuge gīvaṁ paveseyya, ato dullabhatarāhaṁ, bhikkhave, manussattaṁ vadāmi sakiṁ vinipātagatena bālena.
Taṁ kissa hetu?
Na hettha, bhikkhave, atthi dhammacariyā samacariyā kusalakiriyā puññakiriyā.
Aññamaññakhādikā ettha, bhikkhave, vattati dubbalakhādikā.

Mendicants, suppose a person were to throw a yoke with a single hole into the ocean. The east wind wafts it west; the west wind wafts it east; the north wind wafts it south; and the south wind wafts it north. And there was a one-eyed turtle who popped up once every hundred years. What do you think, mendicants? Would that one-eyed turtle still poke its neck through the hole in that yoke?” “No, sir. Only after a very long time, sir, if ever.” “That one-eyed turtle would poke its neck through the hole in that yoke sooner than a fool who has fallen to the underworld would be reborn as a human being, I say. Why is that? Because in that place there’s no principled or moral conduct, and no doing what is good and skillful. There they just prey on each other, preying on the weak.

Sa kho so, bhikkhave, bālo sace kadāci karahaci dīghassa addhuno accayena manussattaṁ āgacchati, yāni tāni nīcakulāni—
caṇḍālakulaṁ vā nesādakulaṁ vā venakulaṁ vā rathakārakulaṁ vā pukkusakulaṁ vā.
Tathārūpe kule paccājāyati dalidde appannapānabhojane kasiravuttike, yattha kasirena ghāsacchādo labbhati.
So ca hoti dubbaṇṇo duddasiko okoṭimako bavhābādho kāṇo vā kuṇī vā khujjo vā pakkhahato vā na lābhī annassa pānassa vatthassa yānassa mālāgandhavilepanassa seyyāvasathapadīpeyyassa.
So kāyena duccaritaṁ carati vācāya duccaritaṁ carati manasā duccaritaṁ carati.
So kāyena duccaritaṁ caritvā vācāya duccaritaṁ caritvā manasā duccaritaṁ caritvā kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā apāyaṁ duggatiṁ vinipātaṁ nirayaṁ upapajjati.

And suppose that fool, after a very long time, returned to the human realm. They’d be reborn in a low class family—a family of corpse-workers, hunters, bamboo-workers, chariot-makers, or scavengers. Such families are poor, with little to eat or drink, where life is tough, and food and shelter are hard to find. And they’d be ugly, unsightly, deformed, sickly—one-eyed, crippled, lame, or half-paralyzed. They don’t get to have food, drink, clothes, and vehicles; garlands, fragrance, and makeup; or bed, house, and lighting. And they do bad things by way of body, speech, and mind. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell.

Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, akkhadhutto paṭhameneva kaliggahena puttampi jīyetha, dārampi jīyetha, sabbaṁ sāpateyyampi jīyetha, uttaripi adhibandhaṁ nigaccheyya.
Appamattako so, bhikkhave, kaliggaho yaṁ so akkhadhutto paṭhameneva kaliggahena puttampi jīyetha, dārampi jīyetha, sabbaṁ sāpateyyampi jīyetha, uttaripi adhibandhaṁ nigaccheyya.
Atha kho ayameva tato mahantataro kaliggaho yaṁ so bālo kāyena duccaritaṁ caritvā vācāya duccaritaṁ caritvā manasā duccaritaṁ caritvā kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā apāyaṁ duggatiṁ vinipātaṁ nirayaṁ upapajjati.
Ayaṁ, bhikkhave, kevalā paripūrā bālabhūmīti.

Suppose a gambler were to lose his wife and child, all his property, and then get thrown in jail with his first losing hand. Such a losing hand is trivial compared to the losing hand whereby a fool, having done bad things by way of body, speech, and mind, when their body breaks up, after death, is reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell. This is the total fulfillment of the fool’s level.

Tīṇimāni, bhikkhave, paṇḍitassa paṇḍitalakkhaṇāni paṇḍitanimittāni paṇḍitāpadānāni.
Katamāni tīṇi?
Idha, bhikkhave, paṇḍito sucintitacintī ca hoti subhāsitabhāsī ca sukatakammakārī ca.
No cetaṁ, bhikkhave, paṇḍito sucintitacintī ca abhavissa subhāsitabhāsī ca sukatakammakārī ca, kena naṁ paṇḍitā jāneyyuṁ:
‘paṇḍito ayaṁ bhavaṁ sappuriso’ti?

There are these three characteristics, signs, and manifestations of an astute person. What three? An astute person thinks well, speaks well, and acts well. If an astute person didn’t think well, speak well, and act well, then how would the astute know of them, ‘This worthy one is astute, a true person’?

Yasmā ca kho, bhikkhave, paṇḍito sucintitacintī ca hoti subhāsitabhāsī ca sukatakammakārī ca tasmā naṁ paṇḍitā jānanti:
‘paṇḍito ayaṁ bhavaṁ sappuriso’ti.
Sa kho so, bhikkhave, paṇḍito tividhaṁ diṭṭheva dhamme sukhaṁ somanassaṁ paṭisaṁvedeti.
Sace, bhikkhave, paṇḍito sabhāyaṁ vā nisinno hoti, rathikāya vā nisinno hoti, siṅghāṭake vā nisinno hoti;
tatra ce jano tajjaṁ tassāruppaṁ kathaṁ manteti.
Sace, bhikkhave, paṇḍito pāṇātipātā paṭivirato hoti, adinnādānā paṭivirato hoti, kāmesumicchācārā paṭivirato hoti, musāvādā paṭivirato hoti, surāmerayamajjappamādaṭṭhānā paṭivirato hoti;
tatra, bhikkhave, paṇḍitassa evaṁ hoti:
‘yaṁ kho jano tajjaṁ tassāruppaṁ kathaṁ manteti;
saṁvijjanteva te dhammā mayi, ahañca tesu dhammesu sandissāmī’ti.
Idaṁ, bhikkhave, paṇḍito paṭhamaṁ diṭṭheva dhamme sukhaṁ somanassaṁ paṭisaṁvedeti.

But since an astute person does think well, speak well, and act well, then the astute do know of them, ‘This worthy one is astute, a true person’. An astute person experiences three kinds of pleasure and happiness in this very life. Suppose an astute person is sitting in a council hall, a street, or a crossroad, where people are discussing about what is proper and fitting. And suppose that astute person is someone who refrains from killing living creatures, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicants of beer, wine, and liquor. Then that astute person thinks, ‘These people are discussing what is proper and fitting. And those good things are found in me and I exhibit them.’ This is the first kind of pleasure and happiness that an astute person experiences in this very life.

Puna caparaṁ, bhikkhave, paṇḍito passati rājāno coraṁ āgucāriṁ gahetvā vividhā kammakāraṇā kārente—
kasāhipi tāḷente vettehipi tāḷente addhadaṇḍakehipi tāḷente hatthampi chindante pādampi chindante hatthapādampi chindante kaṇṇampi chindante nāsampi chindante kaṇṇanāsampi chindante bilaṅgathālikampi karonte saṅkhamuṇḍikampi karonte rāhumukhampi karonte jotimālikampi karonte hatthapajjotikampi karonte erakavattikampi karonte cīrakavāsikampi karonte eṇeyyakampi karonte balisamaṁsikampi karonte kahāpaṇikampi karonte khārāpatacchikampi karonte palighaparivattikampi karonte palālapīṭhakampi karonte tattenapi telena osiñcante sunakhehipi khādāpente jīvantampi sūle uttāsente asināpi sīsaṁ chindante.
Tatra, bhikkhave, paṇḍitassa evaṁ hoti:

Furthermore, an astute person sees that the kings have arrested a bandit, a criminal, and subjected them to various punishments— whipping, caning, and clubbing; cutting off hands or feet, or both; cutting off ears or nose, or both; the ‘porridge pot’, the ‘shell-shave’, the ‘Rāhu’s mouth’, the ‘garland of fire’, the ‘burning hand’, the ‘bulrush twist’, the ‘bark dress’, the ‘antelope’, the ‘meat hook’, the ‘coins’, the ‘caustic pickle’, the ‘twisting bar’, the ‘straw mat’; being splashed with hot oil, being fed to the hounds, being impaled alive, and being beheaded. Then that astute person thinks,

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