13. The Fools (T210.13)

For the wakeful the night is long.
For the weary, a journey is long.
For the fools, the cycle of rebirths is long,
Not knowing the True Dharma.

The fool’s deluded mind is always in darkness,
Flowing on like a river.
It’s better to fare on singly [than go with fools],
Alone with no companions.

Falling into the company of fools
Leads to sorrow for long.
Living with fools is painful,
Like being at enmity with oneself.

“I have sons, I have wealth”
So thinking, the fool is perturbed.
When even the self is not of one’s own,
Whence sons and wealth?

“I in summer I shall stay here;
In winter I shall stay here”
Thus is the fool always apprehensive,
Not knowing the changes in the future.

The fool, ignorant of his extreme folly,
Claims himself to be wise.
Being foolish and yet [claiming] to excel the wise
—This is foolishness to the extreme.

A fool’s association with the wise
Is like a ladle [being unable] to taste,
Though he has taken liberties with [the wise] for long,
He still remains ignorant of the Dharma.

An intelligent man’s association with the wise
Is like the tongue tasting the flavor,
Even if he just learns for a moment,
He understands at once the essence of the Way.

A fool performs actions
To incur troubles for himself.
With a happy mind he does evil,
Causing great sorrow [in future].

The kind of action is not good,
Which receding from it one will regret;
With tears in the face
[To receive] the fruit from one’s past practice.

The kind of action is virtuous and good,
Which one will review happily;
Being sure to receive good results,
One is smilingly pleased with the practice.

So long as a past evil has not ripened,
The fool is calm and at ease.
When the time comes for it to ripen,
He will experience much affliction.

The fool, looking from where he is,
Sees not that he’s heading towards suffering.
When he is about to fall into adversity,
He’ll then realize that it’s not good.

When a fool does evil,
He realizes not [its consequence].
Troubles chase after him and he will burn himself
—By his own evil, he is set ablaze.

The fool covets good food;
Month after month his nourishment increases.
Yet he is not even worth one-sixteenth.
Of one who has comprehended the Dharma.

The mental preoccupation of a fool
Will never yield any benefit.
He is incurring punishment for himself;
And retribution [is certain]—it has a seal.

One recognizes a fool by observing his situation:
He gives not but seeks much;
Where he falls into, there is no virtue or wisdom,
But very often, evil deeds.

Those away from the Way and close to craving,
Are [ordained] for food and for a name as a trainee.
As they are greedy and cling to the household,
They abundantly take offerings [from] other clans.

Don’t aspire ambivalently as a trainee:
Don’t be a householder-renunciate
Coveting the household goes against the Holy Teaching;
And by so doing one will make oneself destitute.

To do so is to be on a par with the fools,
And it only increases one’s craving and conceit
—The aspiration for gain is one thing;
The wish for Nirvāṇa is another.

Therefore, the knowledgeable ones
Should go forth to be the Buddha’s disiples.
Leaving behind lust and worldly practices,
He’ll never get trapped in the cycle of rebirth.

Translated from the Chinese by Bhikkhu Kuala Lumpur Dhammajoti

From his book The Chinese Version of Dharmapada, Translated with introduction and annotations.

Published here with the kind permission of the author.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Ayya Vimala.