Chapter V: Bãla-The Fool

     Verse 60. Long is the night to one who is wakeful; long is (the journey of ) one yojana to the traveller who is tired; long is samsara(round of rebirths) to the fool, who is ignorant of the true Dhamma (the Teaching of the Budha).

     Verse 61. If a person seeking a companion cannot find one who is better than or equal to him, let him resolutely go on alone; there can be no companionship with the foolish.

     Verse 62. “I have sons, I have wealth “with this (feeling of attachment) the fool is afflicted. Indeed, he himself is not his own, how can sons and wealth be his?

     Verse 63. The fool who knows that he is a fool can, for that reason, be a wise man; but the fool who thinks that he is wise is, indeed, called a fool.

     Verse 64. A fool, even though he is associated with a wise man all his life, does not understand the Dhamma, just as a ladle does not know the taste of soup.

     Verse 65. An intelligent man, even though he is associated with a wise man only for a moment, quickly understands the Dhamma, just as the tongue knows the taste of soup.

     Verse 66. With themselves as their own enemies, fools lacking in intelligence, move about doing evil deeds, which bear bitter fruits.

    Verse 67. That deed is not well done, if one has to repent for having done it, with a tearful face, one has to weep as a result of that deed.

     Verse 68. That deed is well done if one has not to repent for having done it, and if one is delightful and happy with the result of that deed

    Verse 69. As long as the evil deed does not bear fruit, the fool thinks it is sweet like honey; but when his evil deed does bear fruit, the fool suffers for it

    Verse 70. Even though, after month ,the fool (living in austerity) takes his food sparingly with the tip of a grass blade, he is not worth even one –sixteenth part of those who have comprehended the Truth (i.e., the ariyas).

     Verse  71. An evil deed  does not immediately bear fruit, just as the newly-drawn milk does not curdle at once; but it follows the fool burning him like live coal covered with ashes.

    Verse 72. The skill of a fool can only harm him; it destroys his merit and his wisdom (lit., it severs his head).

    Verse 73. The foolish bhikkhu desires praise for qualities he does not have, and veneration from those un related to him.

     Verse 74. “Let both laymen and bhikkhus think that things are dose because of me; let them obey me in all matters, great and small.” Such being the fool, his greed and his pride grow.

     Verse 75. Indeed, the  path that leads to worldly gain is one and the Path that leads to Nibbãna is another. Fully comprehending this, the bhikkhu, the disciple of the Buddha, should not take delight in worldly gain and honour, but devote himself to solitude, detachment and the realization of Nibbãna.