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The Fool (Bālavagga)

English · sourceSinhala translation · pending
RefsKN 2, Dhp 60–75
Page details
Pali
Bālavagga
Type
vagga
Parent text
dhammapada
Verses
Dhp 60–75
Sources
raw/tipitaka/sutta/khuddaka-nikaya/dhammapada/ (pali.txt, en-sujato.txt, si-dezoysa.txt)
Last updated
2026-04-14

Summary: The Bālavagga ("Chapter on the Fool") develops the axis between bāla (fool / spiritually immature) and paṇḍita (wise) as a structural lens on the whole of practice. Across sixteen verses the Buddha defines the bāla by their misconceptions about self, possessions, and merit (Dhp 62–63); their incapacity to grasp dhamma even in the company of the wise (Dhp 64); their moral causation — doing acts of bitter fruit while treating evil as sweet (Dhp 66–69); and above all their inability to distinguish the path to gain from the path to nibbāna (Dhp 75). The vagga's governing verse, Dhp 63, turns the definition inward: the one who thinks themselves wise is the true fool.

Themes

  • Saṃsāra is long for the fool (Dhp 60): as night to the wakeful, road to the weary, saṃsāra to fools who do not know saddhamma.
  • Solitude is better than foolish company (Dhp 61): if no equal or better is available, walk alone — "there is no fellowship with fools".
  • The fool's false ownership (Dhp 62): "sons mine, wealth mine" — but even the self is not one's own.
  • Self-diagnosis inverts folly (Dhp 63): a fool who knows they are a fool is, to that extent, wise; one who thinks themselves wise is the real bāla.
  • Contact with the wise is not enough (Dhp 64–65): long association without discernment is like a spoon that never tastes the soup; brief association with discernment is like the tongue.
  • Kamma — wholesome and unwholesome (Dhp 66–72): fools are their own enemies; deeds are "good" only if they do not plague you later; evil is "sweet" only until it ripens; evil ripens slowly but surely.
  • Fool's ambitions destroy the fool (Dhp 72–74): fame, esteem, authority, desire for monastic recognition — these grow icchā (craving) and māna (conceit) and break the fool's head.
  • The two paths are different (Dhp 75): one path leads to gain, another to nibbāna — the Buddha's disciple, knowing this, fosters seclusion.

Verses

Verse 60

Pali (dhp60:1–60:4)

Dīghā jāgarato ratti,
dīghaṁ santassa yojanaṁ;
Dīgho bālāna saṁsāro,
saddhammaṁ avijānataṁ.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

Long is the night for the wakeful;
long is the league for the weary;
long transmigrate the fools
who don't understand the true teaching.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

නොනිදන්නාහට රාත්‍රිතොම දිගය. (ශ්‍රන්තායා) විඩා වූවහුට යොදුන දිගය. සද්ධර්මය නොදන්නාවූ බාලයන්ට සංසාරය දිගය.

Key terms: bāla, saṃsāra, saddhamma Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Aññatarapurisavatthu — "a certain man" (anonymous). (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 61

Pali (dhp61:1–61:4)

Carañce nādhigaccheyya,
Seyyaṁ sadisamattano;
Ekacariyaṁ daḷhaṁ kayirā,
Natthi bāle sahāyatā.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

If while wandering you find no partner
equal or better than yourself,
then firmly resolve to wander alone—
there's no fellowship with fools.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

(තමා හා එක්ව විසීමට නිසි කළ්‍යාණ මිතුරෙකු) සොයන්නේ (මහණතෙම) (ශීල සමාධි ප්‍රඥාවෙන්) තමහට වැඩිවූ හෝ තමා හා සමානයෙකු හෝ ඉදින් නොලද්දේ වීනම් තනිව විසීම දැඩි කරන්නේය. (කුමක්හෙයින්ද යත්? අඥානයා කෙරෙහි සහායතාතොමෝ නැද්ද එහෙයිනි.

Key terms: ekacariyā (solitary walking), sahāyatā (fellowship), bāla Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Mahākassapasaddhivihārikavatthu — concerning Mahākassapa's co-resident monks. (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 62

Pali (dhp62:1–62:4)

Puttā matthi dhanaṁ matthi,
iti bālo vihaññati;
Attā hi attano natthi,
kuto puttā kuto dhanaṁ.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

"Sons are mine, wealth is mine"—
thus the fool frets.
For even your self is not your own,
let alone your sons or wealth.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

මාගේ පුත්‍රයෝ ඇත. ධනයද ඇතැයි මෙසේ නුවණ නැතියේ වෙහෙසෙයි. තෙමේද තමාට නැත. පුත්‍රයෝ කොයින්ද? ධනය කොයින්ද?

Key terms: putta (son), dhana (wealth), attā (self), bāla Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Ānandaseṭṭhivatthu — the story of Ānanda the banker/merchant (a figure distinct from the elder Ānanda). (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 63

Pali (dhp63:1–63:4)

Yo bālo maññati bālyaṁ,
paṇḍito vāpi tena so;
Bālo ca paṇḍitamānī,
sa ve "bālo"ti vuccati.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

The fool who thinks they're a fool
is wise at least to that extent.
But the true fool is said to be one
who imagines that they are wise.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

යමෙක් තෙමේ අඥානවූයේ තමාගේ බාලභාවය දනීද, ඒ කාරණයෙන් හෙතෙම පණ්ඩිත (හෝ පණ්ඩිත සමාන හෝ) වන්නේය. යම් බාලයෙක් වනාහි පණ්ඩිතමානී වේද? හෙතෙම (ඒකාන්තයෙන්) බාලයයි කියනු ලැබේ.

Key terms: bāla, paṇḍita, paṇḍitamānī (conceiver-of-oneself-as-wise) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Gaṇṭhibhedakacoravatthu — "knot-cutting thieves" (anonymous). (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 64

Pali (dhp64:1–64:4)

Yāvajīvampi ce bālo,
paṇḍitaṁ payirupāsati;
Na so dhammaṁ vijānāti,
dabbī sūparasaṁ yathā.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

Though a fool attends to the wise
even for the rest of their life,
they still don't understand the teaching,
like a spoon the taste of the soup.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

අඥානතෙම දිවිපමණිනුදු ඉදින් නුවණැත්තන් කරා එළඹෙන්නේ නමුදු, හෙතෙම ධර්මය නොදන්නේය. කුමක් මෙන්ද යත්? (ලුණු ඇඹුල් ආදී) රස නොදන්නා හැන්ද මෙනි.

Key terms: payirupāsati (attends on), dabbī (spoon), bāla, paṇḍita Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Udāyittheravatthu — the elder Udāyi expounding what he did not understand. (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 65

Pali (dhp65:1–65:4)

Muhuttamapi ce viññū,
paṇḍitaṁ payirupāsati;
Khippaṁ dhammaṁ vijānāti,
jivhā sūparasaṁ yathā.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

If a clever person attends to the wise
even just for an hour or so,
they swiftly understand the teaching,
like a tongue the taste of the soup.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

නුවණැත්තේ ඉදින් ඇසිල්ලකුදු බුද්ධාදී මහෝත්තමයන් ඇසුරු, කෙරේද, හෙතෙම ධර්මය දන්නේය. කුමක් මෙන්ද යත්? (ලුණු ඇඹුල්) රස දන්නා විඥානයෙන් යුක්තවූ ජිව්හා ප්‍රසාදය (දිව) මෙනි.

Key terms: viññū (discerning / intelligent), paṇḍita, jivhā (tongue) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Tiṁsapāveyyakabhikkhuvatthu — "thirty Pāveyyaka monks" (group-vatthu). (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 66

Pali (dhp66:1–66:4)

Caranti bālā dummedhā,
amitteneva attanā;
Karontā pāpakaṁ kammaṁ,
yaṁ hoti kaṭukapphalaṁ.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

Fools and simpletons behave
like their own worst enemies,
doing wicked deeds
that ripen as bitter fruit.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

(මෙලෝ පරලෝ වැඩ නොදන්නාවූ) මෝඩවූ බාලයෝ කටුකවූ විපාක ඇති යම් අකුශල කර්ම කෙරෙමින් තමන් හා සතුරුවූ සේ හැසිරෙති.

Key terms: dummedha (dull-witted), amitta (non-friend / enemy), pāpakaṁ kammaṁ (evil deed), kaṭukapphala (bitter-fruited) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Suppabuddhakuṭṭhivatthu — Suppabuddha the leper, also referenced at Ud 5.3 (cited; not yet ingested). (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 67

Pali (dhp67:1–67:4)

Na taṁ kammaṁ kataṁ sādhu,
yaṁ katvā anutappati;
Yassa assumukho rodaṁ,
vipākaṁ paṭisevati.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

It's not good to do a deed
that plagues you later on,
for which you weep and wail,
as its effect stays with you.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

යම් කර්මයක් කොට පසුතැවිලි වේද, යම් කර්මයක් හුගේ (අනිෂ්ට) විපාකය කඳුලෙන් තෙත් මුහුණු ඇතිව හඬමින්, අනුභව කෙරේද? (එබඳුවූ) අකුශල කර්මය කරණලද්දේ නොමැනවි.

Key terms: kamma, vipāka, anutappati (regrets) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Kassakavatthu — "a farmer" (anonymous). (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 68

Pali (dhp68:1–68:4)

Tañca kammaṁ kataṁ sādhu,
yaṁ katvā nānutappati;
Yassa patīto sumano,
vipākaṁ paṭisevati.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

It is good to do a deed
that doesn't plague you later on,
that gladdens and cheers,
as its effect stays with you.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

යම් කර්මයක් කොට නොතැවේද, යම් කර්මයක්හුගේ (ඉෂ්ට) විපාකය පිනාගියේ, සුන්දරවූ සිහි ඇත්තේ, අනුභව කෙරේද?, (එබඳුවූ) කුශලකර්මය කරණ ලද්දේ මැනවි.

Key terms: kamma, vipāka, sumana (glad-minded) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Sumanamālākāravatthu — Sumana the garland-maker who offered his flowers to the Buddha. (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 69

Pali (dhp69:1–69:4)

Madhuṁvā maññati bālo,
yāva pāpaṁ na paccati;
Yadā ca paccati pāpaṁ,
atha dukkhaṁ nigacchati.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

The fool imagines that evil is sweet,
so long as it has not yet ripened.
But as soon as that evil ripens,
they fall into suffering.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

අකුශල කර්මය (පව) යම්තාක්කල් විපාක නොදේද, ඒතාක්කල් අඥානතෙම (පාපකර්මය) මිහිරිකොට සිතන්නේය. යම් කලෙක පාපය විපාක දේද, එකල්හි අඥානතෙම (කායික චෛතසික) දුක්ඛයට පැමිණෙන්නේය.

Key terms: madhu (honey / sweet), pāpa (evil), paccati (ripens), bāla Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Uppalavaṇṇattherīvatthu — concerning the assault of the arahant bhikkhunī Uppalavaṇṇā. (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 70

Pali (dhp70:1–70:4)

Māse māse kusaggena,
bālo bhuñjeyya bhojanaṁ;
Na so saṅkhātadhammānaṁ,
kalaṁ agghati soḷasiṁ.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

Month after month a fool may eat
food from a grass-blade's tip;
but they'll never be worth a sixteenth part
of one who has appraised the teaching.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

අඥාන (පුද්ගල) තෙම මසක් පාසා (එක්වරෙක) තණ අගින් ගෙණ භෝජනය අනුභව කරන්නේ නමුදු, හෙතෙම පිරිසිඳ දන්නාලද (චතුරාර්ය සත්‍ය) ධර්මයන් ඇති රහතුන්ගේ සොළොස්වන කලාවට (කොටසට) ද නොපැමිණෙන්නේය.

Key terms: kusagga (grass-tip), saṅkhātadhamma (one who has appraised/reckoned the dhamma), kalaṁ soḷasiṁ ("a sixteenth part") Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Jambukattheravatthu — the ascetic-turned-monk Jambuka whose extreme fasting attracted false reverence. (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 71

Pali (dhp71:1–71:4)

Na hi pāpaṁ kataṁ kammaṁ,
Sajjukhīraṁva muccati;
Ḍahantaṁ bālamanveti,
Bhasmacchannova pāvako.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

For a wicked deed that has been done
does not curdle quickly like milk.
Smoldering, it follows the fool,
like a fire smothered over with ash.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

කරණලද පාප (අකුශල) කර්මය එකෙණෙහිම කිරීමෙන් නොදැවෙන්නේය. අලුයෙන් වැසුණු අඟුරක් මෙන් ඒ අඥානයා දවමින් අනුව යන්නේය.

Key terms: sajjukhīra ("fresh-milk", i.e. milk that curdles at once), pāvaka (fire), kamma, bāla Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Ahipetavatthu — "the snake-peta (hungry ghost)" (anonymous figure). (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 72

Pali (dhp72:1–72:4)

Yāvadeva anatthāya,
ñattaṁ bālassa jāyati;
Hanti bālassa sukkaṁsaṁ,
muddhamassa vipātayaṁ.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

Whatever fame a fool may get,
it only gives rise to harm.
Whatever good features they have it ruins,
and blows their head into bits.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

බාලයා විසින් දන්නා ලද්ද (ශිල්පය නොහොත් බාලයාගේ ඉසුරුබව) බාලයාට අවැඩ යම්තාක් පිණිසම වන්නේය. බාලයාගේ (ප්‍රඥා නැමති) සිරස පළමින් ඔහුගේ කුශල කොට්ඨාශය නසන්නේය.

Key terms: ñatta (fame / knowledge), anattha (harm / non-benefit), sukkaṁsa ("bright-portion", merit), bāla Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Saṭṭhikūṭapetavatthu — the "sixty-hammer peta" (anonymous). (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 73

Pali (dhp73:1–73:4)

Asantaṁ bhāvanamiccheyya,
Purekkhārañca bhikkhusu;
Āvāsesu ca issariyaṁ,
Pūjaṁ parakulesu ca.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

They'd seek the esteem that they lack,
and status among the mendicants;
authority over monasteries,
and honor among other families.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

තමා කෙරෙහි නැති (ගුණයෙන්) බුහුමන් කිරීම කැමති වන්නේය. භික්‍ෂූන් කෙරෙහි හෙවත් භික්‍ෂූන් විසින් පිරිවැරීමද කැමති වන්නේය. සාංඝික ආවාසයෙහි අධිපතිකමද කැමති වන්නේය. අන් (උපාසක) කුලයෙහි පූජාවද කැමති වන්නේය.

Key terms: asanta (non-existent / unreal), purekkhāra (precedence / status), āvāsa (dwelling / monastery), issariya (authority) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Cittagahapativatthu — occasioned by events around Citta the householder, foremost lay expositor (cross-referenced at the Cittasaṃyutta, SN 41 (cited; not yet ingested)). (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 74

Pali (dhp74:1–74:6)

Mameva kata maññantu,
gihī pabbajitā ubho;
Mamevātivasā assu,
kiccākiccesu kismici;
Iti bālassa saṅkappo,
icchā māno ca vaḍḍhati.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

"Let both layfolk and renunciants think
the work was done by me alone.
In anything at all that's to be done,
let them fall under my sway alone."
So thinks the fool,
their greed and pride only growing.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

ගිහියෝද, පැවිද්දෝද යන දෙදෙනම මා විසින්ම කරණ ලද්දා කොට සිතත්වායි කියාද, කිසි කුදු-මහත් කටයුත්තෙහි මා අනුවම පැවතුම් ඇතිවෙත්වායි කියාද, මෙසේ බාලයාහට විතර්කයද, තෘෂ්ණාවද, මානයද වැඩෙයි.

Key terms: saṅkappa (thought / intention), icchā (craving / wish), māna (conceit), bāla Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): shares the Dhp 73 vatthu. (commentary — not canonical)

Verse 75

Pali (dhp75:1–75:6)

Aññā hi lābhūpanisā,
aññā nibbānagāminī;
Evametaṁ abhiññāya,
bhikkhu buddhassa sāvako;
Sakkāraṁ nābhinandeyya,
vivekamanubrūhaye.

English — Bhikkhu Sujato

For the means to profit and the path to quenching
are two quite different things.
A mendicant disciple of the Buddha,
understanding what this really means,
would never delight in honors,
but rather would foster seclusion.

Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa

ලාභ උපදවන ප්‍රතිපත්තිතොම අනිකක්මය. නිවණට පමුණුවන්නාවූ ප්‍රතිපත්තිතොම අනිකක්මය. මෙසේ මෙය විශේෂයෙන් දැන බුදුන්ගේ ශ්‍රාවකවූ මහණතෙම (අධර්මයෙන් උපදවනලද සිව්වැදෑරුම් ප්‍රත්‍යය) සත්කාර නොඉවසන්නේය. විවේකය වඩවන්නේය.

Key terms: lābhūpanisā (leading-to-gain), nibbāna-gāminī (leading-to-nibbāna), sakkāra (honor / offering), viveka (seclusion) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): Vanavāsitissasāmaṇeravatthu — Tissa the forest-dwelling novice who chose solitude over gains. (commentary — not canonical)

Colophon segment dhp75:7: Bālavaggo pañcamo. — "Bālavagga, the fifth."

Concepts introduced in this vagga

People mentioned

Vatthu-attributed (commentary only):

Not creating pages for anonymous vatthus (Dhp 60, 63, 65, 67, 71, 72).

Textual notes

  • Paṇḍitamānī at Dhp 63:3 is the precise term for one who conceits themselves as wise — the grammatical pair to māna as conceit. Sujato renders "imagines that they are wise".
  • The paired Dhp 64–65 and Dhp 67–68 are structural mirrors (fool/clever, regretted-deed/gladdening-deed).
  • Saṅkhātadhammānaṁ at Dhp 70:3 is glossed by commentators as "those who have fully measured/reckoned the dhamma" — effectively, arahants. De Zoysa renders this explicitly (රහතුන්ගේ, "of the arahants"), while Sujato preserves the Pali circumlocution ("one who has appraised the teaching").
  • Dhp 73 and Dhp 74 together form a six-line unit in the Pali segmentation and share a single vatthu; Sujato separates them into two English "verses" but the underlying thought moves in one arc from the fool's desire for status to the growth of icchā and māna.
  • Sajjukhīraṁ va muccati at Dhp 71 — "does not curdle like fresh milk" — is a simile with parallels at MN 8 (cited; not yet ingested) and elsewhere in the canon.

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