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Numbered Discourses · AN 3.1

  • Numbered Discourses 3.1Aṅguttara Nikāya 3.1
  • 1. Fools1. Bālavagga

PerilsBhayasutta

So I have heard.Evaṁ me sutaṁ— At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants,Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: “Mendicants!”“bhikkhavo”ti.

“Venerable sir,” they replied.“Bhadante”ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ. The Buddha said this:Bhagavā etadavoca:

“Whatever dangers there are, all come from the foolish, not from the astute.“Yāni kānici, bhikkhave, bhayāni uppajjanti sabbāni tāni bālato uppajjanti, no paṇḍitato. Whatever perils there are, all come from the foolish, not from the astute.Ye keci upaddavā uppajjanti sabbe te bālato uppajjanti, no paṇḍitato. Whatever hazards there are, all come from the foolish, not from the astute.Ye keci upasaggā uppajjanti sabbe te bālato uppajjanti, no paṇḍitato. It’s like a fire that spreads from a hut made of reeds or grass, and burns down even a bungalow, plastered inside and out, draft-free, with doors fastened and windows shuttered.Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, naḷāgārā vā tiṇāgārā vā aggi mutto kūṭāgārānipi ḍahati ullittāvalittāni nivātāni phusitaggaḷāni pihitavātapānāni; In the same way, whatever dangers there are, all come from the foolish, not from the astute.evamevaṁ kho, bhikkhave, yāni kānici bhayāni uppajjanti sabbāni tāni bālato uppajjanti, no paṇḍitato. Whatever perils there are, all come from the foolish, not from the astute.Ye keci upaddavā uppajjanti sabbe te bālato uppajjanti, no paṇḍitato. Whatever hazards there are, all come from the foolish, not from the astute.Ye keci upasaggā uppajjanti sabbe te bālato uppajjanti, no paṇḍitato.

So, the fool is dangerous, but the astute person is safe.Iti kho, bhikkhave, sappaṭibhayo bālo, appaṭibhayo paṇḍito. The fool is perilous, but the astute person is not.Saupaddavo bālo, anupaddavo paṇḍito. The fool is hazardous, but the astute person is not.Saupasaggo bālo, anupasaggo paṇḍito. There’s no danger, peril, or hazard that comes from the astute.Natthi, bhikkhave, paṇḍitato bhayaṁ, natthi paṇḍitato upaddavo, natthi paṇḍitato upasaggo.

So you should train like this:Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, evaṁ sikkhitabbaṁ: ‘We will shun the three things by which a fool is known, and we will proceed having undertaken the three things by which an astute person is known.’‘yehi tīhi dhammehi samannāgato bālo veditabbo te tayo dhamme abhinivajjetvā, yehi tīhi dhammehi samannāgato paṇḍito veditabbo te tayo dhamme samādāya vattissāmā’ti. That’s how you should train.”Evañhi vo, bhikkhave, sikkhitabban”ti.

Similar passages elsewhere

Found by meaning, not by citation: the passages in other texts whose wording sits closest to a passage here.

  1. SN 20.7 The Drum Called Plugger 0.99near 4.3That’s how you should train.”…
  2. SN 20.8 Wood Blocks 0.99near 4.3That’s how you should train.”…
  3. AN 3.92 Urgent 0.99near 4.3That’s how you should train.”…
  4. AN 4.157 Illness 0.99near 4.3That’s how you should train.”…
  5. MN 115 Many Elements 0.73near 0.1Middle Discourses 115 Many Elements So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Venerable sir,”…
  6. AN 5.180 About Gavesī 0.70near 4.3So you should train like this: ‘Trying to go higher and higher, better and better, we will realize the supreme bliss of freedom.’ That’s how you should train.”…
  7. MN 129 The Foolish and the Astute 0.59near 0.1Middle Discourses 129 The Foolish and the Astute So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Ven…
  8. AN 3.4 Mistakes 0.53near 0.1Numbered Discourses 3.4 1. Fools Mistakes “A fool is known by three things. What three? They don’t recognize when they’ve made a mistake. When they do recognize it they don’t deal with it properly. And when someone else…