Tipitaka » Sutta
Pitaka » Samyutta Nikaya » Context
of this sutta
- Samyutta Nikaya XII.19
- Bala-pandita Sutta
- The Fool & the Wise Person
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
Dwelling at Savatthi. "When a fool is obstructed by
ignorance and conjoined with craving, this body thus results. Now there is both this body
and external name-&-form. Here, in dependence on this duality, there is contact at the
six senses. Touched by these, or one or another of them, the fool is sensitive to pleasure
& pain.
"When a wise person is obstructed by ignorance and conjoined with craving, this
body thus results. Now there is both this body and external name-&-form. Here, in
dependence on this duality, there is contact at the six senses. Touched by these, or one
or another of them, the wise person is sensitive to pleasure & pain.
"So what difference, what distinction, what distinguishing factor is there between
the wise person & the fool?"
"For us, lord, the teachings have the Blessed One as their root, their guide,
& their refuge. It would be good if the Blessed One himself would explicate the
meaning of this statement. Having heard it from the Blessed One, the monks will remember
it."
"In that case, monks, listen & pay close attention. I will speak."
"As you say, lord," the monks responded.
The Blessed One said, "The ignorance with which the fool is obstructed, the
craving with which he is conjoined, through which this body results: that ignorance has
not been abandoned by the fool; that craving has not been destroyed. Why is that? The fool
has not practiced the holy life for the right ending of stress. Therefore, at the break-up
of the body, he is headed for a [new] body. Headed for a body, he is not entirely freed
from birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. I tell you,
he is not entirely freed from stress & suffering.
"The ignorance with which the wise person is obstructed, the craving with which he
is conjoined, through which this body results: that ignorance has been abandoned by the
wise person; that craving has not been destroyed. Why is that? The wise person has
practiced the holy life for the right ending of stress. Therefore, at the break-up of the
body, he is not headed for a [new] body. Not headed for a body, he is entirely freed from
birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. He is, I tell
you, entirely freed from stress & suffering."