ධම්ම පදය 19

බහුම්'පි චේ සහිතං භාසමානෝ -
න තක්කරෝ හෝති නරෝ පමත්තෝ
ගෝපෝ'ව ගාවෝ ගණයං පරේසං - 
න භාගවා සාමඤ්ඤස්ස හෝති.

තේරුම:-
ප්‍රමාදී පුද්ගලයා අනෙක් උදවියට කෙතරම් ධර්ම දේශනා කලත්, තමන් ඒ ධර්මය අනුගමනය කරන්නෙ නෑ. ඔහු අනුන්ගේ ගව පට්ටියක් පෝෂණය කරන ගොපල්ලෙක් වගෙයි. තමන්ගෙ ශ්‍රමණ ජීවිතයෙන් මාර්ග ඵල අවබෝධයකට හිමිකාරයෙක් වෙන්නෙ නෑ.

ජේතවනාරමයේදී යහළු තෙරුන් දෙදෙනෙක් අරභයා වදාළ ගාථාවකි.

Bahum pi ce saṃhita  bhāsamāno,
na takkaro hoti naro pamatto
Gopo’va gāvo gaṇayaṃ paresaṃ,
na bhāgavā sāmaññassa hoti.

Though much he recites the sacred texts, but acts not accordingly, that heedless man is like a cowherd who counts others’ kine. He has no share in the fruits of the holy life.

 Explanation: Some persons may know the words of the Buddha extensively and can repeat it all. But through utter neglect they do not live up to it. In consequence they do not reach any religions attainments. They do not enjoy the fruit of the recluse life. This is exactly like the way of life of a cowherd who looks after another's cattle. The cowherd takes the cattle to the pastures in the morning, and in the evening he takes them back to the owner's house. He gets only the wages.


Two Companion Monks
Of the two companions, one was a world ling, but learned, the other was an Arahant though he knew only a little about the teachings. The learned monk did not practice meditation, but his companion realized nibbāna. Being conceited, the learned monk intended to embarrass the other by asking some questions in the presence of the Buddha. Knowing his ulterior motive, the Buddha asked some practical questions about the Dhamma. The Arahant answered them all from his personal experience, but the learned monk could not, as he had not attained anything. The Buddha praised the Arahant who had practiced and understood the Dhamma well.