Then the wanderer Potaliya went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side, and the Buddha said to him:

“Potaliya, these four people are found in the world. What four?

One person criticizes those deserving of criticism at the right time, truthfully and correctly. But they don’t praise those deserving of praise at the right time, truthfully and correctly.

Another person praises those deserving of praise … But they don’t criticize those deserving of criticism …

Another person doesn’t praise those deserving of praise … Nor do they criticize those deserving of criticism …

Another person criticizes those deserving of criticism at the right time, truthfully and correctly. And they praise those deserving of praise at the right time, truthfully and correctly.

These are the four people found in the world. Of these four people, who do you believe to be the finest?”

“Worthy Gotama, of these four people, it is the person who neither praises those deserving of praise at the right time, truthfully and correctly; nor criticizes those deserving of criticism at the right time, truthfully and correctly. That is the person I believe to be the finest. Why is that? Because, worthy Gotama, equanimity is the best.”

“Potaliya, of these four people, it is the person who criticizes those deserving of criticism at the right time, truthfully and correctly; and praises those deserving of praise at the right time, truthfully and correctly. That is the person I consider to be the finest. Why is that? Because, Potaliya, understanding of time and context is the best.”

“Worthy Gotama, of these four people, it is the person who criticizes those deserving of criticism at the right time, truthfully and correctly; and praises those deserving of praise at the right time, truthfully and correctly. That is the person I believe to be the finest. Why is that? Because, worthy Gotama, understanding of time and context is the best.

Excellent, worthy Gotama! Excellent! As if he were righting the overturned, or revealing the hidden, or pointing out the path to the lost, or lighting a lamp in the dark so people with clear eyes can see what’s there, worthy Gotama has made the teaching clear in many ways. I go for refuge to the worthy Gotama, to the teaching, and to the mendicant Saṅgha. From this day forth, may the worthy Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”

The Numbered Discourses

|_【4】 The Book of the Fours

|__B. The Second Fifty

|___V. The Chapter on Demons

AN4.100 With Potaliya the Wanderer

Translations [3]

English

Việt Ngữ

पाळिभासा (Pāli)

Reference

Translations [3]

English

Việt Ngữ

पाळिभासा (Pāli)

Reference

Commentaries [0]