Those who discuss
when angered, dogmatic, arrogant,
following what’s not the noble ones’ way,
seeking to expose each other’s faults,
delight in each other’s misspoken word,
slip, stumble, defeat.
Noble ones
don’t speak in that way.
If wise people, knowing the right time,
want to speak,
then, words connected with justice,
following the ways of the noble ones:
That’s what the enlightened ones speak,
without anger or arrogance,
with a mind not boiling over,
without vehemence, without spite.
Without envy
they speak from right knowledge.
They would delight in what’s well-said
and not disparage what’s not.
They don’t study to find fault,
don’t grasp at little mistakes.
don’t put down, don’t crush,
don’t speak random words.
For the purpose of knowledge,
for the purpose of (inspiring) clear confidence,
counsel that’s true:
That’s how noble ones give counsel.
That’s the noble ones’ counsel.
Knowing this, the intelligent
should give counsel without arrogance.
Notes
1. Reading aññātavāda with the Burmese edition. An alternate translation would be, “the teachings of those who know.”
2. According to the Commentary, these qualities are, respectively, the noble truth of the path, the noble truth of stress, the noble truth of the origination of stress, and the noble truth of the cessation of stress.
Origin URL: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN3_68.html