Sagāthaka sutta: With Verses

At Sāvatthī.

“Possessions, honor, and popularity are grim …

Take a case where I see a certain individual whose mind is overcome and overwhelmed by honor. When their body broke up, after death, they were reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell.

Take another case where I see a certain individual whose mind is overcome and overwhelmed by lack of honor. When their body broke up, after death, they were reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell.

And take another case where I see a certain individual whose mind is overcome and overwhelmed by both honor and lack of honor. When their body broke up, after death, they were reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell.

So grim are possessions, honor, and popularity. …”

That is what the Buddha said. Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:

“Whether they’re honored
or not honored, or both,
their immersion doesn’t waver
as they abide in the immeasurables.

They persistently meditate
with subtle view and discernment.
Rejoicing in the ending of grasping,
they’re said to be a true person.”