snp.4.12 Suttanipata

The Shorter Discourse on Arrayed For Battle

“Each maintaining their own view,
the experts disagree, arguing:
‘Whoever sees it this way has understood the teaching;
those who reject this are inadequate.’
So arguing, they quarrel,
saying, ‘The other is a fool, an amateur!’
Which one of these speaks true,
for they all claim to be an expert?”
“If not accepting another’s teaching
makes you a useless fool lacking wisdom,
then they’re all fools lacking wisdom,
for they all maintain their own view.
But if having your own view is what makes you pristine—
pure in wisdom, expert and intelligent—
then none of them lack wisdom,
for such is the view they have all embraced.
I do not say that it is correct
when they call each other fools.
Each has built up their own view to be the truth,
which is why they take the other as a fool.”
“What some say is true and correct,
others say is hollow and false.
So arguing, they quarrel;
why don’t ascetics say the same thing?”
“The truth is one, there is no second,
understanding which folk would not argue.
But those ascetics each boast of different truths;
that’s why they don’t say the same thing.”
“But why do they speak of different truths,
these proponents who claim to be experts?
Are there really so many different truths,
or do they just follow their own lines of reasoning?”
“No, there are not many different truths
that, apart from perception, are lasting in the world.
Having formed their reasoning regarding different views,
they say there are two things: true and false.
The seen, heard, or thought, or precepts or vows—
based on these they show disdain.
Standing in judgment, they scoff,
saying, ‘The other is a fool, an amateur!’
They take the other as a fool on the same grounds
that they speak of themselves as an expert.
Claiming to be an expert on their own authority,
they disdain the other while saying the same thing.
They are perfect, according to their own extreme view;
drunk on conceit, imagining themselves proficient.
They have anointed themselves in their own mind,
for such is the view they have embraced.
If the word of your opponent makes you deficient,
then they too are lacking wisdom.
But if on your own authority you’re a knowledge master, a wise person,
then there are no fools among the ascetics.
‘Those who proclaim a teaching other than this
have fallen short of purity, and are inadequate’:
so say each one of the sectarians,
for they are deeply attached to their own view.
‘Here alone is purity,’ they say,
denying that there is purification in other teachings.
Thus each one of the sectarians, being dogmatic,
speaks forcefully within the context of their own journey.
But in that case, so long as they are speaking forcefully of their own journey,
how can they take the other as a fool?
They are the ones who provoke conflict
when they call the other a fool with an impure teaching.
Standing in judgment, measuring by their own standard,
they keep getting into disputes with the world.
But a person who has given up all judgments
creates no conflict in the world.”