2.
The Discourse on Khema
103.
Standing to one side, Khema the young god spoke these verses in the presence of the Blessed One -
"Fools, imprudent, wander about, with oneself as one's own enemy;
Doing evil action, which has bitter fruit.
"That action done is not good, which having done one regrets;
The result of which one experiences with tearful face, weeping.
"And that action done is good, which having done one does not regret;
The result of which one experiences delighted, glad at heart.
"One should do beforehand that which one would know to be for one's own welfare;
Not with the thinking of a carter should the wise one, after deliberation, exert.
"Just as a carter, having left the smooth, level highway;
Having mounted an uneven path, grieves like one with a broken axle.
"So having departed from the Teaching, having followed what is not the Teaching;
The fool, having reached the mouth of death, grieves like one with a broken axle."