Vaṅgīsasaṁyutta 3

Linked Discourses 8.3

1. With Vaṅgīsa

1 At one time Venerable Vaṅgīsa was staying near Āḷavī, at Āḷavī’s premier shrine, together with his mentor, Venerable Nigrodhakappa.

Now at that time Venerable Vaṅgīsa looked down upon other good-hearted mendicants because of his own eloquence.

Then he thought, “It’s my loss, my misfortune, that I look down on other good-hearted mendicants because of my own eloquence.”

Then, on the occasion of arousing remorse in himself, he recited these verses:

2 “Give up conceit, Gotama!

Completely abandon the different kinds of conceit!

Besotted with the different kinds of conceit,

you’ve had regrets for a long time.

3 Smeared by smears and slain by conceit,

people fall into hell.

When people slain by conceit are reborn in hell,

they grieve for a long time.

4 But a mendicant who practices rightly,

a path-victor, never grieves.

They enjoy happiness and a good reputation,

and they rightly call him a ‘Seer of Truth’.

5 So being not hard-hearted, but energetic,

with hindrances given up, pure;

and having completely given up conceit,

the one who makes an end with knowledge is assuaged.”