sutta » an » an4 » Aṅguttara Nikāya 4.47

Suvidūrasutta

Very Far Apart

“Cattārimāni, bhikkhave, suvidūravidūrāni.
“Mendicants, these four things are very far apart.

Katamāni cattāri?
What four?

Nabhañca, bhikkhave, pathavī ca;
The sky and the earth. …

idaṁ paṭhamaṁ suvidūravidūre.

Orimañca, bhikkhave, tīraṁ samuddassa pārimañca;
The near and the far shore of the ocean. …

idaṁ dutiyaṁ suvidūravidūre.

Yato ca, bhikkhave, verocano abbhudeti yattha ca atthameti;
Where the sun rises and where it sets. …

idaṁ tatiyaṁ suvidūravidūre.

Satañca, bhikkhave, dhammo asatañca dhammo;
The teaching of the virtuous and the teaching of the wicked. …

idaṁ catutthaṁ suvidūravidūre.

Imāni kho, bhikkhave, cattāri suvidūravidūrānīti.
These are the four things very far apart.

Nabhañca dūre pathavī ca dūre,
The sky is far from the earth;

Pāraṁ samuddassa tadāhu dūre;
they say the other shore of the ocean is far;

Yato ca verocano abbhudeti,
and where the sun rises is far

Pabhaṅkaro yattha ca atthameti;
from where that beacon sets.

Tato have dūrataraṁ vadanti,
But even further apart than that, they say,

Satañca dhammaṁ asatañca dhammaṁ.
is the teaching of the virtuous from the wicked.

Abyāyiko hoti sataṁ samāgamo,
The company of the virtuous is reliable;

Yāvāpi tiṭṭheyya tatheva hoti;
as long as it remains, it stays the same.

Khippañhi veti asataṁ samāgamo,
But the company of the wicked is fickle,

Tasmā sataṁ dhammo asabbhi ārakā”ti.
and so the teaching of the virtuous <j>is far from the wicked.”

Sattamaṁ.