Dhammapada verse 65
Chapter 5, The Fool (Bālavagga) · verses 60–75
“If a clever person attends to the wise even just for an hour or so, they swiftly understand the teaching, like a tongue the taste of the soup.”
Muhuttamapi ce viññū, paṇḍitaṁ payirupāsati; Khippaṁ dhammaṁ vijānāti, jivhā sūparasaṁ yathā.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 65 mean?
Verse 65 belongs to chapter 5, The Fool (Bālavagga), which gathers verses 60–75 on the fool. It is filed under wisdom & folly. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 64 and verse 66 are part of the same passage.
The fool, in sixteen verses. The chapter is not kind about it: the fool who knows they are a fool is at least partly wise, the fool who thinks they are wise is beyond help, and the harm a fool does lands on themselves first. It includes the image of evil tasting sweet until it ripens.
More verses on this