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 poetic virtuosity.
Then he thought,
“It’s my loss, my misfortune,
that I look down on other good-hearted mendicants because of my own poetic virtuosity.”
Then, on the occasion of arousing remorse in himself, he recited these verses:
“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.
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.
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’.
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.”