“Well, there are those ascetics and brahmins who lead an order and a community, and tutor a community. They’re well-known and famous religious founders, deemed holy by many people. That is, Pūraṇa Kassapa, the bamboo-staffed ascetic Gosāla, the Jain ascetic of the Ñātika clan, Sañjaya Belaṭṭhiputta, Pakudha Kaccāyana, and Ajita of the hair blanket. I also asked them whether they claimed to have awakened to the supreme perfect awakening, but they made no such claim. So why do you, given that you’re so young in age and newly gone forth?”

“Great king, these four things should not be looked down upon or disparaged because they are young. What four? An aristocrat, a serpent, a fire, and a mendicant. These four things should not be looked down upon or disparaged because they are young.”

That is what the Buddha said. Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:

“A man should not despise an aristocrat of impeccable lineage, high-born and famous, just because they’re young.

For it’s possible that that lord of mankind, as aristocrat, will gain the throne. And in his anger he’ll execute a royal punishment, and have you violently beaten. Hence you should avoid him for the sake of your own life.

Whether in village or wilderness, wherever a serpent is seen, a man should not look down on it or despise it for its youth.