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Dhp 155 Mahādhanaseṭṭhiputtavatthu
Profiting in Neither Way
A wealthy youth takes to drink and squanders both his own and his wife’s money and ends up a beggar. The Buddha explains that if he had applied himself as a layman he would have been amongst the chief treasurers; and if he had become a monk he would have attained the paths and fruits.
79. Acaritvā brahmacariyaṁ, aladdhā yobbane dhanaṁ,
Jiṇṇakoñcā ca jhāyanti khīṇamacche va pallale.
Not having lived spiritually,
Not having gained wealth in their youth,
They waste away like the herons
In a small lake devoid of fish.
