r/WordsOfTheBuddha

>Verses depicting the uncertain, brief, and suffering-laden nature of mortal life, emphasizing the inevitability of death for all beings, like ripe fruits fated to fall. The Buddha counsels against futile grief and lamentation over the departed, urging the wise to understand the world’s relentless course of decay and death.

Uncertain and unknown,
is the life of mortals here;
it is difficult and brief,
and bound up with suffering.

For there is no means,
by which those who have been born will not die;
having reached old age, there is death,
for such is the nature of living beings.

Just as for ripe fruits,
are ever in peril of falling;
so for mortals who are born,
there is constant fear of death.

Just as the clay pots,
made by a potter;
all eventually end in breakage,
so too is the life of mortals.

Both the young and the old,
the immature and the wise alike;
all fall under the sway of death,
all have death as their destination.

When those overpowered by death,
are departing from this world to the next world;
a father cannot protect his son,
nor relatives their kin.

Even as the relatives are looking on,
and wailing profusely;
see how each of the mortals is led away,
like a cow being led to slaughter.

Thus the world is stricken,
by death and by old age;
therefore the wise do not sorrow,
having understood the nature of the world.

For one whose path you do not know,
by which they’ve come or where they’ve gone;
not perceiving either end,
yet mourn without purpose.

If while he is mourning,
a bewildered person, injuring himself;
could derive some benefit,
a clear-seeing one would do the same.

For neither with weeping nor with sorrow,
does the mind attain peace;
rather, greater suffering arises,
and the body too is harmed.

One becomes thin and pale,
self-inflicting harm upon oneself;
the departed are not protected by this,
vain is such mourning.

The person who does not abandon sorrow,
sinks into even greater suffering;
grieving for the one who has passed away,
one falls under the sway of sorrow.

See how others too must go,
each according to their deeds;
coming under death’s dominion,
living beings tremble just so.

However they may imagine it,
it turns out otherwise;
such is separation—
See the way of the world.

Even if a person were to live,
for a hundred years or longer;
there is separation from one’s group of relatives,
when one abandons life in this world.

Therefore, having heard it from the Arahant,
and having alleviated sorrow;
having seen that he has departed and died,
realize, “I cannot [bring the dead back to life].”

Just as, if one’s shelter were blazing,
one would extinguish the fire with water;
so too, the steadfast, discerning person,
learned, skillful person;
swiftly blows away arisen sorrow,
as the wind scatters a tuft of cotton.

[Blow away] sorrow and yearning,
and one’s own displeasure;
seeking happiness for oneself,
one should draw out the dart from oneself.

With the dart drawn out, unattached,
having attained peace of mind;
having overcome all sorrow,
sorrowless, one is quenched.

---

Key Terms:

[1] suffering [dukkha] ≈ discomfort, unpleasantness, discontentment, dissatisfaction, stress, pain, disease, i.e. mild or intense suffering

[2] immature [bāla] ≈ lacking in discernment or good sense, child-like in understanding

[3] wise [paṇḍita] ≈ astute, intelligent, learned, skilled

[4] bewildered [sammūḷha] ≈ confused, deluded

[5] clear-seeing one [vicakkhaṇa] ≈ discerning one, wise person

[6] sorrow [soka] ≈ grief, sadness

[7] peace [santi] ≈ calm, tranquility

[8] is harmed [upahaññati] ≈ is disturbed, is distressed

[9] pale [vivaṇṇa] ≈ of sickly appearance

[10] imagine [maññati] ≈ think, suppose, conceive

[11] Arahant [arahant] ≈ a worthy one, a fully awakened being, epithet of the Buddha

[12] steadfast [dhīra] ≈ firm, stable, wise

[13] discerning [sapañña] ≈ intelligent, wise

[14] yearning [pajappā] ≈ prayer, lit. muttering

[15] displeasure [domanassa] ≈ a negative state of mind; disagreeable feeling or unease born of mental contact, mental pain

[16] unattached [asita] ≈ untied, free

[17] quenched [nibbuta] ≈ liberated from mental defilements

---

Picture: “Standing Buddha offering protection,” Gupta period, India, late 6th–early 7th century. Photo by Vincent Tullo for The New York Times

Related Teachings:

• This life is brief, even before a hundred years it passes away (SnP 4.6) - The Buddha shares a reflection on aging and the impermanence of life and possessions. Seeing that all we call ‘mine’ must be lost at death, one should not cling to self. The sage, like a lotus leaf unstained by water, does not cling or spurn what is seen, heard, or sensed.
• Verses on Old Age (DhP 146 - 152) - Verses exploring impermanence, the nature of the body, and the inevitability of aging and death. Through metaphors of a world ablaze, a decaying body, the house-builder and a city of bones, they point to life’s transience and the futility of clinging to sensual pleasures.
• “I will recount the urgency for awakening, as it has been stirred within me” (SnP 4.15) - The Buddha shares in poignant terms his observations on the agitation all beings experience which led to his urgency to awaken. He then shares on the path to awakening and describes the dwelling of an awakened being.