146
Ko nu hāso kimānando,
niccaṁ pajjalite sati;
Andhakārena onaddhā,
padīpaṁ na gavesatha.
What is the laughter, what is the joy,
when the world is perpetually ablaze?
Enveloped by darkness,
why do you not seek the light?
147
Passa cittakataṁ bimbaṁ,
arukāyaṁ samussitaṁ;
Āturaṁ bahusaṅkappaṁ,
yassa natthi dhuvaṁ ṭhiti.
Behold this form, a mind-made adornment,
propped up in a body full of sores;
Afflicted, full of plans,
of which, there is nothing enduring or stable.
148
Parijiṇṇamidaṁ rūpaṁ,
roganīḷaṁ pabhaṅguraṁ;
Bhijjati pūtisandeho,
maraṇantañhi jīvitaṁ.
This body is worn out,
a nest of disease, fragile;
this putrid accumulation breaks apart,
for life surely ends in death.
149
Yānimāni apatthāni,
alābūneva sārade;
Kāpotakāni aṭṭhīni,
tāni disvāna kā rati.
Like discarded bottle gourds
in the autumn season,
are these greyish bones;
seeing them, what is the delight?
150
Aṭṭhīnaṁ nagaraṁ kataṁ,
maṁsalohitalepanaṁ;
Yattha jarā ca maccu ca,
māno makkho ca ohito.
This body is a city built of bones,
plastered with flesh and blood;
within it dwell old age and death,
along with conceit and contempt.
151
Jīranti ve rājarathā sucittā,
Atho sarīrampi jaraṁ upeti;
Satañca dhammo na jaraṁ upeti,
Santo have sabbhi pavedayanti.
The well adorned chariots of kings wear out,
this body too undergoes decay;
but the Dhamma of the sages does not age,
the wise make it known to the virtuous persons.
152
Appassutāyaṁ puriso,
balībaddhova jīrati;
Maṁsāni tassa vaḍḍhanti,
paññā tassa na vaḍḍhati.
A person of little learning
grows old just like an ox;
they grow in mass,
but their wisdom does not grow.
153
Anekajātisaṁsāraṁ,
sandhāvissaṁ anibbisaṁ;
Gahakāraṁ gavesanto,
dukkhā jāti punappunaṁ.
Through countless births in cyclic existence,
I have wandered without finding [a way out];
Seeking the house-builder [of this body],
experiencing the suffering of birth again and again.
154
Gahakāraka diṭṭhosi,
puna gehaṁ na kāhasi;
Sabbā te phāsukā bhaggā,
gahakūṭaṁ visaṅkhataṁ;
Visaṅkhāragataṁ cittaṁ,
taṇhānaṁ khayamajjhagā.
House-builder, you are seen!
You will not build a house again;
all your rafters are dismantled,
your ridgepole is destroyed;
The mind has gone beyond all conditions,
having achieved the wearing away of craving.
155
Acaritvā brahmacariyaṁ,
aladdhā yobbane dhanaṁ;
Jiṇṇakoñcāva jhāyanti,
khīṇamaccheva pallale.
Not having lived the spiritual life,
and not having obtained wealth in youth;
they brood like old herons
in a pond depleted of fish.
156
Acaritvā brahmacariyaṁ,
aladdhā yobbane dhanaṁ;
Senti cāpātikhīṇāva,
purāṇāni anutthunaṁ.
Not having fulfilled the spiritual life,
and not having obtained wealth in youth;
They sit, spent and exhausted,
lamenting over the past.