[A deity asked]: “What gets worn out, what does not decay?
What is said to be the |wrong way::off course, lit. up road [uppatha]|?
What is the obstacle to the |truth::truth behind the teaching, reality [dhamma]|?
What experiences disintegration day and night?
What is the stain of the |spiritual life::a life of celibacy, contemplation, and ethical discipline lived for the sake of liberation; oriented toward inner development rather than sensual pleasures [brahmacariya]|?
What is the bath without water?
How many fissures are there in the world,
where one’s wealth does not last?
We have come to ask you, Blessed One:
how are we to understand this?”
[The Blessed One]: “The physical form of the mortals gets worn out,
their |name::mental objects of consciousness, mentality, factors of feeling, perception, intention, contact and attention [nāma]| and |lineage::ancestry, family clan [gotta]| do not decay;
|Passion::intense desire, strong emotion, infatuation, obsession, lust [rāga]| is said to be the wrong way.
|Greed::a grasping mental quality of craving, possessiveness, or lustful wanting that clings to objects or experiences; it fuels attachment and obstructs renunciation and contentment [lobha]| is the obstacle to truth.
Lifespan experiences disintegration day and night.
|Opposite gender::lit. feminine gender [itthī]| is the stain of the spiritual life,
in which this generation |is entangled::is attached, lit. is stuck [sajjati]|.
|Spiritual practice::austerity, ascetic practice [tapa]| and the spiritual life—
that is the bath without water.
There are six fissures in the world,
where one’s wealth does not last;
|Laziness::idleness [ālasya]|, |negligence::carelessness, heedlessness [pamāda]|,
|not making effort::inaction, lack of energy to do work [anuṭṭhāna]|, |non-restraint::lack of self-control [asaṁyama]|;
Sleeping too much and |sluggishness::sloth, tiredness [tandī]|—
avoid these fissures in every way.”