[388] 4.
See the image decked out — a body of sores, propped up,
afflicted, the object of many intentions, in which there is no enduring stability.
See the form decked out, with jewel and with earrings,
bones sheathed in skin, resplendent along with its garments.
Feet reddened with lac, the face smeared with powder —
enough to delude (moha) a fool, but not a seeker of the far shore.
Hair dressed in chequerboard plaits, eyes smeared with collyrium —
enough to delude a fool, but not a seeker of the far shore.
A putrid body adorned, like a new painted collyrium-box —
enough to delude a fool, but not a seeker of the far shore.
The deer-hunter set the snare, but the deer did not touch the net;
having eaten the bait, we go, while the trapper of deer laments.
The deer-hunter's snares are broken; the deer did not touch the net;
having eaten the bait, we go, while the hunter of deer grieves.
I see men of wealth in the world
who, having gained riches, out of delusion do not give;
having gained wealth, they make a hoard of it,
and hanker after sensual pleasures more and more.
A king who has conquered the earth by force,
dwelling over the land bounded by the ocean,
unsated with the hither shore of the sea,
would covet the sea's farther shore as well.
The king, and many other men besides,
come to death with craving (taṇhā) unabated;
still unfilled, they cast off the body,
for in the world there is no satiety in sensual pleasures.
His kinsfolk wail for him with dishevelled hair,
crying, "Alas! would that ours were deathless!"
Carrying him out wrapped in a cloth,
they heap up a pyre and there they burn him.
He is burned, prodded with stakes,
in a single garment, his wealth left behind;
for one who is dying there is no protection
in kinsmen, in friends, or in companions.
His heirs carry off his wealth,
but the being goes on according to his deeds (kamma);
no wealth whatever follows the dying man —
neither children, nor wives, nor wealth, nor realm.
Long life is not gained by wealth,
nor is old age banished by riches;
short indeed is this life, the wise declare,
not eternal, subject to change.
Rich and poor alike experience contact (phassa);
fool and sage alike are touched;
but the fool, through his folly, lies as though struck down,
while the sage, when touched by contact, does not tremble.
Therefore wisdom (paññā) is better than wealth,
for by it one reaches consummation (vosāna) here;
for through non-consummation, in existence after existence,
people do evil deeds out of delusion.
One comes to the womb and to the world beyond,
passing on through the round of rebirth (saṃsāra) in succession;
and another of little wisdom, placing faith in him,
comes to the womb and to the world beyond.
Just as a robber of evil nature, caught at the breach,
is struck down by his own deed,
so people of evil nature, after death,
are struck down in the world beyond by their own deeds.
Sensual pleasures — varied, sweet, delightful —
churn the mind (citta) with their manifold forms;
having seen the danger (ādīnava) in the cords of sensual pleasure (kāmaguṇa),
therefore, O King, I have gone forth.
As the fruits of a tree fall, so people fall,
both young and old, at the breaking up of the body;
seeing this too, O King, I have gone forth:
better indeed is the ascetic life that cannot fail.
Out of faith (saddhā) I went forth, entering the Victor's dispensation;
blameless has been my going forth: free of debt I eat my food.
Having seen sensual pleasures as ablaze, and gold as a knife,
suffering (dukkha) from the descent into the womb, and the great peril in the hells (niraya),
having seen this danger, I then gained a sense of urgency (saṃvega);
pierced then, I have attained the destruction of the taints (āsava).
The Teacher has been served by me, the Buddha's dispensation has been fulfilled;
the heavy burden has been laid down, the conduit to existence (bhavanetti) uprooted.
The goal for whose sake I went forth from home into homelessness —
that goal I have attained: the destruction of all fetters (saṃyojana).
The Elder Raṭṭhapāla.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.