dhp146:0.1Minor Collection
dhp146:0.2Sayings of the Dhamma 146–156
dhp146:0.311. Old Age
dhp146:1What is joy, what is laughter,
dhp146:2when the flames are ever burning?
dhp146:3Swathed in darkness,
dhp146:4would you not seek a light?
dhp147:1See this fancy puppet,
dhp147:2a body built of sores,
dhp147:3diseased, obsessed over,
dhp147:4in which nothing lasts at all.
dhp148:1This body is decrepit and frail,
dhp148:2a nest of disease.
dhp148:3This foul carcass falls apart,
dhp148:4for life ends in death.
dhp149:1These dove-grey bones
dhp149:2are tossed away like
dhp149:3dried gourds in the autumn—
dhp149:4what joy is there in such a sight?
dhp150:1In this city built of bones,
dhp150:2plastered with flesh and blood,
dhp150:3old age and death are stashed away,
dhp150:4along with conceit and contempt.
dhp151:1Fancy chariots of kings wear out,
dhp151:2and even this body gets old.
dhp151:3But the truth of the good never gets old—
dhp151:4so the good proclaim to the good.
dhp152:1A person of little learning
dhp152:2ages like an ox—
dhp152:3their flesh grows,
dhp152:4but not their wisdom.
dhp153:1Transmigrating through countless rebirths,
dhp153:2I’ve journeyed without reward,
dhp153:3searching for the house-builder;
dhp153:4painful is birth again and again.
dhp154:1I’ve seen you, house-builder!
dhp154:2You won’t build a house again!
dhp154:3Your rafters are all broken,
dhp154:4your roof-peak demolished.
dhp154:5The mind, set on demolition,
dhp154:6has reached the end of cravings.
dhp155:1When young they spurned the spiritual path
dhp155:2and failed to earn any wealth.
dhp155:3Now they brood like old cranes
dhp155:4in a pond bereft of fish.
dhp156:1When young they spurned the spiritual path
dhp156:2and failed to earn any wealth.
dhp156:3Now they lie like spent arrows,
dhp156:4bemoaning over things past.