Read, reflect, pray
Sutta Nipāta 4-6: Jarāsutta
Viggo Fausböll, 1881 · Historical English translation
1. Short indeed is this life, within a hundred years one dies, and if any one lives longer, then he dies of old age. (804)
2. People grieve from selfishness, perpetual cares kill them, this (world) is full of disappointment; seeing this, let one not live in a house. (805)
3. That even of which a man thinks ‘this is mine’ is left behind by death: knowing this, let not the wise (man) turn himself to worldliness (while being my) follower. (806)
4. As a man awakened does not see what he has met with in his sleep, so also he does not see the beloved person that has passed away and is dead. (807)
5. Both seen and heard are the persons whose particular name is mentioned, but only the name remains undecayed of the person that has passed away. (808)
6. The greedy in their selfishness do not leave sorrow, lamentation, and avarice; therefore the Munis leaving greediness wandered about seeing security (i.e. Nibbāna). (809)
7. For a Bhikkhu, who wanders about unattached and cultivates the mind of a recluse, they say it is proper that he does not show himself (again) in existence. (810)
8. Under all circumstances the independent Muni does not please nor displease (any one); sorrow and avarice do not stick to him (as little) as water to a leaf. (811)
9. As a drop of water does not stick to a lotus, as water does not stick to a lotus, so a Muni does not cling to anything, namely, to what is seen or heard or thought. (812)
10. He who has shaken off (sin) does not therefore think (much of anything) because it has been seen or heard or thought; he does not wish for purification through another, for he is not pleased nor displeased (with anything). (813)
Jarāsutta is ended.
Translation, numbering and rights
Viggo Fausböll, 1881. Public-domain 1881 translation, from the free non-commercial EPUB distributed by Reading Faithfully (edition 1.0, February 2012), transcribed by Christopher M. Weimer for the Internet Sacred Text Archive. This reader is free and non-commercial. Pali diacritics follow the EPUB. Translator introductions and footnotes are omitted; discourse prose, verses and the concluding passages are retained.
This 1881 edition uses consecutive verse numbers ending at 1148. It differs from the Japanese edition and must not be aligned by verse number alone. The final reading includes the concluding praises and Piṅgiya’s dialogue. The source’s printed numbering is retained, including gaps. A repeated “1041” in the source is retained; the expected “1047” is not silently substituted. No verse text is supplied by guesswork.
This historical English translation uses older vocabulary. It is independent of the Japanese translation linked from this site. The Japanese edition’s translator and license are credited there.