Dhammapada verse 147
Chapter 11, Old Age (Jarāvagga) · verses 146–156
“See this fancy puppet, a body built of sores, diseased, obsessed over, in which nothing lasts at all.”
Passa cittakataṁ bimbaṁ, arukāyaṁ samussitaṁ; Āturaṁ bahusaṅkappaṁ, yassa natthi dhuvaṁ ṭhiti.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 147 mean?
Verse 147 belongs to chapter 11, Old Age (Jarāvagga), which gathers verses 146–156 on old age. It is filed under happiness. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 146 and verse 148 are part of the same passage.
Eleven verses on old age. Its images are the body as a city built of bones and plastered with flesh, and old age and death driving life the way a cowherd drives cattle. The chapter is not only lament: it also contains the verses telling the reader to make an island of themselves and strive while there is time.
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