Dhammapada verse 154
Chapter 11, Old Age (Jarāvagga) · verses 146–156
“I’ve seen you, house-builder! You won’t build a house again! Your rafters are all broken, your roof-peak demolished. The mind, set on demolition, has reached the end of cravings.”
Gahakāraka diṭṭhosi, puna gehaṁ na kāhasi; Sabbā te phāsukā bhaggā, gahakūṭaṁ visaṅkhataṁ; Visaṅkhāragataṁ cittaṁ, taṇhānaṁ khayamajjhagā.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 154 mean?
Verse 154 belongs to chapter 11, Old Age (Jarāvagga), which gathers verses 146–156 on old age. It is filed under mind & intention, craving & attachment. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 153 and verse 155 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.
More verses on this