I See in the World ..........

Rattapala sutta

I see in the world
people with wealth
who, from delusion,
don't make a gift
of the treasure they've gained.
Greedy, they stash it away,
hoping for even more
sensual pleasures.

A king who, by force,
has conquered the world
and rules over the earth
to the edge of the sea,
dissatisfied with the ocean's near shore,
longs for the ocean's
far shore as well.

Kings & others
plenty of people
go to death with craving
unabated. Unsated,
they leave the body behind,
having not had enough
of the world's sensual pleasures.

One's relatives weep
& pull out their hair.
'Oh woe, our loved one is dead'
they cry.
Carrying him off,
wrapped in a piece of cloth,
they place him
on a pyre,
then set him on fire.

So he burns, poked with sticks,
in just one piece of cloth,
leaving all his possessions behind.
They are not shelters for
one who has died —
not relatives,
friends,
or companions.

His heirs take over his wealth,
while the being goes on,
in line with his kamma.
No wealth at all
follows the dead one —
not children, wives,
dominion, or riches.

Long life
can't be gotten with wealth,
nor aging
warded off with treasure.
The wise say this life
is next to nothing —
impermanent,
subject to change.

The rich & the poor
touch the touch of Death.
The foolish & wise
are touched by it, too.

But while fools lie
as if slain by their folly,
the wise don't tremble
when touched by the touch.
Thus the discernment
by which one attains to mastery,
is better than wealth —
for those
who haven't reached
mastery go from existence
to existence,
out of delusion,
doing bad deeds.
One goes to a womb
& to the next world,
falling into the wandering on —
one thing after another —
while those of weak discernment,
trusting in one, also go
to a womb and
to the next world.
Just as an evil
thief caught
at the break-in
is destroyed
by his own act, so evil
people — after dying,
in the next world —
are destroyed
by their own acts.
Sensual pleasures — variegated,
enticing, sweet — in
various ways
disturb the mind.
Seeing the drawbacks
in sensual objects:
that's why,
O king, I went forth.
Just like fruits, people
fall — young & old —
at the break-up of the body.
Knowing this,
O king,
I went forth.
The contemplative
life is better for sure.


Adapted from Rattapala sutta translated from Pali by Bhikkhu Thanissaro.