804 Short, alas, is this life;
you die before a hundred years.
Even if you live a little longer,
you still die of old age.

805 People grieve over belongings,
yet there is no such thing as permanent possessions.
Separation is a fact of life; when you see this,
you wouldn’t stay living at home.

806 Whatever a person thinks of as belonging to them,
that too is given up when they die.
Knowing this, an astute follower of mine
would not be bent on ownership.

807 Just as, upon awakening, a person does not see
what they encountered in a dream;
so too you do not see your loved ones
when they are dead and gone.

808 You used to see and hear those folk,
and call them by their name.
Yet the name is all that’s left to tell
of a person when they’re gone.

809Those who are greedy for belongings
don’t give up sorrow, lamentation, and stinginess.
That’s why the sages, seers of sanctuary,
left possessions behind and wandered.

810 For a mendicant who lives withdrawn,
frequenting a secluded seat,
they say it’s fitting
to not show themselves in a home.

811 The sage is independent everywhere,
they don’t form likes or dislikes.
Lamentation and stinginess
slip off them like water from a leaf.

812 Like a droplet slips from a lotus-leaf,
like water from a lotus flower;
the sage doesn’t cling to that
which is seen or heard or thought.

813 For the one who is cleansed does not conceive
in terms of things seen, heard, or thought.
They do not wish to be purified by another;
they are neither passionate nor growing dispassioned.

804Appaṁ vata jīvitaṁ idaṁ,
Oraṁ vassasatāpi miyyati;
Yo cepi aticca jīvati,
Atha kho so jarasāpi miyyati.

805 Socanti janā mamāyite,
Na hi santi niccā pariggahā;
Vinābhāvasantamevidaṁ,
Iti disvā nāgāramāvase.

806 Māraṇenapi taṁ pahīyati,
Yaṁ puriso mamidanti maññati;
Etampi viditvā paṇḍito,
Na mamattāya nametha māmako.

807 Supinena yathāpi saṅgataṁ,
Paṭibuddho puriso na passati;
Evampi piyāyitaṁ janaṁ,
Petaṁ kālaṅkataṁ na passati.

808 Diṭṭhāpi sutāpi te janā,
Yesaṁ nāmamidaṁ pavuccati;
Nāmaṁyevāvasissati,
Akkheyyaṁ petassa jantuno.

809 Sokapparidevamaccharaṁ,
Na jahanti giddhā mamāyite;
Tasmā munayo pariggahaṁ,
Hitvā acariṁsu khemadassino.

810 Patilīnacarassa bhikkhuno,
Bhajamānassa vivittamāsanaṁ;
Sāmaggiyamāhu tassa taṁ,
Yo attānaṁ bhavane na dassaye.

811 Sabbattha munī anissito,
Na piyaṁ kubbati nopi appiyaṁ;
Tasmiṁ paridevamaccharaṁ,
Paṇṇe vāri yathā na limpati.

812 Udabindu yathāpi pokkhare,
Padume vāri yathā na limpati;
Evaṁ muni nopalimpati,
Yadidaṁ diṭṭhasutaṁ mutesu vā.

813 Dhono na hi tena maññati,
Yadidaṁ diṭṭhasutaṁ mutesu vā;
Nāññena visuddhimicchati,
Na hi so rajjati no virajjatīti.