Raṭṭha­pāla

See this fancy puppet,
A heap of sores, a composite body,
Diseased, obsessed over,
Having no lasting stability.
See this fancy shape,
With its gems and earrings;
It is bones wrapped with skin,
Made pretty by its clothes.
Rouged feet
And powdered face
Is enough to delude a fool,
But not a seeker of the far shore.
Hair in eight braids
And eyeliner,
Is enough to delude a fool,
But not a seeker of the far shore.
Like a newly decorated makeup box,
The disgusting body all adorned
Is enough to delude a fool,
But not a seeker of the far shore.
The hunter laid his trap,
But the deer didn’t get caught in the snare;
Having eaten the bait we go,
Leaving the deer-trapper to lament.
The hunter’s trap is broken,
And the deer didn’t get caught in the snare;
Having eaten the bait we go,
Leaving the deer-trapper to lament.
I see rich people in the world,
Who, because of delusion, don’t give away the wealth they have gained.
Greedily, they hoard their riches,
Yearning for ever more sensual pleasures.
A king who conquered the earth by force,
Ruling the land from sea to sea,
Unsatisfied with the near shore of the ocean,
Would still yearn for the further shore.
The king and most other people
Reach death while not free from craving.
As if lacking, they abandon the body;
For sensual pleasures offer no satisfaction in this world.
Relatives lament, their hair let loose,
Saying “Ah! Alas! They’re not immortal!”
They take out the body wrapped in a shroud,
Heap up a pyre, and burn it.
It is poked with stakes while being burnt,
Wearing a single cloth, all wealth abandoned.
Neither kinsman nor friends nor companions
Can help you when you are dying.
Heirs take the riches,
But beings fare on in accord with their deeds.
Riches don’t follow you when you die;
Nor do children, wife, wealth, nor kingdom.
Longevity isn’t gained by riches,
Nor does wealth banish old age;
For the wise have said that this life is short,
It is not eternal, its nature is decay.
The rich and the poor feel its touch;
The fool and the wise feel it too;
But the fool lies as if struck down by their own folly,
While the wise don’t tremble at the touch.
Therefore wisdom is definitely better than wealth,
Since by wisdom you can attain perfection in this life;
But if you stay unperfected, then because of delusion,
You’ll do evil deeds in life after life.
One person enters a womb and the world beyond,
Transmigrating from one life to the next;
While someone of little wisdom, placing faith in them,
Also enters a womb and the world beyond.
Just as a bandit caught at the entrance to a house
Is punished due to their own bad deeds;
So after passing away, in the world beyond
People are punished due to their own bad deeds.
Sensual pleasures are diverse, sweet, delightful,
But their variety of forms stress the mind;
Seeing danger in the kinds of sensual pleasure,
I went forth, O King.
As fruit falls from a tree, so people fall,
Young and old, when the body breaks up.
Seeing this, too, I went forth, O King;
Without doubt, the ascetic life is better.
Endowed with faith, I went forth,
Entering the conqueror’s teaching.
My going forth wasn’t wasted;
I eat food free of debt.
I saw sensual pleasures as burning,
Gold as a cutting blade,
Conception in a womb as suffering,
And the hells as very fearful.
Knowing this danger,
I was struck with awe.
I was stabbed, and then I became peaceful;
I’ve attained the end of defilements.
I’ve attended on the teacher
And fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
The heavy burden is laid down,
I’ve undone the attachment to being reborn in any state of existence.
I’ve attained the goal
For the sake of which I went forth
From home life into homelessness—
The ending of all fetters.