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Verses of the Senior Monks · Thag 10.5

  • Verses of the Senior Monks 10.5Theragāthā 10.5
  • The Book of the TensDasakanipāta
  • Chapter OnePaṭhamavagga

KappaKappattheragāthā

Filled with different kinds of dirt,“Nānākulamalasampuṇṇo, a great producer of dung,mahāukkārasambhavo; like a stagnant cesspool,Candanikaṁva paripakkaṁ, a big boil, a bad wound,mahāgaṇḍo mahāvaṇo.

full of pus and blood,Pubbaruhirasampuṇṇo, sunk in a toilet-pit,gūthakūpena gāḷhito; trickling with fluids,Āpopaggharaṇo kāyo, this rotting body always oozes.sadā sandati pūtikaṁ.

Bound by sixty tendons,Saṭṭhikaṇḍarasambandho, coated with a fleshy coating,maṁsalepanalepito; clothed in a jacket of skin,Cammakañcukasannaddho, this rotting body is worthless.pūtikāyo niratthako.

Held together by a skeleton of bones,Aṭṭhisaṅghātaghaṭito, and bound by sinews;nhārusuttanibandhano; it assumes posturesNekesaṁ saṅgatībhāvā, due to a complex of many things.kappeti iriyāpathaṁ.

We set out in the certainty of death,Dhuvappayāto maraṇāya, in the presence of the King of Death;maccurājassa santike; and having discarded the body right here,Idheva chaḍḍayitvāna, a person goes where he likes.yenakāmaṅgamo naro.

Shrouded by ignorance,Avijjāya nivuto kāyo, tied by the four ties,catuganthena ganthito; this body is sinking in the flood,Oghasaṁsīdano kāyo, caught in the net of the underlying tendencies.anusayajālamotthato.

Yoked to the five hindrances,Pañcanīvaraṇe yutto, afflicted by thought,vitakkena samappito; stuck to the root of craving,Taṇhāmūlenānugato, hidden by delusion:mohacchādanachādito.

that is how the body goes on,Evāyaṁ vattate kāyo, propelled by the mechanism of deeds.kammayantena yantito; But existence ends in perishing;Sampatti ca vipatyantā, separated, the body perishes.nānābhāvo vipajjati.

Those blind, ordinary peopleYemaṁ kāyaṁ mamāyanti, who think of this body as theirs,andhabālā puthujjanā; swell the horrors of the charnel ground,Vaḍḍhenti kaṭasiṁ ghoraṁ, taking hold of future lives.ādiyanti punabbhavaṁ.

The undefiled who shun this bodyYemaṁ kāyaṁ vivajjenti, like a serpent smeared with dung,Gūthalittaṁva pannagaṁ; having expelled the root of rebirth,Bhavamūlaṁ vamitvāna, will be fully quenched.Parinibbissantināsavā”ti.

Similar passages elsewhere

Found by meaning, not by citation: the passages in other texts whose wording sits closest to a passage here.

  1. Thag 17.2 Sāriputta 0.55near 10.4this is my instruction. Come, I’ll be fully quenched— I am everywhere free.”…
  2. Thag 16.9 Anuruddha 0.53near 10.4being undefiled, I will be fully extinguished.”…
  3. Thag 20.1 Mahāmoggallāna 0.51near 0.1Verses of the Senior Monks 20.1 The Book of the Sixties Chapter One Mahāmoggallāna “Living in the wilderness, eating only almsfood, happy with the scraps in our bowls, let us tear apart the army of death, while remaining…