Summary: The Jarāvagga ("Old Age") is the eleventh chapter of the dhammapada, eleven verses (Dhp 146–156) on jarā (old age), maraṇa (death), bodily fragility, wisdom, and release from renewed birth. It begins by asking why one would remain distracted while "the flames are ever burning" and ends by contrasting wasted old age with a first-person declaration that the "house-builder" has been seen and craving has ended (Dhp 146, 153–156). The chapter's central movement is from disenchantment with the body to urgency for wisdom: form decays, old age and death are hidden in the body, but the Dhamma of the good does not grow old (Dhp 147–152).
Themes
- Urgency under conditions of burning and darkness (Dhp 146): the opening verse frames ordinary pleasure as misplaced when beings are "ever burning" and "shrouded by darkness." It does not yet name a full doctrinal scheme, but its imagery gives the chapter its governing urgency: seek a light rather than settle into laughter and distraction.
- The body as unstable, diseased, and not worth attachment (Dhp 147–150): the chapter repeatedly describes the body through images of a puppet, sores, disease, bones, flesh, blood, and a city containing old age and death. These verses are a Dhammapada treatment of rūpa (form / material body) as fragile and deceptive, not a neutral anatomical description.
- What does not age (Dhp 151): ornate royal chariots and the body decay, but the saddhamma (true Dhamma / teaching of the good) "does not grow old." The verse contrasts conditioned decline with the enduring value of what the good (santa) teach to the good.
- Learning must become wisdom (Dhp 152): the person of little learning grows physically like an ox, while paññā (wisdom) does not grow. The criticism is not of age itself but of aging without development in understanding.
- The house-builder verses as liberation speech (Dhp 153–154): the speaker describes wandering through repeated birth while searching for the "house-builder," then announces that the house-builder has been seen, the rafters broken, the roof-peak demolished, the mind gone to the unconditioned, and craving ended. These verses are the chapter's clearest liberation register, linking saṁsāra, renewed birth, nibbāna, and the exhaustion of taṇhā (craving).
- Wasted youth and regretful old age (Dhp 155–156): the closing pair warns against failing both to live the brahmacariya (holy life / spiritual path) and to secure useful support in youth. The two images — old cranes in a fishless pond and spent arrows bemoaning the past — make old age a test of whether one's earlier life was wisely directed.
Verses
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Verse 146
Pali (dhp146:1–146:4)
Ko nu hāso kimānando,
niccaṁ pajjalite sati;
Andhakārena onaddhā,
padīpaṁ na gavesatha.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp146:1–146:4)
What is joy, what is laughter,
when the flames are ever burning?
Shrouded by darkness,
would you not seek a light?
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
නිතොර ඇවිලගෙණ දිලිසෙන කල්හි සිනාවක්, සතුටක්, කවරේද? අඳුරෙන් (අවිද්යාන්ධකාරයෙන්) වළඳනා ලද්දාවූ තෙපි මාර්ගඵල ප්රඥායයි කියනලද ප්රදීපය කුමට නොසොයවූද?
Key terms: hāsa (laughter), ānanda (joy), pajjalite (burning, blazing), andhakāra (darkness), padīpa (lamp, light), gavesatha (you seek) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 147
Pali (dhp147:1–147:4)
Passa cittakataṁ bimbaṁ,
arukāyaṁ samussitaṁ;
Āturaṁ bahusaṅkappaṁ,
yassa natthi dhuvaṁ ṭhiti.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp147:1–147:4)
See this fancy puppet,
a body built of sores,
diseased, obsessed over,
in which nothing lasts at all.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යමක (මේ ශරීරයාගේ) නිත්යවූ පැවැත්මෙක් නැද්ද, රෝග සමූහයවූ අඹනලද්දාවූ, ගිලන්වූ, බොහෝදෙනා විසින් (සූභය සුඛයයි) කල්පනාකරණ ලද්දාවූ, මේ ශරීරය බල.
Key terms: cittakataṁ bimbaṁ (decorated/fancied image or puppet), arukāya (body of sores), samussita (built up), ātura (afflicted, diseased), bahusaṅkappa (much thought over), dhuvaṁ ṭhiti (stable standing, lasting state) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 148
Pali (dhp148:1–148:4)
Parijiṇṇamidaṁ rūpaṁ,
roganīḷaṁ pabhaṅguraṁ;
Bhijjati pūtisandeho,
maraṇantañhi jīvitaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp148:1–148:4)
This body is decrepit and frail,
a nest of disease.
This foul carcass falls apart,
for life ends in death.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
මේ රූපය ඉතා දිරාගියේය. රෝගයන්ට (නිවාසස්ථාන හෙයින්) කූඩුවක් බඳුයි. වහා නැසෙන සුලුය. මේ කුණුකය නොබෝ කලකින් බිඳෙන්නේය. (කුමක් හෙයින්ද යත්?) යම් හෙයිකින් ජීවිතය මරණයම අන්තකොට ඇත්තේද එහෙයිනි.
Key terms: parijiṇṇa (decrepit, worn out), rūpa (form, body), roganīḷa (nest of disease), pabhaṅgura (fragile, liable to break), pūtisandeha (foul body), maraṇantaṁ jīvitaṁ (life has death as its end) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 149
Pali (dhp149:1–149:4)
Yānimāni apatthāni,
alābūneva sārade;
Kāpotakāni aṭṭhīni,
tāni disvāna kā rati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp149:1–149:4)
These dove-grey bones
are tossed away like
dried gourds in the autumn—
what joy is there in such a sight?
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
සරත් කාලයෙහි ඒ ඒ තත්හි දමනලද්දාවූ-ලබුවැනිවූ, කොබෝවන් පැහැ ඇත්තාවූ, යම් මේ ඇට ඇද්ද, ඒ දැක කවර නම් කාමරතියක් වේද?
Key terms: apattha (cast away), alābu (gourd), sārada (autumn), kāpotaka (dove-colored), aṭṭhīni (bones), rati (delight, pleasure) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 150
Pali (dhp150:1–150:4)
Aṭṭhīnaṁ nagaraṁ kataṁ,
maṁsalohitalepanaṁ;
Yattha jarā ca maccu ca,
māno makkho ca ohito.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp150:1–150:4)
In this city built of bones,
plastered with flesh and blood,
old age and death are stashed away,
along with conceit and contempt.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
යම් තැනෙක්හි ජරාවද මරණයද (නවවිධ) මානයද ගුණමකු බවද බහන ලදද, මසින් හා ලෙහෙයෙන් ගල්වන ලද නුවරක් ඇට වලින් කර තිබේ.
Key terms: aṭṭhīnaṁ nagaraṁ (city of bones), maṁsalohitalepana (plastered with flesh and blood), jarā (old age), maccu (death), māna (conceit), makkha (contempt, disparagement), ohita (placed, deposited) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 151
Pali (dhp151:1–151:4)
Jīranti ve rājarathā sucittā,
Atho sarīrampi jaraṁ upeti;
Satañca dhammo na jaraṁ upeti,
Santo have sabbhi pavedayanti.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp151:1–151:4)
Fancy chariots of kings wear out,
and even this body gets old.
But the truth of the good never gets old—
so the good proclaim to the good.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
විශේෂයෙන් විසිතුරු කරණ ලද්දාවූ රජුගේ මගුල් රථයෝද දිරීමට පැමිණෙති. නැවත මේ ශරීරයද දිරීමට එළඹෙයි. බුද්ධාදී සත්පුරුෂයන්ගේ ධර්මය වනාහි දිරීමට නොපැමිණෙන්නේය. බුද්ධාදීහු සත්පුරුෂයන් හා සමග ඒකාන්තයෙන් (මෙසේ) කියති.
Key terms: jīranti (they age, wear out), rājarathā (royal chariots), sucitta (well-adorned, beautiful), dhammo (Dhamma, teaching of the good), santo (the good, peaceful ones), pavedayanti (they proclaim) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 152
Pali (dhp152:1–152:4)
Appassutāyaṁ puriso,
balībaddhova jīrati;
Maṁsāni tassa vaḍḍhanti,
paññā tassa na vaḍḍhati.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp152:1–152:4)
A person of little learning
ages like an ox—
their flesh grows,
but not their wisdom.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
අල්පශ්රැතවූ (අසා බලා නොදත්) මේ පුද්ගලතෙමේ ගොනෙකු මෙන් මුහුකරන්නේය. ඒ මහණහුගේ ශරීර මාංශයෝම වැඩෙත්. ඕහට ප්රඥාතොම නොවැඩෙයි.
Key terms: appassuta (of little learning), balībadda (ox), jīrati (ages), vaḍḍhanti (they grow), paññā (wisdom, discernment) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 153
Pali (dhp153:1–153:4)
Anekajātisaṁsāraṁ,
sandhāvissaṁ anibbisaṁ;
Gahakāraṁ gavesanto,
dukkhā jāti punappunaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp153:1–153:4)
Transmigrating through countless rebirths,
I’ve journeyed without reward,
searching for the house-builder;
painful is birth again and again.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
නැවත නැවත උත්පත්තිය (යම් හෙයකින්) දුක්ද (එහෙයින්) මේ ආත්මභාව සංඛ්යාත ගෙය කරන්නහු සොයන්නාවූ මම නොයෙක් (කෙළ ලක්ෂ ගණන්යයි කියනලද) ඉපදීම් ඇති සංසාරයෙහි (ඒ ශුන්ය) නොලබන්නෙම් (චුති ප්රතිසන්ධි වශයෙන්) දිව ඇවිද්දෙමි.
Key terms: anekajāti (many births), saṁsāra (wandering-on, round of rebirth), sandhāvissaṁ (I ran on, wandered), anibbisaṁ (not finding), gahakāra (house-builder), gavesanto (seeking), jāti (birth) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 154
Pali (dhp154:1–154:6)
Gahakāraka diṭṭhosi,
puna gehaṁ na kāhasi;
Sabbā te phāsukā bhaggā,
gahakūṭaṁ visaṅkhataṁ;
Visaṅkhāragataṁ cittaṁ,
taṇhānaṁ khayamajjhagā.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp154:1–154:6)
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.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
ගෙය කරණ වඩුවා දක්නා ලද්දෙහිය. නැවත ගෙයක් නොකරන්නෙහිය. තාගේ සියලු පරාළයෝ බිඳින ලදහ. ගෙයි කැණිමඬල විසුරුවන ලදී. (මාගේ) සිත නිවනට වනි. තෘෂ්ණා ක්ෂයයයි කියනලද අර්හත්වයට පැමිණියෙමි.
Key terms: gahakāraka (house-builder), diṭṭhosi (you have been seen), phāsukā (rafters), bhaggā (broken), gahakūṭa (roof-peak), visaṅkhata (dismantled), visaṅkhāragataṁ cittaṁ (mind gone to the unconditioned / deconstructed), taṇhānaṁ khaya (ending of cravings) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 155
Pali (dhp155:1–155:4)
Acaritvā brahmacariyaṁ,
aladdhā yobbane dhanaṁ;
Jiṇṇakoñcāva jhāyanti,
khīṇamaccheva pallale.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp155:1–155:4)
When young they spurned the spiritual path
and failed to earn any wealth.
Now they brood like old cranes
in a pond bereft of fish.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
බඹසර නොවැස, යෞවන වයස්හී ධනය නොලැබ මසුන් නැති විලෙක මඩ පිට (හිඳ තැවෙන) මහලු කොස්ලිහිණියන් මෙන් තැවෙන්නාහුය.
Key terms: brahmacariya (holy life, spiritual path), yobbana (youth), dhana (wealth), jiṇṇakoñcā (old cranes), jhāyanti (they brood, grieve), khīṇamaccha pallala (pond with fish exhausted) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Verse 156
Pali (dhp156:1–156:4)
Acaritvā brahmacariyaṁ,
aladdhā yobbane dhanaṁ;
Senti cāpātikhīṇāva,
purāṇāni anutthunaṁ.
English — Bhikkhu Sujato (dhp156:1–156:4)
When young they spurned the spiritual path
and failed to earn any wealth.
Now they lie like spent arrows,
bemoaning over things past.
Sinhala — A.P. de Zoysa
බඹසර නොවැස, යෞවන වයස්හී ධනය නොලැබ මසුන් නැති විලෙක මඩ පිට (හිඳ තැවෙන) මහලු කොස්ලිහිණියන් මෙන් තැවෙන්නාහුය. දුන්නෙන් හරණලද ශර මෙන් පෙර වින්දාවූ සැපතට ශෝක කරමින් හොවිති.
Key terms: brahmacariya (holy life, spiritual path), yobbana (youth), dhana (wealth), cāpātikhīṇa (shot from the bow, spent), purāṇāni (things past), anutthunaṁ (lamenting, bemoaning) Traditional vatthu (Dhp-a): pending commentary review. (commentary — not canonical)
Textual notes
- Dhp 146–150 build a sequence rather than a set of isolated body images: burning/darkness (Dhp 146), the decorated but diseased body (Dhp 147), bodily decay and death (Dhp 148), discarded bones (Dhp 149), and the body as a city containing old age, death, conceit, and contempt (Dhp 150). The chapter moves the reader from ordinary enjoyment toward disenchantment.
- Dhp 151 is the pivot of the vagga. After several verses on bodily decay, it says that even royal chariots and the body grow old, but the Dhamma of the good does not. The contrast is between conditioned objects that age and a teaching whose value does not depend on youth or ornament.
- Dhp 153–154 are voiced in the first person and differ from the surrounding admonitory verses. They are traditionally treated as the Buddha's awakening utterance, but this page relies only on the canonical verse block and marks the surrounding Dhp-a vatthu as pending commentary review.
- Dhp 155 and Dhp 156 are a closing pair with the same first half: failing to live the holy life and failing to obtain wealth in youth. The two second halves give different images of regret — old cranes in a fishless pond and arrows spent from the bow.
- This batch does not rewrite the canonical source blocks. The enrichment adds thematic framing, key terms, and links while preserving the Pali, English, and Sinhala verse blocks generated from
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Related pages
- dhammapada — parent text
- dhammapada 10 dandavagga — preceding vagga; old age and death already appear there as forces driving beings onward (Dhp 135)
- dhammapada 12 attavagga — following vagga on oneself, conduct, and self-training
- buddha — traditional attribution of Dhp 153–154 is noted cautiously in Textual notes
- matter rupa — form/body, directly relevant to Dhp 147–150
- rupa — Pali glossary entry for form/body
- samsara — wandering-on / repeated birth, named in Dhp 153
- nibbana — quenching/unbinding, relevant to the liberation register of Dhp 154
- panna — wisdom, explicitly contrasted with physical growth in Dhp 152
- saddhamma — true Dhamma / teaching of the good, relevant to Dhp 151
- heedfulness appamada — urgency and non-negligence as a practical response to aging and death
- arahant — Dhp 154's ending of craving converges with the arahant ideal
- fool and wise bala pandita — relevant to Dhp 152's contrast between growth in flesh and growth in wisdom