Raṭṭhapālasutta

mn82:42.1 That is what Venerable Raṭṭhapāla said.

mn82:42.2 Then he went on to say:

mn82:42.3 “I see rich humans in the world who,

mn82:42.4 because of delusion, give not <j>the wealth they’ve earned.

mn82:42.5 Greedily, they hoard their riches,

mn82:42.6 yearning for ever more sensual pleasures.

mn82:42.7 A king who conquered the earth by force,

mn82:42.8 ruling the land from sea to sea,

mn82:42.9 unsatisfied with the near shore of the ocean,

mn82:42.10 would still yearn for the further shore.

mn82:42.11 Not just the king, but others too,

mn82:42.12 reach death not rid of craving.

mn82:42.13 They leave the body still wanting,

mn82:42.14 for in this world sensual pleasures never satisfy.

mn82:42.15 Relatives lament, their hair disheveled,

mn82:42.16 saying ‘Ah! Alas! They’re not immortal!’

mn82:42.17 They take out the body wrapped in a shroud,

mn82:42.18 heap up a pyre, and burn it there.

mn82:42.19 It’s poked with stakes while being burnt,

mn82:42.20 in just a single cloth, all wealth gone.

mn82:42.21 Relatives, friends, and companions

mn82:42.22 can’t help you when you’re dying.

mn82:42.23 Heirs take your riches,

mn82:42.24 while beings fare on according to their deeds.

mn82:42.25 Riches don’t follow you when you die;

mn82:42.26 nor do children, wife, wealth, nor kingdom.

mn82:42.27 Longevity isn’t gained by riches,

mn82:42.28 nor does wealth banish old age;

mn82:42.29 for the attentive say this life is short,

mn82:42.30 it’s perishable and not eternal.

mn82:42.31 The rich and the poor feel its touch;

mn82:42.32 the fool and the attentive one feel it too.

mn82:42.33 But the fool lies stricken by their own folly,

mn82:42.34 while the attentive don’t tremble at the touch.

mn82:42.35 Therefore wisdom’s much better than wealth,

mn82:42.36 since by wisdom <j>you reach consummation in this life.

mn82:42.37 But if because of delusion <j>you don’t reach consummation,

mn82:42.38 you’ll do evil deeds in life after life.

mn82:42.39 One who enters a womb and the world beyond,

mn82:42.40 will transmigrate from one life to the next.

mn82:42.41 While someone of little wisdom, <j>placing faith in them,

mn82:42.42 also enters a womb and the world beyond.

mn82:42.43 As a bandit caught in a window

mn82:42.44 is punished for his own bad deeds;

mn82:42.45 so after departing, in the world beyond,

mn82:42.46 people are punished for their own bad deeds.

mn82:42.47 Sensual pleasures are diverse, sweet, delightful;

mn82:42.48 appearing in disguise they disturb the mind.

mn82:42.49 Seeing danger in sensual stimulations,

mn82:42.50 I went forth, O King.

mn82:42.51 As fruit falls from a tree, so the sons of Manu fall,

mn82:42.52 young and old, when the body breaks up.

mn82:42.53 Seeing this, too, I went forth, O King;

mn82:42.54 it’s a sure bet that the ascetic life is better.”