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SN 3.3PTS (1st ed) SN 1.711 min read

Old Age and Death

Jarāmaraṇasutta

Pasenadi asks if anything that is born can escape from old age and death.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 3.3Linked Discourses 3.3
  • 0.21. Paṭhamavagga1. Shackles

0.3JarāmaraṇasuttaOld Age and Death

1.1Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.

1.2Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho rājā pasenadi kosalo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:Seated to one side, King Pasenadi said to the Buddha,1.3“atthi nu kho, bhante, jātassa aññatra jarāmaraṇā”ti?“Sir, for someone who has been reborn, is there any exemption from old age and death?”1

1.4“Natthi kho, mahārāja, jātassa aññatra jarāmaraṇā.“Great king, for someone who has been reborn, there’s no exemption from old age and death.1.5Yepi te, mahārāja, khattiyamahāsālā aḍḍhā mahaddhanā mahābhogā pahūtajātarūparajatā pahūtavittūpakaraṇā pahūtadhanadhaññā, tesampi jātānaṁ natthi aññatra jarāmaraṇā.Even for well-to-do aristocrats,1.6Yepi te, mahārāja, brāhmaṇamahāsālā …pe…brahmins,1.7gahapatimahāsālā aḍḍhā mahaddhanā mahābhogā pahūtajātarūparajatā pahūtavittūpakaraṇā pahūtadhanadhaññā, tesampi jātānaṁ natthi aññatra jarāmaraṇā.or householders—rich, affluent, and wealthy, with lots of gold and silver, lots of property and assets, and lots of money and grain—when they’re born, there’s no exemption from old age and death.1.8Yepi te, mahārāja, bhikkhū arahanto khīṇāsavā vusitavanto katakaraṇīyā ohitabhārā anuppattasadatthā parikkhīṇabhavasaṁyojanā sammadaññāvimuttā, tesampāyaṁ kāyo bhedanadhammo nikkhepanadhammo”ti.Even for mendicants who are perfected—who have ended the defilements, completed the spiritual journey, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, achieved their heart’s goal, utterly ended the fetter of continued existence, and are rightly freed through enlightenment—their bodies are liable to break up and be laid to rest.”

1.9Idamavoca …pe…That is what the Buddha said. …

2.1“Jīranti ve rājarathā sucittā,“Fancy chariots of kings wear out,2.2Atho sarīrampi jaraṁ upeti;and even this body gets old.2.3Satañca dhammo na jaraṁ upeti,But the truth of the good never gets old—22.4Santo have sabbhi pavedayantī”ti.so the good proclaim to the good.”

Translator’s notes

  1. The subtext is that once one has obtained kingship, immortality becomes tempting.

    ↩ sn3.3:1.3
  2. These two lines contain three forms of the same word santa, “a good person”: sataṁ is genitive plural; santo is nominative plural; sabbhi is dative plural (following Brough and Norman).

    ↩ sn3.3:2.3