SN4:10 Life Span (2)
- DG BB TBW © Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi. (More copyright information)
1Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel Sanctuary. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus: "Bhikkhus!"
"Venerable sir!" those bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this:
2"Bhikkhus, this life span of human beings is short. One has to go on to the future life. One should do what is wholesome and lead the holy life; for one who has taken birth there is no avoiding death. One who lives long, bhikkhus, lives a hundred years or a little longer."
3Then Māra the Evil One approached the Blessed One and addressed him in verse: sn.i.109
4v.465 "The days and nights do not fly by,
Life does not come to a stop.
The life span of mortals rolls along
Like the chariot's felly round the hub."
[n.280] The point may be that as the felly revolves around the stable hub, so the changing forms of life revolve around the stable soul or life-principle. The verse seems to be alluding to a simile in the Bṛhadaraṇyaka Upaniṣad II.5.15: "And as all spokes are contained in the axle and in the felly of a wheel, all beings, and all those selves (of the earth, water, etc.), are contained in that Self" (Müller, The Upanishads, 2:116). See too Chandogya Upaniṣad VII.15.1 (The Upanishads, 1:120).
The Blessed One:
5v.466 "The days and nights go flying by,
Life comes to a stop.
The life span of mortals is depleted
Like the water in rivulets."
6Then Māra the Evil One … disappeared right there.
1Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe vihārati veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe.
Tatra kho bhagavā … pe … etadavoca:
2"Appamidaṁ, bhikkhave, manussānaṁ āyu. Gamanīyo samparāyo, kattabbaṁ kusalaṁ, caritabbaṁ brahmacariyaṁ. Natthi jātassa amaraṇaṁ. Yo, bhikkhave, ciraṁ jīvati, so vassasataṁ appaṁ vā bhiyyo"ti.
3Atha kho māro pāpimā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:
4"Nāccayanti ahorattā,
Jīvitaṁ nūparujjhati;
Āyu anupariyāyati maccānaṁ,
Nemīva rathakubbaran"ti.
5"Accayanti ahorattā,
jīvitaṁ uparujjhati;
Āyu khīyati maccānaṁ,
kunnadīnaṁva odakan"ti.
6Atha kho māro pāpimā "jānāti maṁ bhagavā, jānāti maṁ sugato"ti dukkhī dummano tatthevantaradhāyīti.
Paṭhamo vaggo.
7Tapokammañca nāgo ca,
subhaṁ pāsena te duve;
Sappo supati nandanaṁ,
āyunā apare duveti.