ABSTRACT
1. Buddha was residing in the Jetavana, at Śrâvastî. After having eaten, he began to preach the Law of Eternal Life 1 for the benefit of gods and men, in the presence of the King and his ministers. At this time there were seven men, Brahmans, who had come from a distance, and having bowed at the feet of the World-honoured one, besought him to allow them to dwell near him, and hear his instructions. Having had the permission, they were assigned an upper chamber as their dwelling-place. Having retired there, they began to talk together and laugh loudly. On hearing this, Buddha went to them, and opened his mouth in these words:—
“What 2 (room for) mirth, what (room for) laughter, remembering the everlasting burning (or fire). Surely this dark and dreary (world) is not fit for one to seek security and rest in. Behold this body in its fashioning; what reliance can it afford as a resting-place, filled with crowded thoughts, liable to every disease. Oh! how is it men do not perceive its false appearances? When old, then its beauty fades away; in sickness, what paleness and leanness—the skin wrinkled, the flesh withered, death and life both conjoined. And when the body dies, and the spirit flees, as when a royal personage rejects a (broken) chariot, so do the flesh and bones lie scattered and dispersed. What reliance, then, can one place on the body?”
