English
Homage to the Blessed One, The Worthy One, The Fully Enlightened One. 1. May Laṃkīssara be victorious, He who moves like a king of elephants, Whose beautiful arms are long, stout, and like a serpent king's coils, Devoted to proper conduct, A storehouse of virtues, Established in the Dhamma, Free from anger, pride, and conceit. 2. He who is honored by all the world, An abode of compassion, A mine of liberation, A full moon in the sky of the solar lineage, Who has fully awakened to the vast ocean of knowable things, That supreme being in the world, The Sage-King, Bow to him with your head. 3. The stainless ladder to the abode of the thirty-three, A bridge for crossing the ocean of saṃsāra, The safe path devoid of all fears of bad destinies, Always revere the Dhamma well-proclaimed by the Sage. 4. Even a small gift given there By people with joyful hearts Yields exceedingly great fruit, Always revere the Saṅgha, Always praised even by the Ten-Powered One, The field of limitless merit. 5. By the great power and energy of the Triple Gem, One attains liberation from the triple world, There is no protection equal to the Triple Gem, Therefore, always cultivate that Triple Gem, good people. 6. Laṃkīssara, solely devoted to the welfare of others, Without expectations, Delighting in staying awake even at night, An abode of compassion, He awakens the world for the sake of the world's welfare, Practice the Dhamma, Devoted to wakefulness. 7. People devoted to helping others, Good friends in wholesome deeds, Are indeed rare on earth, Free from negligence, Having approached the Lord of Laṅkā, A treasure of virtues, A good friend in wholesome deeds, Walk in the stainless Dhamma, Avoiding negligence. 8. The Dhamma is the supreme refuge of the three worlds, The most excellent of flavors, The Dhamma is a precious jewel, The best of jewels in the world, The Dhamma is the cause for the destruction of suffering in the three realms of existence, Practice the Dhamma, Devoted to wakefulness. 9. Drive away sleep, Cultivate the immeasurable, Suffering, impermanence, And non-self here, Abandon delight in the body, Which is like a decaying, fragile vessel, Practice the Dhamma, Devoted to wakefulness. 10. "I have no opportunity today, I will do the Dhamma tomorrow," Thus, they are lazy in applying themselves to wholesome deeds, They are not capable, Not even in the three periods of time, Nor in the three worlds, Desire... No one is freed from death; 11. Just as a clod thrown into the sky by someone, Quickly falls to the earth due to its weight, Being born is truly the sole reason here, To always go to death in this world, indeed; 12. Even if a person falls from a mountaintop, There is no means of escape in between, Indeed, beings go to death in the three realms, Abandon attachment to pleasures and to life; 13. Indeed, streams of rain fall upon the earth, Lightning flashes, released from the clouds, Likewise, people fall into the fearful abyss of death, Indeed, no one is permanent in the realms of existence; 14. Waves upon waves on the edge of the shore, Constantly perish in the ocean's abode, Likewise, the lives of humans and gods perish, In the terrible ocean of death; 15. Though restrained by the best chariots, elephants, and lords, And by warriors, powerful and armed, That bull of death, always deceiving the world, Indeed, destroys the rice stalks of the triple world; 16. Just as a lamp extinguished by a great wind, Quickly meets destruction, though of great brightness, Likewise, in the world, by the fierce wind of death, Quickly the great lamp of human life is destroyed; 17. Rama, Arjuna, and other eminent kings, Heroes who in the past conquered hosts of enemies in battle, Even they, with bodies immersed in the fierce flood of death, Have perished in the world; who is freed from death? 18. Wealth, and garments adorned with the ocean, Prosperity, and various forms of beauty, All these, and friends, children, and spouses, Who among them follows one going to death? 19. Brahmas, asuras, and hosts of gods, of great power, Gandharvas, kinnaras, mahoragas, and rakshasas, All these and others, by the flame of death's fire, In the end, fall like moths with exhausted merit; 20. Those disciples of the Sage, headed by Sariputta, Pure, always free from taints, possessing supreme power, Even they are immersed in the mouth of death's devourer, Like lamps extinguished by the wind, they come to destruction; 21. Even the Buddhas, With lotus-pure, lovely eyes, Thirty-two marks adorn his form, Destroying all suffering, the world's lord, Was crushed by the great, mad elephant. 22. No compassion for the sick, nor the aged, Nor for playful, tender youths, Death, the great elephant, ever strikes the world, Like a forest fire, unceasingly, completely. 23. Fullness is not in water, nor in a reservoir, Nor is there enough wood for the fire, Having devoured the three worlds, completely, O merciless Death, you find no satisfaction. 24. O deluded, bewildered, unfortunate, The world falls into Death's dreadful mouth, The witless find delight in pleasures, Unstable as waves, dreamlike. 25. Death alone can destroy the three worlds, Why be merciless, following old age and death? Who would cherish life in this ruinous state, Born as we are, like a dream's fleeting encounter? 26. This world is ever sick, fearful, sorrowful, Seeing it overcome by anger, pride, delusion, and age, If one feels not even a little revulsion, That cruel one, alas, may Death reject! 27. O, do you not see Death's sword of old age Constantly afflicting the entire three worlds? Why do you spend the night fearlessly, mercilessly? Always practice the Dhamma, dispelling defilements, diligently. 28. Cultivate mindfulness of death to avoid Māra, Always maintain this awareness of death in the world, diligently, For the person devoted to this practice, All craving for the body is abandoned. 29. Old age sullies the most beloved form, Grievous illness steals all strength, Though carefully guarded, with moderate living, O Death destroys! What use is self-regard? 30. Broken in the waves of disease, struck by the winds of karma, Lost in the vast mouth of the ocean of Saṃsāra, Do not be heedless, strive for liberation, For suffering arises from heedlessness in humans. 31. Pleasures, friends, children, men, relatives, Women dear as life, fields, and goods, All these beings, departing from this world, Are not followed by anything, but good and bad deeds alone; 32. Alas, in the ocean of existence, more fleeting than lightning, Hurled by the great wind of past actions, The ship of the body may shatter in an instant, So seize the supreme essence of virtue in your hand; 33. Like an unbaked vessel, it always breaks, Even if carefully guarded, this self, Practice the Dhamma, the foundation for heaven's lord, The Dhamma, well-practiced, gives fruit right here; 34. Always delighting in the beloved heavenly kingdom, Even the gods fall from there when their merit is exhausted, All happiness in heaven and earth ends in separation, Who, being wise, would delight in worldly pleasures? 35. The Buddha, with his assembly of disciples, the sole refuge of the world, And the full moon, surrounded by a garland of stars, Even Indra, whose lotus feet are adorned with a diadem of gods, Who is like a bubble, born in the three realms? 36. Even seeing the beauty of youth, a playful adornment, And the union with beloved ones, comparable to oneself, Fleeting as lightning, one becomes heedless, Alas, a person deluded by ignorance, attached to worldly desires; 37. A son becomes a father, a husband a son to his mother, A woman is sometimes a mother, and a father is a son, Thus, the world of beings always revolves, Truly, in the theater of existence, the mind is ever fickle; 38. Having delighted in the past with celestial nymphs, In the Nandanavana, adorned with various flowering vines, They, at times, in thickets beset with sharp thorns, Alas, in forests of silk-cotton trees, experience suffering; 39. Having eaten delicious rice from golden bowls, In heaven, the best of gods, possessing supreme power, They, at times, swallow balls of blazing iron, Alas, becoming inhabitants of the realm of hell; 40. Having ruled the entire earth as the best of kings, And as lords of gods in heaven, enjoying divine bliss, At times, they dwell on earth covered with razor-sharp blades, They who were once followed by great chariots in heaven; 41. With celestial women in garlands of graceful, diverse waves, In a theater followed by the matted hair and crown of a great king, Having delighted in the past with joyful companions, They, at times, cross the terrible Vaitaraṇī river. fall down; 42. Flowered, with tendrils, fruits intertwined, Delightful, Nandanavana's beauteous kind, With divine nymphs, caves' fair faces lined, Kailasa, Meru's peaks, to ruin consigned; 43. Like swings, winds, fires, waves, pleasures flow, Like lightning's flash, life's moments go, Like magic, mirage, water, body's show, Who'd crave life, wealth, with passions aglow? 44. What pain's not in fierce existences found? Who's not of varied suffering a bound? Born, by death, disease, old age, all crowned, What wise one'd crave existence, foolishly wound? 45. Who'd swallow a burning iron ball, Or hold in hand what's fearsome to all? A fount of pain, foul discharge, endless thrall, Who'd desire this body, not foolishly fall? 46. No fear like death for humans can be, No pain like sickness, none can agree, No disfigurement like age, you see, Yet fools find joy in body, foolishly; 47. Essenceless, like reed, plantain, tree, One harms oneself for self's decree, Though nurtured well, ungrateful, disagree, The body follows not, when death's winds decree; 48. Like foam, a dart, a painful plight,