Verses on Dhamma 16.2.p2

16.2.p2

So hi attano putte kālakate puttasokābhibhūto āḷāhanaṃ gantvā rodati, puttasokaṃ sandhāretuṃ na sakkoti. Satthā paccūsakāle lokaṃ volokento tassa sotāpattimaggassūpanissayaṃ disvā piṇḍapātapaṭikkanto ekaṃ pacchāsamaṇaṃ gahetvā tassa gehadvāraṃ agamāsi. So satthu āgatabhāvaṃ sutvā ‘‘mayā saddhiṃ paṭisanthāraṃ kātukāmo bhavissatī’’ti satthāraṃ pavesetvā gehamajjhe āsanaṃ paññāpetvā satthari nisinne āgantvā ekamantaṃ nisīdi. Atha naṃ satthā ‘‘kiṃ nu kho, upāsaka, dukkhitosī’’ti pucchitvā tena puttaviyogadukkhe ārocite, ‘‘upāsaka, mā cintayi, idaṃ maraṇaṃ nāma na ekasmiṃyeva ṭhāne, na ca ekasseva hoti, yāvatā pana bhavuppatti nāma atthi, sabbasattānaṃ hotiyeva. Ekasaṅkhāropi nicco nāma natthi. Tasmā ‘maraṇadhammaṃ mataṃ, bhijjanadhammaṃ bhinna’nti yoniso paccavekkhitabbaṃ, na socitabbaṃ. Porāṇapaṇḍitāpi hi puttassa matakāle ‘maraṇadhammaṃ mataṃ, bhijjanadhammaṃ bhinna’nti sokaṃ akatvā maraṇassatimeva bhāvayiṃsū’’ti vatvā, ‘‘bhante, ke evamakaṃsu, kadā ca akaṃsu, ācikkhatha me’’ti yācito tassatthassa pakāsanatthaṃ atītaṃ āharitvā –

The story goes that this layman, on losing his son, was so overwhelmed with grief that he went every day to the burning-ground and wept, being unable to restrain his grief. As the Teacher surveyed the world at dawn, he saw that the layman had the faculties requisite for Conversion. So when he came back from his alms-round, he took one attendant monk and went to the layman's door. When the layman heard that the Teacher had come to his house, he thought to himself, "He must wish to exchange the usual compliments of health and civility with me." So he invited the Teacher into his house, provided him with a seat in the house-court, and when the Teacher had taken his seat, approached him, saluted him, and sat down respectfully on one side.

At once the Teacher asked him, "Layman, why are you sad?" "I have lost my son; therefore am I sad," replied the layman. Said the Teacher, "Grieve not, layman. That which is called death is not confined to one place or to one person, but is common to all creatures who are born into the world. Not one of the Elements of Being is permanent. Therefore one should not give himself up to sorrow, but should rather take a reasonable view of death, even as it is said, 'Mortality has suffered mortality, dissolution has suffered dissolution.'

"For wise men of old sorrowed not over the death of a son, but applied themselves diligently to meditation upon death, saying to themselves, 'Mortality has suffered mortality, dissolution has suffered dissolution.'" The layman asked the Teacher, "Reverend Sir, who were they that did this? When was it that they did this? Pray tell me about it." So to make the matter clear, the Teacher related the following Story of the Past: