Dhammapada 4.4.p3

4.4.p3

Sā ekadivasaṃ dānaṃ datvā pūjaṃ katvā dhammaṃ sutvā sikkhāpadāni rakkhitvā divasapariyosāne taṃ khaṇaṃ nibbattena kenaci rogena kālaṃ katvā attano sāmikasseva santike nibbatti. Itarāpi ettakaṃ kālaṃ devaputtaṃ alaṅkaronti eva. Devaputto taṃ disvā ‘‘tvaṃ pātova paṭṭhāya na dissasi, kuhiṃ gatāsī’’ti āha. ‘‘Cutāmhi sāmī’’ti. ‘‘Kiṃ vadesī’’ti? ‘‘Evametaṃ, sāmī’’ti. ‘‘Kuhiṃ nibbattāsī’’ti? ‘‘Sāvatthiyaṃ kulagehe’’ti. ‘‘Kittakaṃ kālaṃ tattha ṭhitāsī’’ti? ‘‘Dasamāsaccayena mātu kucchito nikkhamitvā soḷasavassakāle parakulaṃ gantvā cattāro putte vijāyitvā dānādīni puññāni katvā tumhe patthetvā āgantvā tumhākameva santike nibbattāmhi, sāmī’’ti. ‘‘Manussānaṃ kittakaṃ āyū’’ti? ‘‘Vassasatamatta’’nti. ‘‘Ettakamevā’’ti? ‘‘Āma, sāmī’’ti. ‘‘Ettakaṃ āyuṃ gahetvā nibbattamanussā kiṃ nu kho suttapamattā kālaṃ atikkāmenti, udāhu dānādīni puññāni karontī’’ti. ‘‘Kiṃ vadetha, sāmi’’? ‘‘Asaṅkhyeyyaṃ āyuṃ gahetvā nibbattā viya ajarāmarā viya ca niccaṃ pamattā, manussā’’ti. Mālabhārīdevaputtassa mahāsaṃvego udapādi ‘‘vassasatamattamāyuṃ gahetvā nibbattamanussā kira pamattā nipajjitvā niddāyanti, kadā nu kho dukkhā muccissantī’’ti? Manussānaṃ pana vassasataṃ tāvatiṃsānaṃ devānaṃ eko rattindivo, tāya rattiyā tiṃsarattiyo māso, tena māsena dvādasamāsiko saṃvaccharo, tena saṃvaccharena dibbavassasahassaṃ āyuppamāṇaṃ, taṃ manussagaṇanāya tisso vassakoṭiyo, saṭṭhi ca vassasatasahassāni honti. Tasmā tassa devaputtassa ekadivasopi nātikkanto muhuttasadisova kālo ahosi. Evaṃ appāyukamanussānaṃ pamādo nāma ativiya ayuttoti.

One day she gave alms, rendered honor to the monks, listened to the Law, and kept the precepts, and at the end of that day died of some sudden sickness and was reborn with her former husband. During all that time the other celestial nymphs were decking the god with flowers. When the god Garland-wearer saw her, he said, "We have not seen you since morning. Where have you been?" "I passed from this existence, husband." "What say you?" "Precisely so, husband." "Where were you reborn?" "In a family of station at Sāvatthi." "How long a time did you remain there?"

"At the end of the tenth lunar month I issued from the womb of my mother. When I was sixteen years old, I married into another family. I bore four sons, gave alms, and rendered honor to the monks, making an Earnest Wish to return and be reborn with you, husband." "How long is the life of men?" "Only a hundred years." "So short as that?" "Yes, husband." "If men are reborn with so short a time as that to live, do they spend their time asleep and heedless, or do they give alms and render honor?" "What say you, husband? Men are ever heedless, as if reborn with an incalculable number of years to live, as if in no wise subject to old age and death."

The god Garland-wearer was greatly agitated. Said he, "If, as you say, men are reborn with only a hundred years to live, and if they lie heedless and asleep, when will they ever obtain Release from Suffering?” (Now a hundred of our years are equivalent to a night and a day in the World of the Thirty-three Gods, thirty such nights and days make up a month, twelve such months make up a year, and the length of their lives is a thousand such celestial years; or, in human reckoning, thirty-six million years. Thus it was that for that god not a single day had passed; nay, not more than a moment of time. Therefore thought he to himself, “If the life of men is so short, it is highly improper for them to give themselves up to a life of heedlessness.”)