Verses on Dhamma 5.15.p21

5.15.p21

Atha naṃ puna pucchi – ‘‘tissa, kahaṃ vasasī’’ti? ‘‘Imasmiṃ pabbhāre, bhante’’ti. ‘‘Tattha pana vasanto kiṃ cintesī’’ti? ‘‘Mayā marantena imasmiṃ ṭhāne katassa sarīranikkhepassa paricchedo ‘natthī’ti cintesiṃ, bhante’’ti. ‘‘Sādhu sādhu, tissa, evametaṃ. Imesañhi sattānaṃ pathaviyaṃ nipajjitvā amataṭṭhānaṃ nāma natthī’’ti vatvā –

Again he asked him, “Tissa, where do you reside?” “In this mountain cave, Reverend Sir.” “What thought comes into your mind as you reside here?” “Reverend Sir, this is the thought that comes into my mind, ‘There is no limit to the number of times I have died and my body been laid upon this ground.’” “Well said, well said, Tissa! It is even so. There is no spot where these living beings we know have not lain down on the earth and died.” So saying, he recited the Upasāḷhaka Jātaka, found in the Second Book, as follows,