Verses on Dhamma 148

148

Pari jiṇṇam idaṃ rūpaṃ roga-nīḷaṃ pabhaṅguraṃ
Bhijjati pūti-sandeho maraṇ-antaṃ hi jīvitaṃ.

This body is wasted, full of sickness, and frail; this heap of corruption breaks to pieces, life indeed ends in death.
[148. Dr. Fausböll informs me that Childers proposed the emendation maranantam hi gîvitam. The following extract from a letter, addressed by Childers to Dr. Fausböll, will be read with interest:--'As regards Dhp. v. 148, I have no doubt whatever. I quite agree with you that the idea (mors est vita ejus) is a profound and noble one, but the question is, Is the idea there? I think not. Maranam tamhi gîvitam is not Pâli, I mean not a Pâli construction, and years ago even it grated on my ear as a harsh phrase. The reading of your MSS. of the texts is nothing; your MSS. of Dhammapada are very bad ones, and it is merely the vicious Sinhalese spelling of bad MSS., like kammamtam for kammantam. But the comment sets the question at rest at once, for it explains maranantam by maranapariyosânam, which is exactly the same. I see there is one serious difficulty left, that all your MSS. seem to have tamhi, and not tam hi; but are you sure it is so? There was a Dhammapada in the India Office Library, and I had a great hunt for it a few days ago, but to my deep disappointment it is missing. I do not agree with you that the sentence "All Life is bounded by Death," is trivial: it is a truism, but half the noblest passages in poetry are truisms, and unless I greatly mistake, this very passage will be found in many other literatures.'
Dr. Fausböll adds:--
'I have still the same doubt as before, because of all my MSS. reading maranam tamhi. I do not know the readings of the London MSS. The explanation of the commentary does not settle the question, as it may as well be considered an explanation of my reading as of the reading which Childers proposed.--V. FAUSBÖLL.']