Dhammapada 115

115

Yo ca vassasataṃ jīve,
apassaṃ dhammamuttamaṃ;
Ekāhaṃ jīvitaṃ seyyo,
passato dhammamuttamaṃ.

And he who lives a hundred years, not seeing the highest law, a life of one day is better if a man sees the highest law.
[109. Dr. Fausböll, in a most important note, called attention to the fact that the same verse, with slight variations, occurs in Manu. We there read, II, 121:
Abhivâdanasîlasya nityam vriddhopasevinah,
Katvâri sampravardhante âyur vidyâ yaso balam.
Here the four things are, life, knowledge, glory, power.
In the Âpastamba-sûtras, I, 2, 5, 15, the reward promised for the same virtue is svargam âyus ka, 'heaven and long life.' It seems, therefore, as if the original idea of this verse came from the Brahmans, and was afterwards adopted by the Buddhists. How largely it spread is shown by Dr. Fausböll from the Asiatic Researches, XX, p. 259, where the same verse of the Dhammapada is mentioned as being in use among the Buddhists of Siam.