Life is swept along, next-to-nothing its span. For one swept to old age no shelters exist. Perceiving this danger in death, one should drop the world's bait and look for peace.

Those who have come to be, those who will be: All will go, leaving the body behind. The skillful person, realizing the loss of all, should live the holy life ardently.

Unindicated and unknown is the length of life of those subject to death.

All too soon this body will lie on the ground, cast aside, deprived of consciousness, like a useless scrap of wood.

I shall live here in the rains, there in winter, elsewhere in summer, muses the fool, not aware of the nearness of death.

Just as a line drawn on water with a stick will quickly vanish and will not last long; even so is human life like a line drawn on water. It is short, limited, and brief; it is full of suffering, full of tribulation. This one should wisely understand, one should do good and live a pure life; for none who is born can escape death.