Old Age (Jarā Vagga)
Verse 146
Pāli Source
Ko nu hāso kim ānando niccaṃ pajjalite sati; andhakārena onaddhā padīpaṃ na gavessatha.
English Translation
What laughter, what joy can there be, when the world is constantly burning? Wrapped in darkness, why do you not seek a lamp?
Way to Enlightenment draft translation — not yet reviewed for accuracy.
Editorial Note
From the Jarā Vagga (Old Age) — traditional commentary associates this verse with the Buddha addressing people absorbed in frivolity while ignoring aging and mortality; that specific commentarial occasion is not independently verified here and so is not asserted as fact, only the verse itself is presented.
Source
Pali critical edition: O. von Hinüber & K.R. Norman (Pali Text Society, 1995), digitized by the Dhammakaya Foundation via GRETIL, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
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