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While his heirs take over his wealth, this being

Must pass on according to his actions;

And as he dies nothing can follow him;

Not child nor wife nor wealth nor royal estate.

Longevity is not acquired with wealth

Nor can prosperity banish old age;

Short is this life, as all the sages say,

Eternity it knows not, only change.

The rich and poor alike shall feel [Death’s] touch,

The fool and sage as well shall feel it too;

But while the fool lies stricken by his folly,

No sage will ever tremble at the touch.

Better is wisdom here than any wealth,

Since by wisdom one gains the final goal.

For people through ignorance do evil deeds

While failing to reach the goal from life to life.

As one goes to the womb and the next world,

Renewing the successive round of births,

Another of little wisdom, trusting him,

Goes also to the womb and the next world. [74]

Just as a robber caught in burglary

Is made to suffer for his evil deed,

So people after death, in the next world,

Are made to suffer for their evil deeds.

Sensual pleasures, varied, sweet, delightful,

In many different ways disturb the mind:

Seeing the danger in these sensual ties

I chose to lead the homeless life, O King.

As fruits fall from the tree, so people too,

Both young and old, fall when this body breaks.

Seeing this too, O King, I have gone forth:

Better is the recluse’s life assured.”

Makhādeva Sutta

King Makhādeva

1. THUS HAVE I HEARD.806 On one occasion, the Blessed One was living at Mithilā in the Makhādeva Mango Grove.807

2. Then in a certain place the Blessed One smiled. It occurred to the venerable Ānanda: “What is the reason, what is the cause, for the Blessed One’s smile? Tathāgatas do not smile for no reason.” So he arranged his upper robe on one shoulder, and extending his hands in reverential salutation towards the Blessed One, he asked him: “Venerable sir, what is the reason, what is the cause, for the Blessed One’s smile? Tathāgatas do not smile for no reason.”

3. “Once, Ānanda, in this same Mithilā there was a king named Makhādeva. He was a righteous king who ruled by the Dhamma, a great king who was established in the Dhamma.808 He conducted himself by the Dhamma among brahmins and householders, among town-dwellers and countryfolk, and he observed the Uposatha days [75] on the fourteenth, fifteenth, and eighth of the fortnight.809

4. “Now at the end of many years, many hundred years, many thousand years, King Makhādeva addressed his barber thus: ‘Good barber, when you see any grey hairs growing on my head, then tell me.’—‘Yes, sire,’ he replied. And after many years, many hundred years, many thousand years, the barber saw grey hairs growing on King Makhādeva’s head.810 When he saw them, he said to the king: ‘The divine messengers have appeared, sire; grey hairs are to be seen growing on your majesty’s head.’—‘Then, good barber, pull out those grey hairs carefully with tweezers and put them in my palm.’—‘Yes, sire,’ he replied, and he pulled out those grey hairs carefully with tweezers and put them in the king’s palm.

“Then King Makhādeva gave the boon of a village to his barber, and calling the prince, his eldest son, he said: ‘Dear prince, the divine messengers have appeared;811 grey hairs are seen growing on my head. I have enjoyed human sensual pleasures; now it is time to seek divine sensual pleasures. Come, dear prince, take over the kingship. I shall shave off my hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and go forth from the home life into homelessness. And now, dear prince, when you too see grey hairs growing on your head, then after giving the boon of a village to your barber, and after carefully instructing the prince, your eldest son, in kingship, shave off your hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and go forth from the home life into homelessness. Continue this good practice instituted by me and do not be the last man. Dear prince, when there are two men living, he under whom there occurs a breach of this good practice—he is the