Dhammapada 170
Look upon the world as a bubble, as a mirage
Look upon the world as a bubble, as a mirage. One who views the world this way is not seen by the King of Death.
Translated from the Pāli by Banya
Pāli
Yathā pubbuḷakaṁ passe,
yathā passe marīcikaṁ;
Evaṁ lokaṁ avekkhantaṁ,
maccurājā na passati.
In plain words
Look at the world as you would a bubble or a mirage. The verse says that the King of Death does not see someone who looks at the world this way. Traditionally read as liberation, this image does not mean bodily immortality.
Key words
- maccurājā
- the King of Death — Death is personified in the verse's liberation image.
The story behind the verse
Five hundred monks attain Insight
In the commentary, a group of monks received meditation instruction and practiced in the forest. They struggled without reaching the understanding they sought, and they set out to ask the Buddha for another subject of meditation. On the way, they observed a mirage and turned attention toward its appearance, and at the monastery, rain formed bubbles that rose and burst. They compared their own lives with the bubbles’ arising and passing, and the Buddha sent a luminous image to teach them, and the commentary says they attained liberation.
Retold by Banya from the traditional commentary, after E. W. Burlingame, Buddhist Legends (1921).
To reflect on
What are you treating as more solid or lasting than it may be?
Try it today
Notice one changing thing without assuming it will stay as it is.
Practise it with
Equanimity (upekkhā)
Explanation by Banya. Traditional readings vary.