Dhammapada 277
All conditioned things are impermanent
'All conditioned things are impermanent.' When you see this with wisdom, you become disenchanted with suffering. This is the path to purity.
Translated from the Pāli by Banya
Pāli
“Sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā”ti,
yadā paññāya passati;
Atha nibbindati dukkhe,
esa maggo visuddhiyā.
In plain words
All conditioned things—things dependent on conditions—are impermanent. When someone sees this with wisdom, they become disenchanted with suffering. This is called the path to purification.
Key words
- saṅkhārā
- conditioned things — Things dependent on conditions, narrower than all things in verse 279.
- anicca
- impermanent — What arises through conditions does not remain unchanged.
The story behind the verse
Impermanence
In the commentary, a group of monks received a meditation subject from the Buddha. They practiced with great effort in the forest, and they did not reach the realization they sought. They returned to ask for a subject better suited to them, and the Buddha considered their earlier practice. The commentary says they had contemplated impermanence in a former life, and he taught them again about impermanence through this verse.
Retold by Banya from the traditional commentary, after E. W. Burlingame, Buddhist Legends (1921).
To reflect on
What changing thing are you asking to remain unchanged?
Try it today
Observe one ordinary change without trying to reverse it.
Practise it with
Equanimity (upekkhā)
Explanation by Banya. Traditional readings vary.