Kappattheragāthā

Theragāthā 10.5

Verses of the Senior Monks 10.5

Dasakanipāta

The Book of the Tens

Paṭhamavagga

Chapter One

Kappattheragāthā

Kappa

“Nānākulamalasampuṇṇo,

Filled with different kinds of dirt,

mahāukkārasambhavo;

a great producer of dung,

Candanikaṁva paripakkaṁ,

like a stagnant cesspool,

mahāgaṇḍo mahāvaṇo.

a big boil, a bad wound,

Pubbaruhirasampuṇṇo,

full of pus and blood,

gūthakūpena gāḷhito;

sunk in a toilet-pit,

Āpopaggharaṇo kāyo,

trickling with fluids,

sadā sandati pūtikaṁ.

this rotting body always oozes.

Saṭṭhikaṇḍarasambandho,

Bound by sixty tendons,

maṁsalepanalepito;

coated with a fleshy coating,

Cammakañcukasannaddho,

clothed in a jacket of skin,

pūtikāyo niratthako.

this rotting body is worthless.

Aṭṭhisaṅghātaghaṭito,

Held together by a skeleton of bones,

nhārusuttanibandhano;

and bound by sinews;

Nekesaṁ saṅgatībhāvā,

it assumes postures

kappeti iriyāpathaṁ.

due to a complex of many things.

Dhuvappayāto maraṇāya,

We set out in the certainty of death,

maccurājassa santike;

in the presence of the King of Death;

Idheva chaḍḍayitvāna,

and having discarded the body right here,

yenakāmaṅgamo naro.

a person goes where he likes.

Avijjāya nivuto kāyo,

Shrouded by ignorance,

catuganthena ganthito;

tied by the four ties,

Oghasaṁsīdano kāyo,

this body is sinking in the flood,

anusayajālamotthato.

caught in the net of the underlying tendencies.

Pañcanīvaraṇe yutto,

Yoked to the five hindrances,

vitakkena samappito;

afflicted by thought,

Taṇhāmūlenānugato,

stuck to the root of craving,

mohacchādanachādito.

hidden by delusion:

Evāyaṁ vattate kāyo,

that is how the body goes on,

kammayantena yantito;

propelled by the mechanism of deeds.

Sampatti ca vipatyantā,

But existence ends in perishing;

nānābhāvo vipajjati.

separated, the body perishes.

Yemaṁ kāyaṁ mamāyanti,

Those blind, ordinary people

andhabālā puthujjanā;

who think of this body as theirs,

Vaḍḍhenti kaṭasiṁ ghoraṁ,

swell the horrors of the charnel ground,

ādiyanti punabbhavaṁ.

taking hold of future lives.

Yemaṁ kāyaṁ vivajjenti,

The undefiled who shun this body

Gūthalittaṁva pannagaṁ;

like a serpent smeared with dung,

Bhavamūlaṁ vamitvāna,

having expelled the root of rebirth,

Parinibbissantināsavā”ti.

will be fully quenched.

… Kappo thero ….