Thag 6.13 - Sirimanda
Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/thag/thag.06.13.than.html
License: CC-BY-NC-4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Copyright: ©2002 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
License notice: The text of this page ("Sirimanda", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions.
Attribution: ©2002 Thanissaro Bhikkhu. The text of this page ("Sirimanda", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Transcribed from a file provided by the translator. Last revised for Access to Insight on 4 August 2010. How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Sirimanda" (Thag 6.13), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 4 August 2010, https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/thag/thag.06.13.than.html .
Changes: Presentation only: original HTML markup reflowed into plain text; wording, numbering and source repetitions retained. No repetitions expanded.
Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved, including introductions, notes and verse structure. Thanissaro's collection-level note explicitly states that repetitions were cut: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/about.html. This is evidence about the translation method, not an assertion that every individual unit contains an omission; no repetitions reconstructed.

Rain soddens what's covered
& doesn't sodden what's exposed.
So open up what's covered up,
so that it won't get soddened by the rain.

Attacked by death
	is the world,
surrounded by aging,
beset by the arrow of craving,
always obscured by desire.

Attacked by death
	is the world,
& encircled by aging,
constantly beaten, with no shelter,
	like a thief
sentenced to punishment.

They encroach like masses of flame,
	these three:
	death, aging, & illness.
There's no strength to confront them,
no speed to run away.

Make the day not-in-vain,
	a little or a lot.
However much
the day passes,
that's how much less
	is life.
Your last day approaches.
	This isn't your time
	to be heedless.