死隨念（Maraṇassati / Mindfulness of Death）— 中文翻譯

【§167】今者，於〔六隨念之〕後接續而來之死隨念¹（maraṇassati）修習門已至。

於此，死（maraṇa）者，是於一有所攝之命根（jīvitindriya）之斷絕。然，諸阿羅漢之死——名為輪迴苦之斷絕（vaṭṭa-dukkha-samuccheda）者——為斷絕死（samuccheda-maraṇa）；諸行剎那剎那之壞滅，為剎那死（khaṇika-maraṇa）；如「樹死」、「鐵死」等世俗用法，為世俗死（sammuti-maraṇa）——此三者非此處所欲之義。

此處所欲者，分二種：時死（kāla-maraṇa）與非時死（akāla-maraṇa）。其中，時死由福之盡（puñña-kkhaya）、由命之盡（āyu-kkhaya）、或由二者之盡而生。非時死由能斷生命之業（kammupacchedaka-kamma）而生。

於此中：當生命延續之諸緣具足存在之時，唯因生起結生之業已熟其果，而生死者——此名福盡死（puñña-kkhaya-maraṇa）。當生界、時、食等諸資具不足存在——如於今時人，其壽限大約限於百歲——而由壽命盡之力而生死者，此名命盡死（āyu-kkhaya-maraṇa）。又，如杜西魔²（Dūsīmāra）、迦羅浮王³（Kalāburāja）等之事——由可使彼等於彼一剎那中即離本所之業所斷其相續，或由先前之業，或由刀杖等故意之上加力而斷其相續者之死——此名非時死。如前所述，凡此皆攝於命根之斷絕中。

如是，命根斷絕所稱之死，即為其所緣之死隨念（maraṇassati）。

【§168】欲修習此者，宜往閑靜處獨住而起如理作意（yoniso manasikāra）：「將有死亡，命根將被斷絕」；或如此：「死，死。」蓋若起非如理作意（ayoniso），則於憶念可愛者之死時，憂愁起——猶如生子之母悲念其新生愛子之死；於憶念不可愛者之死時，喜悅起——猶如怨家慶喜怨家之死；於憶念中庸者之死時，悚懼（saṃvega）不起——猶如焚屍人視死屍；於憶念自己之死時，驚怖起——猶如怯弱者見執刀之劊子手。凡此皆由念（sati）、悚懼（saṃvega）、智（ñāṇa）之缺失而生。

是故，〔修行者〕應處處觀察被殺與已死之諸有情，憶起親見過去具勝事〔之諸有情〕之死，連結念、悚懼、智三法而起作意：「將有死亡」等。如此而起之者，即由如理而起；謂以方便（upāyena）而起也。唯如此而起〔之某些修行者〕，其諸蓋（nīvaraṇa）被鎮伏，以死為所緣之念安住，業處（kammaṭṭhāna）即達於近行〔定〕。

【§169】然，於彼一切尚未得之者，應由此八種行相（aṭṭhah' ākārehi）以憶念死：

（1）由殺戮者現前（vadhakapaccupaṭṭhānato）； （2）由興衰（sampatti-vipattito）； （3）由引比（upasaṃharaṇato）； （4）由身共眾類（kāya-bahusādhāraṇato）； （5）由命脆（āyu-dubbalato）； （6）由無相（animittato）； （7）由限期（addhāna-paricchedato）； （8）由剎那短促（khaṇa-parittato）。

於此中：

（1）由殺戮者現前：謂應以死如殺戮者現前而憶念。猶如執劍之殺戮者言：「我將斷此頭」而引劍至〔人之〕頸者，乃為現前之殺戮者；如是，死亦現前而存。為何？以〔死〕與生俱來故，及奪取生命故。譬如獅子菇（ahicchattaka）之芽，乃以頭頂著塵土而出生；如是，諸有情之生起，亦攜帶老死而來。實則於彼等，結生心生起之同時，即趣於老衰，與相應諸蘊俱破——猶如自山頂墜落之巨石。

【V i 231】如是剎那死亦與生俱來；又，已生者必死之故，此處所欲之死亦與生俱來。是故，此有情自生時起——猶如已升起之太陽朝向其落山之方而行，於所抵之每一處皆絕不稍稍倒回；又如山中急流（pabbateyyā sīghasotā）攜帶〔諸物〕而流，奔流而行，絕不稍稍倒回——如是，亦絕不稍稍倒回，唯朝向死亡而行。是故有云：

Yam ekarattim pathamam gabbhe vasati māṇavo, abbhutṭhito va so yāti, sa gaccham na nivattatī ti.

「人從入胎之初一夜起即住於胎中， 即如已啟程者而行，行而不還。」⁴

如是行進之時，死實已逼近——猶如夏熱所熾之諸小溪之乾涸；猶如清晨〔風〕鬆其潤露之繫之諸樹果之墜落；猶如以杖所擊之諸瓦器之破碎；猶如為日光所觸之諸露珠之消散。是故有云：⁵

Accayanti ahorattā, jīvitam uparujjhati, āyu khīyati maccānam, kunnadīnam va odakam.

「日夜既過，生命為斷， 諸人之壽盡，猶如諸小溪之水。」⁶

Phalānam iva pakkānam; pāto papatato bhayam, evam jātānam maccānam niccam maraṇato bhayam.

「猶如諸已熟之果，於〔每一〕清晨皆有墜落之恐怖， 如是，諸已生之人類，恆有死之恐怖。」⁷

Yathā pi kumbhakārassa katam mattikabhājanam, khuddakañ ca mahantañ ca yam pakkam yañ ca āmakam, sabbam bhedanapariyantam evam maccāna jīvitam.

「猶如陶工所造之諸瓦器， 大者、小者、燒成者、未燒者， 一切皆以破壞為終——如是諸人類之命亦然。」⁸

Ussavo va tiṇaggam hi suriyuggamanam pati, evam āyu manussānam. Mā mam, amma, nivārayā ti.

「猶如露珠在草端，等候日出〔即消散〕； 如是，諸人類之命亦然。母啊，請勿阻我〔出家〕。」⁹

【V i 232】如是，由與生俱來故，由奪取生命故，死亦如執劍之殺戮者現前——應如是而憶念之；以此即為由殺戮者現前。

（2）由興衰：於此「興」（sampatti）唯於「衰」（vipatti）尚未壓伏之間始映輝；又無有「興」名能超越「衰」而住者。誠如此云：

Sakalam medinim bhutvā, datvā koṭisatam sukhī, aḍḍhāmalakamattassa ante issaratam gato.

Ten' eva dehabandhena puññamhi khayam āgate, maraṇābhimukho so pi asoko sokam āgato ti.

「享盡全大地、施予百俱胝〔財〕而得安樂者， 終至唯統御半個庵摩羅果〔之分〕而已。

即由彼同身之延續，當其福已盡， 面臨於死，彼〔本〕無憂者亦來於憂。」¹⁰

復次，一切健康以病為終；一切青春以老為終；一切生命以死為終。整個世間之安住，皆為生所隨、為老所追、為病所逼、為死所擊。是故有云：

Yathā pi selā vipulā nabham āhacca pabbatā, samantā anupariyeyyum nippothentā catuddisā, evam jarā ca maccu ca adhivattanti pāṇino. Khattiye Brāhmaṇe Vesse Sudde Caṇḍāla-Pukkuse, na kiñci parivajjeti, sabbam evābhimaddati. Na tattha hatthīnam bhūmi, na rathānam, na pattiyā, na cā pi mantayuddhena sakkā jetum dhanena vā ti.

「譬如廣大磐石、頂天之諸山， 皆周遍輾轉而行，於四方各方擊碎一切—— 如是，老與死亦壓服諸有情。 剎帝利、婆羅門、毘舍、首陀、旃陀羅、補羯娑—— 〔老死〕無有所避，悉皆碾盡。 於彼〔老死〕，象戰之地不立，戰車不立，步兵不立， 亦不能以謀略之戰勝、以財富勝。」¹¹

如是，當決心以生命之興將以死之衰為終者，應由興衰以憶念死。

（3）由引比：謂以自己與他人相比照而引。於此中，應以七種行相而由引比以憶念死：

由名譽之大（yasamahattato）； 由福德之大（puññamahattato）； 由力之大（thāmamahattato）； 由神通之大（iddhimahattato）； 由智之大（paññāmahattato）； 由〔諸〕辟支佛（paccekabuddhato）； 由〔諸〕正等覺者（sammāsambuddhato）。

如何〔各別〕？

此名為「死」之事，已無障礙地落於彼諸具大名譽者、大隨從者、具足財寶與乘騎者之上——【V i 233】如摩訶薩瑪達¹²（Mahāsammata）、曼陀多¹³（Mandhātar）、摩訶須達薩那¹⁴（Mahāsudassana）、怛黎那彌¹⁵（Daḷhanemi）、尼彌¹⁶（Nimi）等。如何於我之上不落？

Mahāyasā rājavarā, Mahāsammata ādayo, te pi maccuvasam pattā, mādisesu kathā va kā ti.

「諸具大名譽之優越王者，自摩訶薩瑪達始—— 彼等亦至死之支配下；於如我輩者更何說？」

如是，先由名譽之大而應憶念。

如何由福德之大？

Jotiko Jaṭilo Uggo Meṇḍako atha Puṇṇako,¹⁷ ete c' aññe ca ye loke mahāpuññā ti vissutā; sabbe maraṇam āpannā, mādisesu kathā va kā ti.

「樹提迦、闍提羅、鬱伽、民達迦、亦及富那迦—— 此諸人及他諸於世間以「大福德」名稱者： 一切皆至於死；於如我輩者更何說？」

如是由福德之大而應憶念。

如何由力之大？

Vāsudevo Baladevo, Bhīmaseno Yudhiṭṭhilo, Cānuro Piyādi-Mallo¹⁸ Antakassa vasam gatā, Evam thāmabalūpetā iti lokamhi vissutā; ete pi maraṇam yātā, mādisesu kathā va kā ti.

「婆蘇提婆、婆羅提婆、毘摩斯那、優地提羅、 旃那羅之毘耶提力士——〔皆〕至於終結者（Antaka）之支配下； 如是具勇力者，於世間以〔此名〕著稱—— 此諸人亦至於死；於如我輩者更何說？」

如是由力之大而應憶念。

如何由神通之大？

Pādangutṭhakamattena vijayantam akampayi yo nām' iddhimatam settho dutiyo aggasāvako,¹⁹ so pi maccumukham ghoram, migo sīhamukham viya, paviṭṭho saha iddhīhi, mādisesu kathā va kā ti.

「以足拇指之量震動毘闍延多〔天宮〕者—— 即諸具神通者之最勝、第二上首弟子（Mahā-Moggallāna）—— 彼亦入於死之恐怖之口， 猶如鹿入於師子之口，乃與諸神通俱入。 於如我輩者更何說？」

如是由神通之大而應憶念。

如何由智之大？

【V i 234】

Lokanātham ṭhapetvāna, ye c' aññe atthi pāṇino paññāya Sāriputtassa kalam nāgghanti soḷasim: evam nāma mahāpañño paṭhamo aggasāvako: maraṇassa vasam patto, mādisesu kathā va kā ti.

「除世間之護主（佛）外，凡其餘所有諸有情， 皆不及舍利弗智慧之十六分之一²⁰； 如是有大智之第一上首弟子—— 〔彼亦〕至於死之支配下；於如我輩者更何說？」

如是由智之大而應憶念。

如何由〔諸〕辟支佛？凡彼諸由自己之智與精進之力，破壞一切煩惱之軍隊，而證得辟支菩提²¹（paccekabodhi）——獨角犀同等之諸自生者²²（khaggavisāṇakappā sayambhuno）——彼等亦未脫離死，我又如何能脫？

Tam tam nimittam āgamma vīmamsantā mahesayo sayambhū ñāṇatejena, ye pattā āsavakkhayam, ekacariyanivāsena, khaggasiṅgasamūpamā, te pi nātigatā maccum, mādisesu kathā va kā ti.

「依各種因緣而觀察〔諸法〕之諸大仙者， 諸自生者由智之威光得至漏盡， 以獨行之住，如獨角犀者—— 彼等亦未越過死。於如我輩者更何說？」

如是由〔諸〕辟支佛而應憶念。

如何由〔諸〕正等覺者？乃彼世尊，其色身（rūpakāya）以八十隨好（asīti-anuvyañjana）所莊嚴、以三十二大丈夫相（dvattimsa-mahāpurisalakkhaṇa）所變化光麗；其法身（dhammakāya）以一切相清淨之戒蘊等諸德寶具足；已達名譽、福德、力、神通、智慧諸大之彼岸；無比、無等等、無上之阿羅漢、正等覺者；〔即如此世尊〕亦如以雨水之降下消滅之大火堆，由死之雨之降下而於〔般涅槃之〕處〔被〕鎮息、寂滅。

Evam mahānubhāvassa yam nām' etam mahesino, na bhayena na lajjāya maraṇavasam āgatam, nillajjam vītasārajjam, sabbasattābhimaddanam: tayidam mādisam sattam katham nābhibhavissatī ti?

「具如此大威神力之大仙者，〔死〕亦至於祂之支配—— 〔死〕非由怖畏、非由羞愧而來； 此無羞、此離怯、此一切有情之碾壓者； 如是〔死者〕又如何不能勝伏如我等之有情乎？」

如是由〔諸〕正等覺者而應憶念。

於彼如是與具足名譽之大等之他者，由死性之相同性而比照自己後，憶念「彼諸殊勝有情既如此，我亦將死」者——〔其〕業處達於近行〔定〕。是故應由引比而憶念死。

【V i 235】（4）由身共眾類：謂此身為〔多種〕共有；先〔說〕此身與八十蟲類（asīti-kimikulā）共有。於此中，住於皮者食皮，住於革者食革，住於肉者食肉，住於筋者食筋，住於骨者食骨，住於髓者食髓，於彼處生、長、死，並排泄大小便——身於彼等實乃產房、病室、墳場、糞房、尿桶。此身實由彼諸蟲類之擾亂亦死。又如與八十蟲類共有，與內之數百種疾病、與外之諸蛇、蝎、百足等死之共因亦共有。

譬如於四衢路所豎立之標靶，箭、矛、長槍、石塊等從一切方降下；如是於身亦諸險難降下。又由彼諸險難之降下，此〔身〕亦致死。是故世尊有云：「諸比丘！比丘日已過、夜既至，作如是觀察：『實多有我之死緣——蛇可咬我，蝎可咬我，百足可咬我；以此而為我之死命，此將為我之障礙。我或可跌倒；我所食之飯可消化失調；膽可動搖；痰可動搖；如刀之風可動搖——以此而為我之死命，此將為我之障礙。』」²³ 如是由身共眾類而應憶念死。

（5）由命脆：謂此名為命之物乃無力、脆弱；蓋諸有情之命，以入息出息為依而得繫；以諸威儀為依而得繫；以冷熱為依而得繫；以諸大種（mahābhūta）為依而得繫；以食為依而得繫。彼〔命〕僅於入息出息平等運轉之時得轉；當外出之鼻息不再入內，或入內者不再外出時，名為已死。亦僅於四威儀平等運轉之時得轉；【V i 236】然由其中任一過甚之故，諸壽行（āyusaṅkhāra）即斷。亦僅於冷熱平等運轉之時得轉；然為過冷或過熱所壓伏者即喪命。亦僅於諸大種平等運轉之時得轉；然由地大、或水大等任一之動亂，雖具力之人亦或硬身、或由痢疾等而身濕爛、或為大熱所逼、或關節結扣破裂——而至命之滅盡。段食（kabaḷīkārāhāra）亦僅於〔人〕得之於適時之時，命方得轉；然不得食者，〔命〕即至於耗盡。如是由命脆而應憶念死。

（6）由無相：意謂由無有〔定〕量（avavatthāna）、由境界（paricchedābhāva）之缺失。蓋諸有情：

Jīvitam vyādhi kālo ca dehanikkhepanam gati: pañc' ete jīvalokasmim animittā na ñāyare.

「壽命、病、時、置身〔之地〕、趣—— 此五於〔生命〕之世間，皆無相不可知。」²⁴

於此中：壽命初則由無有「唯應如是而生，不應更〔長〕於此」之〔定〕量之故為無相，何以故？於羯羅藍位（kalala-kāla）諸有情亦死；於頞部曇位（abbuda）、閉尸位（pesi）、鍵南位（ghana）、一月位（māsika）、二月、三月、四月、五月、十月之位亦死；於由胎中出之時亦死；又於此後，於百年之內、外亦死。

病亦由無有「諸有情唯由此病而死，不由他者」之〔定〕量之故為無相；蓋諸有情亦由眼病而死；亦由耳病等任一者而死。

時亦由無有「唯於此時應死，不於餘時」之〔定〕量之故為無相；蓋諸有情亦於朝〔時〕而死；亦於日中等諸〔時〕之任一者而死。

**置身〔之地〕**亦由無有「於此處死者唯應於此處倒身，不於餘處」之〔定〕量之故為無相；蓋於村內生者，於村外亦倒身；於村外生者，於村內〔亦倒身〕。如是於陸生者，於水〔亦倒身〕；於水生者，於陸〔亦倒身〕——如是應以多種方式而廣論。

【V i 237】趣亦由無有「自彼處死者，應於此處再生」之〔定〕量之故為無相；蓋自天界死者亦於人界生；自人界死者亦於天界等任一處生——如是，猶如機械所牽引之牛，世間於五趣中輪迴。如是由無相而應憶念死。

（7）由限期：謂諸人類之命名於今時無有〔定〕量、亦無如是〔長〕之期限。「久活者活百歲，或稍多」——是故世尊言：「諸比丘！諸人類之命短矣，將至於後世。應為善法，應行梵行，於已生者無有不死。諸比丘！久活者活百歲，或稍多。」²⁵

Appam āyu manussānam, hīleyya nam suporiso; careyy' ādittasīso va; n' atthi maccussa nāgamo ti.

「諸人類之命短矣，善人應輕視之； 應如頭已著火者而行；無有死之不來。」²⁶

復〔世尊〕又言：「諸比丘！過去有名為阿羅迦之師……」²⁷ 全經以七種譬喻所莊嚴，應廣說。又〔世尊〕言：「諸比丘！凡如此修習死隨念之比丘——『嗚呼，願我活一晝一夜〔長〕，以作意世尊之教誡，多有所為！』；或〔如此〕：『嗚呼，願我活一日，以作意世尊之教誡，多有所為！』；或〔如此〕：『嗚呼，願我活一團食〔吞下之間〕之長，以作意世尊之教誡，多有所為！』；或〔如此〕：『嗚呼，願我活四五口食咬下吞下之間，以作意世尊之教誡，多有所為！』——諸比丘！此名為放逸而住、為漏盡而遲緩修死隨念之諸比丘。

【V i 238】然，諸比丘！凡如此修習死隨念之比丘——『嗚呼，願我活一口食咬下吞下之間〔之長〕，以作意世尊之教誡，多有所為！』；或〔如此〕：『嗚呼，願我活我已出息再入息、或已入息再出息〔之長〕，以作意世尊之教誡，多有所為！』——諸比丘！此名為不放逸而住、為漏盡而銳利修死隨念之諸比丘。」²⁸ 如是，唯四五口之咬下吞下〔之時間〕亦不可信，命之期限是短的。如是由限期而應憶念死。

（8）由剎那短促：謂於勝義（paramattha），實則諸有情之命剎那（jīvitakkhaṇa）極短，乃唯一心之轉起時量。譬如車輪轉動之時，亦唯由其輪緣之一點而轉；靜止之時，亦唯由其輪緣之一點而立；如是，諸有情之命亦為一心剎那；當該心已滅時，名為「有情已滅」。如〔古論〕有云：「於過去心剎那中已活過，今不活，未來不將活；於未來心剎那中未曾活，今不活，未來將活；於現在心剎那中未曾活，今活，未來不將活。」²⁹

Jīvitam attabhāvo ca sukhadukkhā ca kevalā ekacittasamāyuttā lahuso vattate khaṇo.

「命、自體、苦、樂——〔此一切〕皆同—— 與一心相應，剎那短暫而過。」

Ye niruddhā marantassa tiṭṭhamānassa vā idha, sabbe pi sadisā khandhā gatā appaṭisandhiyā.

「於正在死者、或於正在住於此者所滅之〔諸蘊〕—— 一切皆同：諸蘊已去，無再結生。」

Anibbattena na jāto, paccuppannena jīvati, cittabhaṅgā mato loko: paññatti paramatthiyā ti.

「以未生〔之蘊〕，〔世間〕未生；以現在〔之蘊〕，活； 以心之破壞，世間〔即〕死——〔此乃〕勝義之施設。」³⁰

如是由剎那短促而應憶念死。

【§177】如是於此八種行相之任一行相而憶念者，亦由屢屢之作意，心得親近、習熟（āsevana）；以死為所緣之念安住；諸蓋（nīvaraṇa）被鎮伏；諸禪支（jhānaṅga）顯現。然由所緣具有自性〔法〕之故（sabhāva-dhammattā）以及由其能引生悚懼之故（saṃvejanīyattā），〔此〕禪定（jhāna）不達安止（appanā），唯達近行〔定〕（upacāra-patta）³¹。然出世間禪（lokuttarajjhāna）

【V i 239】及第二、第四之諸無色禪（āruppajjhāna），於〔以〕自性法〔為所緣〕之中，亦由修習之差別而得安止。蓋出世間禪由清淨修習之次第而得安止；無色〔禪〕則由所緣超越修習而得〔安止〕。於已得安止之禪，唯有所緣之超越於彼處生；然於此〔死隨念〕中，二者皆無。是故唯得近行禪。又此〔禪定〕由〔以死為所緣之〕念力而生起之故，唯名為死隨念（maraṇasati）。

復次，凡修習此死隨念之比丘——

恆常不放逸（satataṃ appamatto）；於諸有得不喜之想（sabbabhavesu anabhiratisaññam patilabhati）；捨於命之執著（jīvitanikantiṃ jahāti）；為惡法之譴責者（pāpagarahī）；少所積（asannidhibahulo）；於諸資具離悋之垢（parikkhāresu vigatamala-macchero）；無常想於〔彼〕成熟（aniccasaññā assa paricayam gacchati）；隨此而苦想、無我想亦現起。

譬如諸未修死之有情，當為猛獸、夜叉、毒蛇、盜賊、殺戮者所突然壓伏之時，於死之時生畏、生悚、生惑；彼〔已修者〕不至於〔如此〕，無畏、無惑而作命終。若於現法中未證得不死（amata）³²，亦以身壞而趣於善趣（sugati-parāyana）。

是故賢智者，當常勤行不放逸， 於此大威神之死隨念中。

此即《死隨念》之詳論門。

---

譯者腳註

¹ 死隨念（maraṇassati）：字面義為「死之念」；此處採 CSCD 校勘版校字本之 sandhi 化合形（雙 -s 之化合形），為學術通用之規範形式。PTS 本印作 maraṇasati（單 -s）；二形指同一禪修主題。本譯依學術慣例採 CSCD 之規範形作為章名。

² 杜西魔（Dūsīmāra）：過去之一惡魔，曾折磨拘留孫佛之諸弟子，因此墮入無間地獄。參見《中部》第 50 經《魔訶責經》（Māratajjanīya-sutta）（PTS 本：M. i, 333）；《長老偈》第 1187 偈（大目犍連自憶於過去世曾為杜西魔本身）。

³ 迦羅浮王（Kalāburāja）：迦尸國（Kāsi）之王，曾折磨忍辱仙人（Khantivādī），後被大地吞沒（即墮入無間）。參見《忍辱仙人本生經》（Khantivādī-Jātaka；PTS：Jā. iii, 39）；《小護法本生經》（Cūḷadhammapāla-Jātaka；PTS：Jā. v, 135）；《彌蘭王問經》（Milindapañha）p. 201。

⁴ 偈引自《本生經》1.15.363（〈油缽本生〉等相關語境；PTS 本引作 Jāt. iv, 494）。此偈以「自入胎之初一夜起即啟程而行，行而不還」之像喻，建立人生為一單向之旅。

⁵ 以下四偈（腳註 6–9）構成關於「死之必至」之教法群組，係自三藏中所選輯。

⁶ 《相應部》4.146（PTS 本：S. i, 109）。

⁷ 《本生經》之偈（PTS：Jāt. iv, 127）；以諸有情為「恆常面臨墜落之熟果」之同義並列像喻。

⁸ 《經集》581–582（PTS：Sn. 576–7）。互見《相應部》i, 97 及《法句經》第 40 偈——此即「陶工之諸瓦器皆以破為終」之經典像喻，喻死之普遍性。

⁹ 《本生經》1.11.79（PTS：Jāt. iv, 122；參 A. iv, 137）。其「母——子」之收件人結構，建立此偈之家庭——田園詠歎調 register。

¹⁰ 此偈之來源未追溯至已知之三藏或其註本。覺音論師可能援引更廣範圍之、警誡王權無常之偈頌傳統。

¹¹ 《相應部》1.136（PTS：S. i, 102）。此即著名之「磐石碾壓」像喻：老死無有差別地壓服一切有情，不論其種姓階級。

¹² 摩訶薩瑪達（Mahāsammata）：依佛教宇宙論敘事，乃人類最初之王（參見《起世因本經》Aggañña-sutta）；其名意為「大共認」，由共同同意而選出。參見《本生經》ii, 311；iii, 454。

¹³ 曼陀多（Mandhātar）：傳說中之轉輪王，統治四大洲；舉為「達於權能之頂點亦不能滿足欲念」之典範人物。參見《增支部》ii, 7；《長老尼偈》486；CSCD 之讀法與 Sʰ 及 Bʰᵐ 一致。

¹⁴ 摩訶須達薩那（Mahāsudassana）：《長部》第 17 經《大善見經》（Mahāsudassana-sutta）之轉輪王（PTS：D. ii, 170 ff.）。

¹⁵ 怛黎那彌（Daḷhanemi）：《長部》第 26 經《轉輪聖王師子吼經》（Cakkavattisīhanāda-sutta）之轉輪王（PTS：D. iii, 59 ff.）。

¹⁶ 尼彌（Nimi）：彌織羅國（Mithilā）之傳說王，《尼彌本生經》（Nimi-Jātaka；PTS：Jāt. vi, 95 ff.）之主人公。緬甸寫本傳統於此處之列表中遺漏尼彌。

¹⁷ 樹提迦、闍提羅、鬱伽、民達迦、富那迦：五位於三藏中以積累大福德（mahāpuñña）著稱之富裕居士。出處：樹提迦與闍提羅——《法句經注釋》（Dhammapada-Aṭṭhakathā）i, 385（Sʰ 本作「Jotiyo」）；鬱伽——Jā. i, 94；民達迦——《律藏》（Vinaya-Piṭaka）i, 240 ff.（巴提雅富裕居士）；富那迦——Dhp.A. i, 385。

¹⁸ 婆蘇提婆、婆羅提婆、毘摩斯那、優地提羅、旃那羅之毘耶提力士（PTS 之讀法；Bʰᵐ 本作 yo mahā Mallo，「大力士」；CSCD 與 Bʰᵐ 對齊）：五位來自《摩訶婆羅多》史詩循環之傳說中力士人物。婆蘇提婆（Vāsudeva）= 黑天（Kṛṣṇa）；婆羅提婆（Baladeva）= 大力（Balarāma）；毘摩斯那（Bhīmasena）= 怖軍（Bhīma）；優地提羅（Yudhiṭṭhila）= 堅戰（Yudhiṣṭhira）；旃那羅（Cānura）= 於《薄伽梵讚》循環中為黑天所擊殺之力士對手。出處：Jāt. iv, 82；v, 426；iv, 81。覺音論師將印度教史詩人物舉為力之大之典範，反映出公元第五世紀印度之跨文化文學環境：前佛教時期之英雄史詩人物，為當時受過教育之讀者之共同參照——不論其宗派歸屬。

¹⁹ 「第二上首弟子」（dutiyo aggasāvako）即大目犍連（Mahā-Moggallāna），其以足拇指動搖帝釋天（Sakka）之毘闍延多（Vejayanta）天宮之神通示現，記述於《長老偈》第 1194 偈及《愛盡小經》（Cūḷataṇhāsaṅkhaya-sutta；MN 37）。PTS 本作 vijayantam（梵語化形式）；CSCD 本作 vejayantam（標準巴利形）。二者皆指同一天宮。

²⁰ 「十六分之一」（soḷasim kalam）為巴利語慣用語，表示極小之分數；此偈之意為：除佛之外，一切有情之合計尚不及舍利弗智慧之十六分之一。

²¹ 辟支菩提（paccekabodhi）：辟支佛（paccekabuddha）之覺悟——以自己之努力證得佛性，但不建立教法傳承者。

²² 獨角犀同等（khaggavisāṇakappa）：字面義為「如獨角犀之角」，是著名之《經集》像喻（Sn. 35–75《獨角犀經》Khaggavisāṇa-sutta），喻辟支佛之獨行修行模式。

²³ 《增支部》6.20《死隨念經》（Maraṇassati-sutta；PTS：A. iii, 306）。比丘對「眾多死緣」之每日省察——三外緣（蛇、蝎、百足）與三內緣（消化失調、膽動、痰動、如刀之風——統稱為「內動亂」）。

²⁴ 此偈確立「死之五重無相之性」；其經典出處未確認。

²⁵ 《相應部》4.145 之框架 + 經典之 appam-āyu-manussānam 警句；周圍之散文乃對標準經文之撮述。

²⁶ 《相應部》4.145（PTS：S. i, 108）。

²⁷ 《增支部》7.74《阿羅迦經》（Araka-sutta；PTS：A. iv, 136）。過去之師阿羅迦（Araka）以七種譬喻教其諸弟子有關死之逼近（草端之露珠、水中之氣泡、水上劃線、山中急流、唾沫一團、熱鍋中之肉塊、被牽至屠殺之牛）。此處之經文以覺音論師之標準 vitthāretabbam（「應廣說」）引用慣例縮略為「全經以七種譬喻所莊嚴，應廣說」。

²⁸ 《增支部》6.19《死隨念經》（Maraṇassati-sutta；PTS：A. iv, 318 f.；§ 11）。死隨念之分級漸進：四種「遲緩」之模式（rattindiva / divasa / piṇḍapāta / cattāro-pañca-ālope）反映放逸修行 → 二種「銳利」之模式（ekam-ālopam / assasitvā-passasāmi）反映不放逸修行。此經之鑒別點：不放逸之程度，以〔修行者〕所設想之自身餘命時間單位之短促度而定。

²⁹ 此處之引用未為 PTS 編者所追溯；三重「心剎那命」之陳述可能為早期錫蘭來源中所保存之古註（aṭṭhakathā）傳統之偈頌片段，未被收入現存三藏之中。

³⁰ 《大義釋》（Mahāniddesa）第 39（CSCD 經典出處引用）。此偈之收尾陳述 paññatti paramatthiyā——「〔此乃〕勝義之施設」——確立其教法框架：自勝義（paramattha）之立場，世間乃隨識之生滅而剎那剎那地生滅；當作如是分析之時，世俗指稱「世間」（loka）本身即一施設（paññatti）。

³¹ 「近行」（upacāra-patta）採與 VII.6 相符之異本讀法（recension reading）；本譯依 PTS 印本所印者錄之。VII.4–VII.5 之 PTS 印本作 upacāra-mattaṃ（「唯近行」），意趣相同（皆表示此禪定不達安止，止於近行之水準）。詳見譯者校記。

³² 「不死」（amata）即涅槃之同義詞；此處謂行者若於現生中未證得涅槃（即未證初道以上聖位），則以身壞時將趣於善趣（人趣或天趣）；蓋已修死隨念者，已奠下不退之善業基礎。

Maraṇassati (Mindfulness of Death) — English Translation

[§167] Now the description of the cultivation of maraṇassati¹ (recollection of death) — which comes next in sequence after [the six recollections] — has arrived.

Here, maraṇa (death) is the cutting-off of the life-faculty included within a single existence. But death of arahants — called the cutting-off of the suffering of the round (vaṭṭa-dukkha-samuccheda) — is samuccheda-maraṇa (death-as-final-cutting-off); the moment-by-moment dissolution of formations is khaṇika-maraṇa (momentary death); and conventional usages such as "the tree has died" or "the iron has died" are sammuti-maraṇa (conventional death) — these three are not what is intended here.

What is intended is twofold: kāla-maraṇa (timely death) and akāla-maraṇa (untimely death). Of these, kāla-maraṇa occurs through the exhaustion of merit (puñña-kkhaya), through the exhaustion of life-span (āyu-kkhaya), or through the exhaustion of both. Akāla-maraṇa occurs through the action of life-cutting kamma (kammupacchedaka-kamma).

Among these: when, despite favourable conditions for life-continuance being present, death occurs only because the kamma that produced rebirth-linking has reached the maturity of its result — this is called puñña-kkhaya-maraṇa (death by exhaustion of merit). When the favourable conditions of birth-realm, time, food, and the like are absent — as with people of the present age, whose life-span is bounded by about a hundred years — and death occurs through the exhaustion of life-span, this is called āyu-kkhaya-maraṇa (death by exhaustion of life-span). And when [death occurs] like that of Dūsīmāra² and King Kalābu³ and the like — through kamma capable of displacing them from their station in that very moment, with their life-continuum cut off; or through previous kamma; or through deliberate violence such as weapon-strokes [bringing about] the cutting-off of the life-continuum of those whose life-stream is being severed — this is called akāla-maraṇa. All such cases are comprehended by the cutting-off of the life-faculty as previously stated.

Thus maraṇassati is recollection of death — death being defined as the cutting-off of the life-faculty.

[§168] The practitioner who wishes to cultivate this should go to a secluded place, retire into solitude, and bring forth wise attention thus: "There will be death; the life-faculty will be cut off"; or thus: "Death, death." For when [the practitioner] engages in attention unwisely, sorrow arises in recollecting the death of the beloved — like a mother grieving over her dear son who has just been born; gladness arises in recollecting the death of the disliked — like enemies rejoicing in their enemy's death; in recollecting the death of the indifferent, no sense of urgency arises — like a corpse-burner viewing a dead body; and in recollecting [the practitioner's] own death, terror arises — like a fearful person seeing a raised sword in the hand of an executioner. All this comes about through the absence of mindfulness, urgency, and knowledge.

Therefore [the practitioner] should look here and there at beings slain or dead, advert to the death of beings whose former good fortune [the practitioner] has personally witnessed, and yoking together mindfulness, urgency, and knowledge, bring forth attention thus: "There will be death," and so on. The practitioner who proceeds in this way proceeds wisely; that is, [the practitioner] proceeds with method (upāyena). For only [the practitioner] who proceeds thus has the hindrances suppressed, mindfulness established with death as its object, and the meditation subject reach access [concentration].

[§169] But for the practitioner in whom this much does not occur, death should be recollected by these eight modes (aṭṭhah' ākārehi):

(1) by way of [death's] presentation as executioner (vadhakapaccupaṭṭhānato); (2) by way of fortune-failure (sampatti-vipattito); (3) by way of comparison (upasaṃharaṇato); (4) by way of the body's being shared with many (kāya-bahusādhāraṇato); (5) by way of the weakness of life (āyu-dubbalato); (6) by way of [death's] signlessness (animittato); (7) by way of the limit of duration (addhāna-paricchedato); (8) by way of the brevity of the moment (khaṇa-parittato).

Of these:

(1) By way of [death's] presentation as executioner: death should be recollected as presenting itself like an executioner. Just as an executioner who has taken up a sword and is bringing it close to a person's neck, saying "I will cut off this head," is right there present — even so, death too is right there present. Why? Because it has come along with birth, and because it deprives a being of life. For just as an ahicchattaka-mushroom emerges with the dust on its head as it sprouts up, even so beings come into being bringing decay-and-death along with them. Indeed for them, the rebirth-linking consciousness, immediately upon arising, attains decay and breaks up together with its associated aggregates, like a stone falling from a mountain peak.

[V i 231] Thus khaṇika-maraṇa (momentary death) has come along with birth; and since whatever has been born must inevitably die, the death intended here too has come along with birth. Therefore this being, from the moment of birth onwards — just as the risen sun goes ever towards its setting, never turning back even slightly from the place reached — or as a swift-flowing mountain stream, carrying away [whatever it bears], flows on, runs on, never turning back even slightly — even so, never turning back even slightly, [this being] heads only towards death. Hence it has been said:

Yam ekarattim pathamam gabbhe vasati māṇavo, abbhutṭhito va so yāti, sa gaccham na nivattatī ti.

"From the very first night a being takes up residence in the womb, he goes on like one who has set out — going, he never turns back."⁴

And as he goes on, death is ever near at hand for him — like the drying-up of small streams scorched by summer heat; like the falling of tree-fruits whose moist-binding has been loosened by morning [wind]; like the breaking of clay pots struck by mallets; like the dispersal of dewdrops touched by the sun's rays. Hence it has been said:⁵

Accayanti ahorattā, jīvitam uparujjhati, āyu khīyati maccānam, kunnadīnam va odakam.

"Days and nights pass by, life is held back, the life-span of mortals dwindles, like the water of small streams."⁶

Phalānam iva pakkānam; pāto papatato bhayam, evam jātānam maccānam niccam maraṇato bhayam.

"As ripe fruits stand in fear of falling at any moment, so beings, once born, stand always in fear of death."⁷

Yathā pi kumbhakārassa katam mattikabhājanam, khuddakañ ca mahantañ ca yam pakkam yañ ca āmakam, sabbam bhedanapariyantam evam maccāna jīvitam.

"As all clay vessels made by a potter, small or great, fired or unfired, end in breaking — even so is the life of mortals."⁸

Ussavo va tiṇaggam hi suriyuggamanam pati, evam āyu manussānam. Mā mam, amma, nivārayā ti.

"Like a dewdrop on a blade of grass facing the rising sun, so is the life-span of human beings. Mother, do not hold me back."⁹

[V i 232] Thus, with [death's coming] along with birth and [its] depriving one of life, like an executioner with raised sword, death too should be recollected as right there present — in this way, by way of [death's] presentation as executioner.

(2) By way of fortune-failure: here "fortune" only shines for as long as failure does not overwhelm it; and there is no fortune that, having transcended failure, would stand on. Indeed:

Sakalam medinim bhutvā, datvā koṭisatam sukhī, aḍḍhāmalakamattassa ante issaratam gato.

Ten' eva dehabandhena puññamhi khayam āgate, maraṇābhimukho so pi asoko sokam āgato ti.

"Having enjoyed the entire earth, having given as gifts a hundred koṭis [of wealth], in happiness, at the end he attained sovereignty over [a mere] half-myrobalan-fruit['s worth].

By that very bodily continuum, when his merit was exhausted, facing death, even he — once unsorrowing — came to sorrow."¹⁰

Moreover, all health ends in sickness; all youth ends in old age; all life ends in death. The whole world-establishment is followed by birth, pursued by old age, oppressed by sickness, struck down by death. Hence it has been said:

Yathā pi selā vipulā nabham āhacca pabbatā, samantā anupariyeyyum nippothentā catuddisā, evam jarā ca maccu ca adhivattanti pāṇino. Khattiye Brāhmaṇe Vesse Sudde Caṇḍāla-Pukkuse, na kiñci parivajjeti, sabbam evābhimaddati. Na tattha hatthīnam bhūmi, na rathānam, na pattiyā, na cā pi mantayuddhena sakkā jetum dhanena vā ti.

"Just as vast rocks, mountains touching the sky, would roll all around, crushing in the four directions — even so do old age and death press in upon living beings. Khattiyas, Brahmins, Vessas, Suddas, Caṇḍālas, Pukkusas — [they] spare no one; they crush all alike. There is no place there for elephants, for chariots, for foot-soldiers; nor can [death] be conquered by counsel-warfare or by wealth."¹¹

Thus, with the fortune of life ending in the failure of death, [the practitioner] should recollect death by way of fortune-failure.

(3) By way of comparison: by comparing oneself with others. Here death should be recollected by comparison through seven aspects:

by greatness of fame (yasamahattato); by greatness of merit (puññamahattato); by greatness of strength (thāmamahattato); by greatness of psychic power (iddhimahattato); by greatness of wisdom (paññāmahattato); by reference to the paccekabuddhas (paccekabuddhato); by reference to the Sammāsambuddha (sammāsambuddhato).

How [each]?

This thing called death has fallen, without obstacle, even upon those of great fame, great retinues, vast wealth and conveyances — [V i 233] such as Mahāsammata,¹² Mandhātar,¹³ Mahāsudassana,¹⁴ Daḷhanemi,¹⁵ Nimi,¹⁶ and the rest. How then will it not fall upon me?

Mahāyasā rājavarā, Mahāsammata ādayo, te pi maccuvasam pattā, mādisesu kathā va kā ti.

"Excellent kings of great fame, beginning with Mahāsammata — they too came under the sway of death; what then to say of those like me?"

Thus, indeed, [death] should be recollected by greatness of fame.

How by greatness of merit?

Jotiko Jaṭilo Uggo Meṇḍako atha Puṇṇako,¹⁷ ete c' aññe ca ye loke mahāpuññā ti vissutā; sabbe maraṇam āpannā, mādisesu kathā va kā ti.

"Jotika, Jaṭila, Ugga, Meṇḍaka, and likewise Puṇṇaka — these and others famed in the world as of great merit: all came to death — what then to say of those like me?"

Thus [death] should be recollected by greatness of merit.

How by greatness of strength?

Vāsudevo Baladevo, Bhīmaseno Yudhiṭṭhilo, Cānuro Piyādi-Mallo¹⁸ Antakassa vasam gatā, Evam thāmabalūpetā iti lokamhi vissutā; ete pi maraṇam yātā, mādisesu kathā va kā ti.

"Vāsudeva, Baladeva, Bhīmasena, Yudhiṭṭhila, Cānura the Piyādi-Malla — [all] came under the sway of the Ender; [men] endowed with such strength of vigor, famed thus in the world — these too went to death; what then to say of those like me?"

Thus [death] should be recollected by greatness of strength.

How by greatness of psychic power?

Pādangutṭhakamattena vijayantam akampayi yo nām' iddhimatam settho dutiyo aggasāvako,¹⁹ so pi maccumukham ghoram, migo sīhamukham viya, paviṭṭho saha iddhīhi, mādisesu kathā va kā ti.

"He who, with the mere measure of his big toe, made Vejayanta tremble — he the foremost of those endowed with psychic power, the second chief disciple — even he entered the dreadful mouth of death, like a deer [entering] the mouth of a lion, [going there] together with his psychic powers. What then to say of those like me?"

Thus [death] should be recollected by greatness of psychic power.

How by greatness of wisdom?

[V i 234]

Lokanātham ṭhapetvāna, ye c' aññe atthi pāṇino paññāya Sāriputtassa kalam nāgghanti soḷasim: evam nāma mahāpañño paṭhamo aggasāvako: maraṇassa vasam patto, mādisesu kathā va kā ti.

"Setting aside the World-Protector, whatever other living beings there are — they do not equal a sixteenth-fraction of Sāriputta's wisdom.²⁰ One of such great wisdom, the foremost chief disciple — [he too] came under the sway of death; what then to say of those like me?"

Thus [death] should be recollected by greatness of wisdom.

How by reference to the paccekabuddhas? Even those great seers who, by the strength of their own knowledge and energy, having destroyed the army of all defilements, attained paccekabodhi²¹ — khaggavisāṇakappa-self-enlightened ones²² — even they have not escaped death; how then shall I escape?

Tam tam nimittam āgamma vīmamsantā mahesayo sayambhū ñāṇatejena, ye pattā āsavakkhayam, ekacariyanivāsena, khaggasiṅgasamūpamā, te pi nātigatā maccum, mādisesu kathā va kā ti.

"Coming upon this or that sign, examining it — those great seers, the self-enlightened, by the splendour of [their] knowledge having attained the destruction of the cankers, dwelling in solitary practice, like the rhinoceros-horn — even they did not transcend death. What then to say of those like me?"

Thus [death] should be recollected by reference to the paccekabuddhas.

How by reference to the Sammāsambuddha? Even that Blessed One, whose form-body was adorned with the eighty minor marks (asīti-anuvyañjana) and made resplendent with the variegated thirty-two marks of a Great Man (dvattimsa-mahāpurisalakkhaṇa); whose Dhamma-body was perfected with the jewel-treasures of the perfectly-purified mass of virtue and the rest; who had reached the far-shore of the greatness of fame, of merit, of strength, of psychic power, and of wisdom; the unequalled, the equal of the unequalled, the peerless, the araham, the sammāsambuddho — even he was extinguished and quieted at the place [of his Parinibbāna] by the downpour of death-rain, just as a great mass of fire is extinguished by the downpour of rain-water.

Evam mahānubhāvassa yam nām' etam mahesino, na bhayena na lajjāya maraṇavasam āgatam, nillajjam vītasārajjam, sabbasattābhimaddanam: tayidam mādisam sattam katham nābhibhavissatī ti?

"[That very death] which has come into the dominion of even such a great seer of such majestic power — [coming] not through fear, not through shame — shameless, devoid of timidity, the crusher of all beings: how shall this same [death] not overcome a being such as me?"

Thus [death] should be recollected by reference to the Sammāsambuddha.

So, by comparing oneself thus with others endowed with the greatness of fame and the rest, through the commonality of death, [the practitioner] who recollects "Death will come to me too, just as to those distinguished beings" finds the meditation subject attains access [concentration]. — In this way, by way of comparison, death should be recollected.

[V i 235] (4) By way of the body's being shared with many: this body is shared with many. To begin with, it is shared with the eighty families of worms. There the [worms] dwelling in the skin eat the skin; those dwelling in the hide eat the hide; those dwelling in the flesh eat the flesh; those dwelling in the sinews eat the sinews; those dwelling in the bones eat the bones; those dwelling in the marrow eat the marrow; right there they are born, grow old, die, and pass excrement and urine — and the body is for them the maternity-home, sick-room, cemetery, privy, and urine-trough alike. This body, indeed, is liable to die by the disturbance of those very families of worms. And just as it is shared with the eighty families of worms, even so [it is shared] also with the many hundreds of internal diseases, and with the external [causes of death] — snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and the like — that are shared causes of death.

For just as, when a target has been set up at a crossroads, arrows, spears, lances, stones, and so on come falling upon it from all directions — even so all manner of mishaps fall upon the body. And by the falling of those mishaps too, this [body] indeed comes to death. Hence the Blessed One said: "Here, bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu — having spent the day, with the night come on — reflects thus: Many indeed are the causes of my death — a snake might bite me, a scorpion might bite me, a centipede might bite me; thereby would be my dying, thereby would be my obstacle. I might stumble and fall; the food I have eaten might be ill-digested; bile might be disturbed for me; phlegm might be disturbed for me; sharp-as-knives winds might be disturbed for me — thereby would be my dying, thereby would be my obstacle."²³ Thus by way of the body's being shared with many, death should be recollected.

(5) By way of the weakness of life: this so-called life-span is feeble, weak; for the life of beings is bound up with in-and-out-breathing, with the postures, with cold-and-heat, with the great elements, and with food. It proceeds only when it obtains the equal occurrence of in-and-out-breathing; when, the out-breath having gone out from the nose, it does not come in again, or having come in, does not go [out] again — that being is called dead. It proceeds only when it obtains the equal occurrence of the four postures; [V i 236] but by the excess of any one of them, the life-formations are cut off. It proceeds only when it obtains the equal occurrence of cold and heat; but a person overcome by excess cold or excess heat perishes. It proceeds only when it obtains the equal occurrence of the great elements; but by the disturbance of any of them — earth-element or water-element and so on — even a person endowed with strength becomes stiffened in body, or with body soaked-and-rotten through dysentery and the like, or overcome by great burning, or with joints and bonds being broken apart — and arrives at the destruction of life. Material food too, only when [the person] obtains it at the right time, sustains life; but for the person not obtaining food, [life] goes to ruin. Thus, by way of the weakness of life, death should be recollected.

(6) By way of [death's] signlessness: meaning by way of [death's] indeterminacy, by way of the absence of any boundary-mark. For of beings:

Jīvitam vyādhi kālo ca dehanikkhepanam gati: pañc' ete jīvalokasmim animittā na ñāyare.

"Life-span, illness, time, place of body's-laying-down, destination — these five in the world of the living are signless, are not known."²⁴

Of these, life-span is signless by way of the absence of any boundary-mark such as "Only this much is to be lived; not beyond this." For beings die even in the kalala-stage [of embryonic development], and likewise in the abbuda-stage, in the pesi-stage, in the ghana-stage, in the māsika-stage (one-month), in the two-month, three-month, four-month, five-month, ten-month stage; even at the time of emerging from the womb; and beyond that, both within and beyond a hundred years they continue to die.

Illness too is signless by way of the absence of any boundary-mark such as "Beings die only by this very illness, by no other." For beings die even by eye-disease; by any one of the diseases of the ear and so on as well.

Time too is signless by way of the absence of any boundary-mark such as "[They] are to die only at this very time, not at another." For beings die even in the morning; and in the noon and the rest, at any other [time] too.

Place of body's-laying-down too is signless by way of the absence of any boundary-mark such as "For those dying right here, the body must fall right here, not elsewhere." For of those born within a village, the body falls even outside the village; of those born outside the village, [the body falls] within the village. So too of those born on land, [the body may fall] in water; of those born in water, on land — and so it should be expanded in many ways.

[V i 237] Destination too is signless by way of the absence of any boundary-mark such as "[They] are to be reborn here, having passed away from there." For [beings] passing away from the deva-world are reborn even among humans; passing away from the human-world they are reborn anywhere among the deva-realms and so forth; and thus, like an ox yoked to a machine, the world wheels through the five-fold round of destinations. — Thus by way of [death's] signlessness, death should be recollected.

(7) By way of the limit of duration: nowadays the lifespan of human beings has no [definite] boundary, nor any such [long] duration. He who lives long, [lives] a hundred years, or a little more — hence the Blessed One said: "Brief is this life-span of human beings, bhikkhus; the next world is to be reached. What is wholesome should be done, the holy life should be lived; there is no non-dying for the born. He who lives long, bhikkhus, [lives] a hundred years, or a little more."²⁵

Appam āyu manussānam, hīleyya nam suporiso; careyy' ādittasīso va; n' atthi maccussa nāgamo ti.

"Brief is the life-span of humans; the good man should despise it, should walk as one whose head is on fire — there is no non-coming of death."²⁶

Again [the Blessed One] said: "In the past, bhikkhus, there was a teacher named Araka..."²⁷ — the entire sutta, adorned with seven similes, should be expanded in full. Again [he] said: "He, bhikkhus, who develops mindfulness of death thus: 'Oh, that I might live for a day and a night, [and] attend to the Blessed One's teaching — much indeed would have been done by me!'; or thus: 'Oh, that I might live for a day, [and] attend to the Blessed One's teaching — much indeed would have been done by me!'; or thus: 'Oh, that I might live for as long as it takes to swallow [the contents of] one alms-round, [and] attend to the Blessed One's teaching — much indeed would have been done by me!'; or thus: 'Oh, that I might live for as long as it takes to chew and swallow four or five mouthfuls of food, [and] attend to the Blessed One's teaching — much indeed would have been done by me!' — these, bhikkhus, are called bhikkhus who dwell heedlessly, who develop mindfulness of death sluggishly for the destruction of the cankers.

[V i 238] But he, bhikkhus, who develops mindfulness of death thus: 'Oh, that I might live for as long as it takes to chew and swallow one mouthful of food, [and] attend to the Blessed One's teaching — much indeed would have been done by me!'; or thus: 'Oh, that I might live for as long as it takes for me, having breathed out, to breathe in, or having breathed in, to breathe out — and attend to the Blessed One's teaching — much indeed would have been done by me!' — these, bhikkhus, are called bhikkhus who dwell heedfully, who develop mindfulness of death keenly for the destruction of the cankers."²⁸ Thus, [a duration] only as long as the chewing-and-swallowing of four or five mouthfuls is unreliable; brief is the duration of [one's] life-span. — Thus by way of the limit of duration, death should be recollected.

(8) By way of the brevity of the moment: in ultimate truth, indeed, exceedingly brief is the life-moment of beings — being only the duration of a single mind-moment. Just as a chariot-wheel, even when rolling, rolls along on only one point of its rim, and even when standing, stands on only one [point]; even so, [is] the single-mind-moment-life of beings: when that consciousness has ceased, the being is said to have ceased. As [the Old Commentary] says: "In the past mind-moment one was living, one is not living [now], one will not live; in the future mind-moment one will not have lived, one is not living, one will live; in the present mind-moment one was not living, one is living, one will not live."²⁹

Jīvitam attabhāvo ca sukhadukkhā ca kevalā ekacittasamāyuttā lahuso vattate khaṇo.

"Life, individual existence, and pleasure-and-pain — all together — are conjoined with a single mind; the moment swiftly passes."

Ye niruddhā marantassa tiṭṭhamānassa vā idha, sabbe pi sadisā khandhā gatā appaṭisandhiyā.

"Those [aggregates] which have ceased for one [now] dying or [still] existing here — all are alike: the aggregates have gone, with no rebirth-linking."

Anibbattena na jāto, paccuppannena jīvati, cittabhaṅgā mato loko: paññatti paramatthiyā ti.

"By [aggregates] not yet arisen, [the world is] not born; by the present, it lives; with the breaking-up of consciousness the world is dead — [this is] designation in the ultimate sense."³⁰

Thus by way of the brevity of the moment, death should be recollected.

[§177] So, by recollecting [death] through any one or another of these eight modes, the mind, by repeated attention, gains familiarity; mindfulness with death as object becomes established; the hindrances are suppressed; the jhāna-factors become manifest. But because of the [meditation] object's being a phenomenon-with-its-own-nature (sabhāva-dhammattā) and because of [its] being something that arouses urgency (saṃvejanīya), the jhāna — not having reached absorption — becomes one that has reached only access concentration. The supramundane jhāna however,

[V i 239] together with the second and fourth formless jhānas, do attain absorption [taking] phenomena-with-their-own-nature [as object] by way of the distinction of cultivation. For the supramundane attains absorption by way of the gradual purification-cultivation; the formless [attains it] by way of the cultivation [proceeding] through transcendence of the [previous] object. With absorption-attained jhāna, only the bare transcendence of [the previous] object obtains there; but here [in maraṇassati] both [these conditions] are absent. Therefore, the jhāna obtained is one that has reached only access. And this — having arisen by the strength of mindfulness [with death as object] — comes to be reckoned as just maraṇassati.

Now the bhikkhu who is devoted to this maraṇassati is constantly heedful; gains the perception of non-delight in all existences; abandons attachment to life; is a censurer of evil; is one of few accumulations; is free from stain of stinginess in [his] requisites; the perception of impermanence becomes familiar to [him], and following on that, the perception of suffering and the perception of not-self also stand established.

Just as beings whose [practice of recollecting] death is undeveloped, when overwhelmed all of a sudden by wild beasts, yakkhas, snakes, robbers, or executioners, fall into fear, terror, and confusion at the time of dying — even so [this bhikkhu], not falling into [such states], fearless and unconfused, makes [his] end. If even in this very life [he] does not attain the deathless, [yet] with the breaking-up of the body [he] becomes one bound for a happy destination.

"Therefore the wise one should always practice diligence, in this maraṇānussati of such great majestic power."

Tasmā have appamādam kayirātha sumedhaso, evam mahānubhāvāya maraṇānussatiyā sadā ti.

This is the detailed exposition of Maraṇānussati.

---

Translator's footnotes

¹ maraṇassati: lit. "death-mindfulness"; here the standard CSCD-aligned canonical form (sandhi compound). PTS prints maraṇasati (single-s); both forms refer to the same meditation-subject. We adopt the canonical CSCD form for chapter-name throughout per scholarly convention.

² Dūsīmāra: a former Māra of the past who tortured the disciples of the Buddha Kakusandha and was reborn in the Avīci hell. Cf. MN 50 Māratajjanīya-sutta (i, 333); Theragāthā ver. 1187 (Mahā-Moggallāna recalls having been the very Dūsī-Māra in a past life).

³ Kalābu: the king of Kāsi who tortured the ascetic Khantivādī and was swallowed by the earth (Avīci hell). Cf. Khantivādī-Jātaka (Jā. iii, 39); Cūḷadhammapāla-Jātaka (Jā. v, 135); Milindapañha 201.

⁴ Verse cited from Jātaka 1.15.363 (Telapatta-Jātaka and related contexts; PTS edition citation: Jāt. iv, 494). The verse establishes life as a one-way journey from conception onwards.

⁵ The four verses that follow (footnotes 6–9) form a doctrinal cluster on death's ineluctable approach, drawn from across the canon.

⁶ Saṃyutta-Nikāya 4.146 (PTS edition citation: S. i, 109).

⁷ Jātaka verse (PTS: Jāt. iv, 127); a parallel image of beings as ripe fruits ever liable to fall.

⁸ Sutta-Nipāta 581–582 (PTS: Sn. 576–7). Cross-references at Saṃyutta-Nikāya i, 97 and Dhammapada 40 — the standard "potter's vessels" simile for the universality of death.

⁹ Jātaka 1.11.79 (PTS: Jāt. iv, 122; cf. A. iv, 137). The mother-and-son addressee establishes the verse's pastoral-domestic register.

¹⁰ Verse not traced to a known canonical or sub-canonical source. Buddhaghosa likely draws on a wider tradition of cautionary verses about kingship's transience.

¹¹ Saṃyutta-Nikāya 1.136 (PTS: S. i, 102). The famous "mountain-rolling" simile: old age and death press in upon all beings without distinction of caste.

¹² Mahāsammata: the first king of the human race in the Buddhist cosmological narrative (see Aggañña-sutta); his name means "the great elect," chosen by common consent. Cf. Jātaka ii, 311; iii, 454.

¹³ Mandhātar: a legendary universal monarch (cakkavattin) who ruled the four continents; cited as the paradigmatic example of one whose attainment-of-power could not satisfy desire. Cf. Aṅguttara-Nikāya ii, 7; Therīgāthā 486; CSCD reading aligned with Sʰ and Bʰᵐ.

¹⁴ Mahāsudassana: the cakkavattin king of Dīgha-Nikāya 17 Mahāsudassana-sutta (PTS: D. ii, 170 ff.).

¹⁵ Daḷhanemi: the cakkavattin king of Dīgha-Nikāya 26 Cakkavattisīhanāda-sutta (PTS: D. iii, 59 ff.).

¹⁶ Nimi: legendary king of Mithilā, subject of the Nimi-Jātaka (Jāt. vi, 95 ff.). The Burmese manuscript tradition omits Nimi from this list.

¹⁷ Jotika, Jaṭila, Ugga, Meṇḍaka, Puṇṇaka: five wealthy householders famed in the canon for their great accumulations of merit (mahāpuñña). References: Jotika and Jaṭila — Dhammapada-Aṭṭhakathā i, 385 (Sʰ reads "Jotiyo"); Ugga — Jā. i, 94; Meṇḍaka — Vinaya-Piṭaka i, 240 ff. (the Bhaddiya-householder); Puṇṇaka — Dhp.A. i, 385.

¹⁸ Vāsudeva, Baladeva, Bhīmasena, Yudhiṭṭhila, Cānura the Piyādi-Malla (PTS reading; Bʰᵐ reads yo mahā Mallo, "the great Malla [wrestler]"; CSCD aligns with Bʰᵐ): five legendary figures of strength drawn from the Mahābhārata epic cycle. Vāsudeva = Kṛṣṇa; Baladeva = Balarāma; Bhīmasena = Bhīma; Yudhiṭṭhila = Yudhiṣṭhira; Cānura = the wrestler-opponent slain by Kṛṣṇa in the Bhāgavata cycle. References: Jāt. iv, 82; v, 426; iv, 81. Buddhaghosa's citation of Hindu epic figures as exemplars of thāma-mahatta reflects the cross-cultural literary milieu of 5th-century-CE India: pre-Buddhist heroic-epic figures were familiar reference-points for educated readers regardless of sectarian affiliation.

¹⁹ The "second chief disciple" (dutiyo aggasāvako) is Mahā-Moggallāna, whose exhibition of iddhi (psychic power) by shaking Sakka's Vejayanta palace with his big toe is recounted at Theragāthā ver. 1194 and Cūḷataṇhāsaṅkhaya-sutta (MN 37). PTS reads vijayantam, a Sanskritized form; CSCD reads vejayantam, the standard Pāli form. Both refer to the same heavenly palace.

²⁰ "Sixteenth-fraction" (soḷasim kalam) is the standard Pāli idiom for an exceedingly small fraction; the verse claims that all sentient beings, save the Buddha, do not collectively equal one-sixteenth of Sāriputta's wisdom.

²¹ paccekabodhi: the awakening of a paccekabuddha — one who attains buddhahood through one's own efforts but does not establish a teaching-lineage.

²² khaggavisāṇakappa: lit. "rhinoceros-horn-like," the famous Suttanipāta image (Sn. 35–75 Khaggavisāṇa-sutta) for the paccekabuddha's solitary mode of practice.

²³ Aṅguttara-Nikāya 6.20 Maraṇassati-sutta (PTS: A. iii, 306). The bhikkhu's daily reflection on the manifold causes of death — three external (snake, scorpion, centipede) and three internal (digestive disturbance, bile-disturbance, phlegm-disturbance, sharp-as-knives winds — collectively counted as "internal disturbance").

²⁴ Verse establishing the five-fold animitta-character of death; canonical source unconfirmed.

²⁵ Saṃyutta-Nikāya 4.145 framework + canonical appam-āyu-manussānam aphorism; the surrounding prose paraphrases standard sutta material.

²⁶ Saṃyutta-Nikāya 4.145 (PTS: S. i, 108).

²⁷ Aṅguttara-Nikāya 7.74 Araka-sutta (PTS: A. iv, 136). Araka, a teacher of the past, taught his disciples about death's near-approach with seven similes (drop of dew on grass, bubble in water, line drawn in water, mountain-stream, lump of spittle, lump of meat in a hot pan, cow being led to slaughter). The sutta is here abbreviated as "the entire sutta, adorned with seven similes, should be expanded in full" per Buddhaghosa's standard vitthāretabbam reference convention.

²⁸ Aṅguttara-Nikāya 6.19 Maraṇassati-sutta (PTS: A. iv, 318 f., § 11). The graded gradient of mindfulness-of-death: four "sluggish" patterns (rattindiva / divasa / piṇḍapāta / cattāro-pañca-ālope) reflecting heedless practice → two "keen" patterns (ekam-ālopam / assasitvā-passasāmi) reflecting heedful practice. The sutta's distinguishing point: heedfulness is calibrated by the brevity of the time-unit one envisions for one's remaining life.

²⁹ Citation untraced by the PTS editor; the three-fold cittakkhaṇa-jīvana statement may be a pericope from the Old Commentaries (aṭṭhakathā tradition) preserved in early Sinhalese sources but not in the present canon.

³⁰ Mahāniddesa 39 (CSCD canonical reference). The verse's closing statement paññatti paramatthiyā — "[this is] designation in the ultimate sense" — establishes the doctrinal frame: from the paramattha (ultimate) standpoint, the world is reborn-and-deceased moment-by-moment with the rise-and-fall of consciousness; the conventional designation "world" (loka) is itself a paññatti (concept) when so analyzed.