Telakaṭāhagāthā :

1) May the King of Lanka who is free from anger and pride, who is well established in
Dhamma, who is the abode of virtue, who has beautiful and muscular arms like the
coils of sesanāga, who rides the king of elephants and takes delight in doing
wholesome actions, be victorious.
2) Bow down your head and salute the lord of sages, who is worshipped by all the
worlds, who shines like the full moon in the sky of the solar dynasty, who is the abode
of compassion, who is a great source of liberation, who has thoroughly understood
the deep and vast sea of knowledge and who is the best of men in the world.
3) You should always pay honour to the Dhamma preached by the sage. Dhamma acts
like a pure flight of stairs to take one to Tāvatiṃsa. It is a veritable bridge for crossing
the ocean of existence. It is the safe path as it is free from the fear of all bad destinies.
4) You should always pay honour to the Order of bhikkhus, which is an immeasurable
field of merit. By giving even a small gift with a happy mind to the Order one earns
great merit. The Order has been always well praised by the Buddha, who is endowed
with ten powers.
5) You should always go to the refuge of the three gems because with the help of the
great lustre of the Triple Gem, the three worlds attain liberation and also because
there is no protector like the Triple Gem.
6) The king of Lanka is engaged in doing good to others. He is free from desire. He is the
abode of compassion and thinks of the welfare of others, remaining vigilant even in
the night. He certainly keeps on advising us to work out our own welfare with these
words, ‘Practise Dhamma remaining alert and watchful’.
7) Rare in this world are such persons who are not negligent and who are our friends
always thinking of our good and inspiring us to do wholesome actions. You should go
to the king of Lanka who helps us doing wholesome actions and practising Dhamma.
You have been negligent for a long time.
8) Dhamma is the refuge of the three worlds. It is the best of all sentiments or tastes; it is
the most precious of the jewels; it extirpates the misery of all the three worlds.
Practise Dhamma remaining aware and alert.
9) Give up sleep and practise four infinite Brahmavihārās. Develop by thought and
meditation the knowledge of impermanence, suffering and no soulness. Regarding
this body as an old vessel or pot, give up attachment to it and practise Dhamma
remaining ever alert and watchful.
10) If you want to do wholesome actions, idlenss and procrastination like ‘I don’t have
time today, I will practise Dhamma tomorrow’ are not good. There is no body in all the
three worlds and at all times who is free from death at will.
11) Just as a lump of clay thrown into the sky by somebody falls down on the ground in a
moment because of its weight, in the same manner birth itself is the only cause for the
world to go constantly towards death.
12) For a man falling from the cliff of a mountain to the ground, there is nothing in
between to protect him from danger and dispel his fear. All the beings of the three
worlds are sure to die. Therefore give up attachment to your body and wealth.
13) Just as the rain showers and the flash of lightening from the clouds enveloping the sky
fall on the ground, so men certainly fall from the terrible cliff of Death. There is none
in this world who is eternal and free from Death.
14) Just as the swift and high waves of the sea continually come to destruction when they
reach the sea-shore, similarly all gods and men meet the same fate when they come
to the terrible ocean of Death.
15) Even though Death is obstructed by the four divisions of army such as the chariot, the
elephant, the cavalry and the armed infantry, the bull of Death destroys the rice-fields
in the form of three worlds by cheating the world.
16) Just as a strong and violent wind puts out a bright burning lamp in no time, so the big
lamp in the form of human lives is quickly extinguished by the violent wind that Death
is.
17) Kings and great men like Rama and Ajjuna, who were brave and had held their
enemies at bay were also engulfed by the terrible flood of Death. Who in this world
has escaped Death?
18) Wealth, the earth with mountains wearing the cloth of oceans, riches and many kinds
of beauties, all one’s friends, sons and wife, who, from among all of these, has
followed whom after his death?
19) Brahmā, demons and gods of great powers, gandharvās, fairies, hige serpents, giants
and many others fall on the flame of the fire of Death and die like moths, whose
merits have exhausted.
20) The disciples of the Buddha led by Sāriputta, who were pure, who always destroyed
unwholesome āsavās and who were endowed with great supernatural powers also
were burnt by the wild fire of Death and were put out like the lamps extinguished by
the gust of wind.
21) Even the Buddhas who had pure and beautiful eyes like fully blossomed lotuses,
whose beauty was enhanced by the thirty two marks (of a great man), who destroyed
all āsavās and were the Lords of the world, were trampled by the intoxicated big
elephant that Death is.
22) Death feels no pity for people suffering from disease and old age nor for tender
children engrossed in plays. The great Death Elephant always keeps on trampling
people to death just as the forest fire constantly and completely burns the forest.
23) Just as no amount of water is enough for a lake, no amount of fuel is enough for the
burning fire, in the same way even after consuming the three worlds completely
Death remains unsatisfied.
24) Blinded by ignorance the helpless and unfortunate world falls into the terrible mouth
of Death. A person devoid of intelligence and wisdom takes delight in pleasures, which
are as fleeting as a swing or a wave and false like a dream.
25) Death is capable of destroying the three worlds single handed. Why sleep when old
age and death follow you? Who would like to have desire for life in the three worlds
(existences), which are as unreal as a meeting in a dream?
26) The man who does not develop disgust after seeing this world which is always
suffering from disease, is fearful, full of sorrow and overpowered by anger, pride,
ignorance and old age is cruel (hard-hearted), not Death. Fie upon him.
27) Don’t you see Death with the sword of old age in his hand is all the while killing all the
(beings of the) three worlds? What do you mean by spending the night fearlessly in
sleep? Being mindful and alert practise Dhamma, which always destroys āsavās.
28) You should always develop mindfulness of Death carefully. Only then you will be able
to avoid Death and Māra. By taking delight in developing mindfulness of Death the
attachment of a man to the body is completely annihilated.
29) Old age spoils lovely beauty. A terrible disease drains away all the strength from a
man’s body. Body, protected by different means of enjoyment, is destroyed by Death.
What is the advantage of this body?
30) You have been cast away on the wide short of the sea of existence by the wind of your
(past) actions, where the waves of disease keep on breaking. Do not be heedless and
negligent. Do wholesome actions to avoid heedlessness. Does not this heedlessness
produce miseries for men?
31) Wealth, friends, sons, servants, relatives. Wife and immovable property as valuable as
life, none of these or all of these things do not follow one, while going from here to
the next world, like wholesome and unwholesome actions.
32) The boat of this body that has been cast into the lightning like inconstant (restless) sea
of existence by the violent winds of actions done in former lives, is sure to break. You
should, therefore, secure the highest wealth in the form of virtues.
33) Although well protected in many ways the body always breaks here in this world like a
raw earthern pot. Therefore you should practise Dhamma, which secures good destiny
for you. Dhamma well practised bears fruit in this very world.
34) Even gods having enjoyed pleasures in the kingdom of gods, do fall from the heaven
after their merits are exhausted. All kinds of pleasure, both divine and worldly, are
ephemeral, subject to separation. What wise man will take delight in the pleasures of
the world?
35) Who, born in this world, is not like a ball of foam? The Buddha, the only lord of the
world with his disciples, the moon of the full moon day surrounded by stars and Inda
with his lotus like feet stamped with the crown of gods, all are like that.
36) Even after seeing that the beauty of youth is momentary like the head-dress worn by
an actor in a drama and the association with the persons considered as dear as one’s
own self is as fleeting as lightning, men being infatuated with ignorance and attached
to the desire for existence become heedless.
37) The son becomes father, he becomes the husband of the mother, the wife may
perhaps become the mother and the father may become the son. This is how changes
 take place in the world and beings really act very strangely on the very fleeting
painted stage of rebirth.
38) Even the gods, who having enjoyed pleasures in the company of heavenly nymphs in
the pleasure garden of the heaven, where there are various kinds of blossoming
creepers, sometimes experience the misery of the Simbali forest of the hell, which is
full of crores of trees having the thorns of calamities.
39) The superior gods, endowed with the greatest supernatural powers, having enjoyed
nectar in golden plates in heaven in the past, swallow red-hot iron balls while residing
in the hell.
40) The great kings of men enjoying the kingdom of the whole earth and the kings of gods,
who enoy, the attractive divine pleasures in heaven and are always followed by groups
of big chariots in the heaven sometimes have to live in hell where thre are heaps of
razor blades.
41) The superior gods of heaven, who enjoy the pleasures of the sports of the goddesses
in the company of charming celestial nymphs, who break the waves in the Ganga
emanating or flowing from the crown of the matted hair of Lord Shiva also fall in the
terrible Vetarani river.
42) Even the beautiful and attractive pleasure gardens of the heaven full of trees in
blossom and creepers with leaves and fruits, the valleys where celestial nymphs do
enjoy different kinds of sports and the peaks of the Kailash and Meru mountains also
come to destruction.
43) Wealth is unsteady like a swing, or fire or gust of wind or like a wave. Lives of beings
are more inconstant than a flash of lightning. The body is as unreal as an illusion or a
mirage or the reflection of the moon in the water. Who would like to have desire for
life or for wealth?
44) What suffering is not there in the terrible existences? Who is not a subject to various
kinds of suffering? What good man, who is not a fool, would desire delight in
existence, since his coming into existence means being subject to old age, disease and
death?
45) Who are those that swallow red-hot iron-balls? Whos is able to hold a terrible red-hot
iron ball in his palm, in any way? Who is that wise man who would really have a desire
for the body, which is the source of suffering, from which impurities keep on flowing
and which has no permanent soul?
46) In this world, there is no fear like death for men, nor is there any suffering like a
disease, nor is there any thing like old age to destroy one’s beauty. Even then people
infatuated with body long for pleasures.
47) A man injures himself for the sake of his own self, which is as unreal as lotus stalks,
reeds and stumps of plantain trees. Even if the body is well taken care of and
nourished, it does not, like a bad ungrateful friend follow him when he dies.
48) How does a wise man find delight in the weak body, which is as unsubstantial as a ball
of foam, or like a poisonous sharp-pointed stake, or like the abode of the serpents in
the form of four elements like water, fire, wind and earth or which is like an old
dilapidated house?
49) Man approaches Death moment by moment. Death chases men with the sword of old
age in his hand. The time that is past is past and does not come back. Therefore, isn’t
the suffering that one gets in various existences, impossible to think?
50) For a short-lived person death in the different existences is easy. One who lives long,
faces many calamities such as old age, etc. Thus there is suffering in the existences
both ways. Therefore practise Dhamma in order to end suffering.
51) For one who is living in three different painful existences, where he is tortured by
great fires of suffering, and for one who wants to perform wholesome actions with all
his heart, this is not the time to neglect doing wholesome actions. My dear man,
accumulate the highest kind of wholesome actions or merits.
52) Happiness is as little as a drop of dew on the tip of a blade of grass. And suffering is as
much as the water of the sea. Therefore it is a natural guess that all the three worlds
are full of suffering.
53) A fool undergoes various kinds of suffering for the sake of his body, which does not
follow him. In this world the body is always full of different kinds of impurities. One
who is attached to the body, experiences suffering all the while.
54) Look at this body. It is like a cess-pool or like a mine of unwholesome actions and foul-
smelling impurities. It is also like a pointed stake or a sword or a javeline or a
poisonous snake or a disease or the abode of old age and death. It is always void
without any substance and it is detestable.
55) Do not pollute this body, which is suffering, impermanent and which is full of
impurities. There is no permanent soul in it. Nothing substantial exists here. Therefore
practise pure Dhamma. You have been negligent and unmindful for a very long time.
56) Who is that wise man who will not say that the soul does not exist in this body
consisting of five khandhās and six āyatanās, which are like an illusion, a mirage, a
stump of a plainain tree, like a reed and a ball of foam and like a bubble of water and
the waves of the Ganga.
57) To regard this weak body which perishes in a moment like the flames of lamps as the
soul is just like believing that a barren woman’s son would run for a long time holding
the yoke of a chariot made of the horns of hares.
58) Just as a fool out of ignorance says that he drinks the water of mirage from the vessel
of a bubble to his satisfaction so he regards this body, which is as unsubstantial as the
trunk of a plantain tree, as the permanent soul.
59) The fool who wishes that the flowers of a fig tree contain the water of mirage comes
to grief. He injures himself for his own sake. A permanent soul does not exist in the
body.
60) A man may go on peeling and peeling a plantain tree but he would never get the
substance. In the same way, he would not get any substance in the five khandhās and
six āyatanās that the body consists of. They are void by nature.
61) What is there in a piece of cloth except thread? In the same way, there is no other
entity in one’s personality excepting the body. The body is void by nature and
transient. What other thing exists on this earth which might be called soul?
62) A foolish deer, having seen the water of mirage from a distance runs towards it,
thinking it to be water. In the same way, a man, through guess-work develops (comes
to) strong attachment to the body, which by nature is void and which has been proved
to possess contrary qualities.
63) The body is assumed to be void. Like the flash of lightning in the sky the soul does not
exist in it. You should, therefore, cultivate and develop anatta-saññā (soullessness)
without being negligent and unmindful to destroy all āsavās.
64) All beings carry the body, which is full of saliva, excreta, blood, tears and fat.
Moreover it is full of spittle and other impurities. One carries this detestable body just
as one carries a jar full of different kinds of impurities.
65) The body is so foul and full of impurities that not even the water of four seas can wash
it clean, nor the best kind of perfume of the size of the Meru mountain can sweeten it.
What good quality do you see in this body?
66) The body is the abode of many kinds of impurities. It is subject to killing, confinement
and disease. It is like an open boil with nine apertures. No cemetery is more dreadful
than the body.
67) If the excreta and urine, which are inside the body were to come out and spread, then
even one’s parents would certainly be without pity and love, let alone one’s brothers,
sons and wife.
68) Those who indulge in wrong means of earning their livelihood (various unwholesome
activities) and nourish this body with nine openings, which is also like the abode of a
swarm of worms, is full of flesh, bones, sweat and blood and which gives out foul
smell are infatuated with ignorance. Oh! This body is also subject to dissolution!
69) The foolish man, who takes delight in the body, which is like a boil, is the abode of
various diseases, is always full of urine and excreta and which is food for jackals,
certainly comes to grief in the next existence.
70) The body as unsubstantial as a ball of foam, as foul-smelling as a cess-pool and as
fearful and painful as the abode of poisonous snakes, always leaks like a broken jar of
salt.
71) Just as a lotus born in mud full of impure water is not blameworthy in this world, so
the welfare of and good to others done through this body are not blameworthy.
72) The body of both man and woman in the world has thirtytwo parts as its
characteristics. If it is not used for the service of others what use does it have for the
wise persons?
73) That kind of body (which is used for doing good to others) must be protected with all
his heart for a long time by a wise person. So long as he lives he must practise
Dhamma for a long time. Dhamma is like a precious jewel that fulfills all desires.
74) The potency of a medicine increases when it is mixed with pure milk having fat. In the
same way Dhamma practised nicely in this world is sure to follow a man like his
shadow when he goes from here to the next world.
75) Just as the reflection of the body nicely ornamented looks beautiful in a clean mirror,
similarly, men look ornamented (in the next world) by doing good to others.
76) Just as a man licking honey kept on the edge of a sharp razor feels sharp pain, so a fool
who is both ignorant and negligent gets severe pain being confused by experiencing
the pleasant sensations that arise on his body, which is the abode of various kinds of
sufferings.
77) A fool attached to his body always becomes miserable when his intentions and desires
are not satisfied. This is proved all the more after consideration that only a deluded
person experiences pleasant sensations in the world.
78) If a man endowed with/ or possessed of all kinds of pleasures, rare wealth and food
and even when he is beautiful like Cupid (having a banner with the figure of a
crocodile on it), kills others, he dies young against his wish.
79) He who steals other’s property becomes a beggar in the next life. With a broken
begging bowl in his hand and his head shaven, wearing torn and tattered clothes,
being threatened with hundreds of insulting owords he always goes begging at the
house of his enemy.
80) Those who commit adultery suffer from many terrible calamities in next birth. A man
who commits adultery is born as a woman in next life and a woman is always born as a
woman.
81) A fool who tells a lie when reborn as a human being gets incalculable suffering. He is
always reborn as a poor man having a foul-smelling mouth, as an unintelligent idiot,
dumb and is not good to look at.
82) Unwise persons who drink wine, which is like a deadly poison, are reborn in various
existences, are ugly to look at and are mad and shameless. They are always born poor
and are overcome by misfortunes and grief.
83) Those who commit many sins/ unwholesome actions here, get terrible and
incalculable misery in the hells for many crores of millions of years and also suffer
from different kinds of misfortunes in this world.
84) For bringing peace in this world, there is nothing like the three jewels in all the three
worlds. I, who have rooted out all unwholesome actions and conquered them, should
always secure all kinds of happiness.
85) May all beings of all the three worlds, friends, enemies and all those who are neither,
relatives and all others be always free from the fear of disease. May they always be
free from grief. May they get all the happiness and may they be joyful.
86) The body is like a broken pot full of excrement. It has always been the abode of evils,
impurities and misfortunes. The world suffers hardship to think that the body is the
source of all happiness. But the truth is that it is always the abode of death, disease
and old age.
87) Death goes on killing without bothering whether a man is young or old or only a child.
I am certainly going into the mouth of Death, while I am standing, sleeping or walking.
88) You should always bear in mind that since this body is not free from depravities you
should always think very seriously to practise mettā, recite paritta, develop asubha
bhāvanā and have the awareness of Death with a happy and concentrated mind.
89) Having performed meritorious actions like giving dāna etc., which produce happiness
and whose fruit is completely infinite, one should always give dāna for the welfare and
happiness of others. Is it not really the best thing to get hold of?
90) There is nothing uncaused in this world, even a small sound is produced when palms
are clapped. In the same way, this wold, in which the cause and effect are clearly
distinct, rises, lasts and comes to destruction.
91) Just as ignorace is the cause of all actions, so it is actions, which are responsible for
one’s being born in different rebirths. Since time immemorial beings sufer from old
age, death, etc because of rebirth.
92) Just as there is no actions if there is no ignorance, so there is no rebirth if the
ignorance is destroyed. When there is no rebirth there is no suffering like old age and
death etc. All are destroyed just as a lamp is extinguished by the wind.
93) The Buddha said, “He who sees Dhamma (the body of the Buddha;s teachings), sees
the Buddha himself.” You should ponder over the theory of cause and effect in or der
to see the Buddha – the lord of the three worlds and pure Dhamma.
94) You should remove with the hook of wisdom the three darts such as greed, aversion
and ignorance, which have not yet been calmed, are sharp, are smeared with the
impurity of various evils and are the vessels of various calamities and which have
pierced our hearts.
95) Just as the peak of the Meru mountain remains unshaken even when the strong and
powerful wind blows, in the same way, the mind of a man from whose heart the darts
of greed, aversion and ignorance are completely removed is not at all disturbed by
loka Dhammas (such as loss and gain; pain and pleasure, etc) when the objects of the
sense like form etc come in contact with his senses.
96) The Lord of the sages by destroying the net of ignorance and by crossing the deep sea
of pāramitās deeply understood the subtle knowledge that the world is full of infinite
suffering. Therefore accumulate merits by doing the highest welfare of others.
97) As the Buddha tarried the happiness of liberation that he had attained and wandered
about in terrible existences for doing good to othes, so I, giving priority to the welfare
of others have, practised Dhamma for the benefit of the world.
98) Having been born as a human being, a very rare quality, having got the opportunity
free from all papañcās and having understood the Dhamma, which destroys all āsavas
and does only good to all, what wise man would not follow the noble Dhamma?
99) Having been born during the very rare dispensation of the Buddha, having learned the
excellent and benevolent Dhamma and having got the company of wise kalyāṇamittās
what wise man would not practise Dhamma constantly?
100) Having thus got the rarer wealth, being free from jealousy and hatred, not desiring
anything in this world and in the world beyond, always having qualities like faith and
heedlessness earn merits for attaining nibbāna.