Dhammapada verse 153
Chapter 11, Old Age (Jarāvagga) · verses 146–156
“Transmigrating through countless rebirths, I’ve journeyed without reward, searching for the house-builder; painful is birth again and again.”
Anekajātisaṁsāraṁ, sandhāvissaṁ anibbisaṁ; Gahakāraṁ gavesanto, dukkhā jāti punappunaṁ.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 153 mean?
Verse 153 belongs to chapter 11, Old Age (Jarāvagga), which gathers verses 146–156 on old age. It is filed under suffering & grief. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 152 and verse 154 are part of the same passage.
Eleven verses on old age. Its images are the body as a city built of bones and plastered with flesh, and old age and death driving life the way a cowherd drives cattle. The chapter is not only lament: it also contains the verses telling the reader to make an island of themselves and strive while there is time.
More verses on this