Things That Cannot Be Had
The Buddha tells the mendicants that five things cannot be had by anyone in the world: that what is subject to old age should not grow old, and likewise for sickness, death, ending, and perishing. An ordinary person, when these things happen, does not reflect that they happen to everyone, and so sorrows and laments, which ruins their appetite, their work, and their friendships, while encouraging their enemies. A learned disciple reflects that it is not just them, and does not add sorrow’s arrow to the loss. The closing verse says lamenting does no good, and that what cannot be had should be accepted without sorrow.
A note on this text. Repetitive in structure; mentions gods and Māra, beings passing away and being reborn, and closes with ‘the deed is powerful’.
The full text
Numbered Discourses 5.48 · 5. With King Muṇḍa · Things That Cannot Be Had · translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · public domain (CC0) · about 4 min · on SuttaCentral
“Mendicants, there are five things that cannot be had by any ascetic or brahmin or god or Māra or divinity or by anyone in the world. What five? That someone liable to old age should not grow old. That someone liable to sickness should not get sick. … That someone liable to death should not die. … That someone liable to ending should not end. … That someone liable to perishing should not perish. …
An unlearned ordinary person has someone liable to old age who grows old. But they don’t reflect on old age: ‘It’s not just me who has someone liable to old age who grows old. For as long as sentient beings come and go, pass away and are reborn, they all have someone liable to old age who grows old. If I were to sorrow and wail and lament, beating my breast and falling into confusion, just because someone liable to old age grows old, I’d lose my appetite and my physical appearance would deteriorate. My work wouldn’t get done, my enemies would be encouraged, and my friends would be dispirited.’ And so, when someone liable to old age grows old, they sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. This is called an unlearned ordinary person struck by sorrow’s poisoned arrow, who only mortifies themselves.
Furthermore, an unlearned ordinary person has someone liable to sickness … death … ending … perishing. But they don’t reflect on perishing: ‘It’s not just me who has someone liable to perishing who perishes. For as long as sentient beings come and go, pass away and are reborn, they all have someone liable to perishing who perishes. If I were to sorrow and wail and lament, beating my breast and falling into confusion, just because someone liable to perishing perishes, I’d lose my appetite and my physical appearance would deteriorate. My work wouldn’t get done, my enemies would be encouraged, and my friends would be dispirited.’ And so, when someone liable to perishing perishes, they sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. This is called an unlearned ordinary person struck by sorrow’s poisoned arrow, who only mortifies themselves.
A learned noble disciple has someone liable to old age who grows old. So they reflect on old age: ‘It’s not just me who has someone liable to old age who grows old. For as long as sentient beings come and go, pass away and are reborn, they all have someone liable to old age who grows old. If I were to sorrow and wail and lament, beating my breast and falling into confusion, just because someone liable to old age grows old, I’d lose my appetite and my physical appearance would deteriorate. My work wouldn’t get done, my enemies would be encouraged, and my friends would be dispirited.’ And so, when someone liable to old age grows old, they don’t sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. This is called a learned noble disciple who has drawn out sorrow’s poisoned arrow, struck by which unlearned ordinary people only mortify themselves. Sorrowless, free of thorns, that noble disciple only extinguishes themselves.
Furthermore, a learned noble disciple has someone liable to sickness … death … ending … perishing. So they reflect on perishing: ‘It’s not just me who has someone liable to perishing who perishes. For as long as sentient beings come and go, pass away and are reborn, they all have someone liable to perishing who perishes. If I were to sorrow and wail and lament, beating my breast and falling into confusion, just because someone liable to perishing perishes, I’d lose my appetite and my physical appearance would deteriorate. My work wouldn’t get done, my enemies would be encouraged, and my friends would be dispirited.’ And so, when someone liable to perishing perishes, they don’t sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. This is called a learned noble disciple who has drawn out sorrow’s poisoned arrow, struck by which unlearned ordinary people only mortify themselves. Sorrowless, free of thorns, that noble disciple only extinguishes themselves.
These are the five things that cannot be had by any ascetic or brahmin or god or Māra or divinity or by anyone in the world.
Sorrowing and lamentingdoesn’t do even a little bit of good.When they know that you’re sad,your enemies are encouraged.
When an astute person doesn’t waverin the face of adversity,as they’re able to evaluate what’s beneficial,their enemies suffer,seeing that their normal expression doesn’t change.
Prayers, recitations, fine sayings,or charity of woven rugs:if by means of any such things you benefit,then by all means keep doing them.
But if you understand that ‘this good thingcan’t be had by me or by anyone else’,you should accept it without sorrowing, thinking:‘The deed is powerful. What can I do now?’”