Near Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Grove — the same recurring circumstances as SN 1.1 and SN 1.2
Speakers
An unnamed deity and the Buddha, in a single exchange of verses
Form
A four-line verse spoken by the deity, answered by a four-line verse from the Buddha that shares its first two lines
Length
~1 minute to read
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — a short, direct verse with one compressed image, ‘the world’s bait’
A pattern to watch
The next discourse, SN 1.4, reuses this verse’s exact second half — only the opening image changes
Why this discourse
A deity states the plain fact of impermanence — life is short and is constantly ‘led onward’ (upanīyati) toward old age, which offers no shelter from what is coming — and draws from it a conventional conclusion: seeing this peril in death, do good deeds that bring joy. The Buddha repeats the deity's diagnosis word for word, but changes the prescription. Where the deity counsels accumulating merit, the Buddha counsels renunciation: a seeker of peace would drop the world's bait entirely. Same premise, two different answers — the discourse's whole point sits in that substitution.
Reading guide
The same peril, seen twice
Both verses open by naming exactly the same danger in exactly the same words: ‘this life, so very short, is led onward; one led on to old age has no shelter. Seeing this peril in death…’ The deity and the Buddha do not disagree about the diagnosis at all — only about what follows from it.
Merit versus renunciation
The deity's own conclusion is conventional and virtuous as far as it goes: ‘do good deeds that bring you joy’ — make merit while there is still time. The Buddha's closing line replaces this with something more radical: ‘a seeker of peace would drop the world’s bait (lokāmisa).’ Not merely do good, but let go of what the world offers as bait in the first place.
Lokāmisa, the world's bait
Lokāmisa literally combines loka (‘world’) with āmisa (‘flesh, meat, bait’) — the image is of sensory and worldly pleasures as bait set out to hook a creature, the way meat baits a trap. Dropping the bait, not merely avoiding the trap's mechanism, is the discourse's image for renunciation.
A verse this vagga will repeat
The very next discourse in this collection, SN 1.4, restates this verse's second half — ‘seeing this peril in death, do good deeds that bring you joy’ and the Buddha's ‘a seeker of peace would drop the world's bait’ — word for word, changing only the opening two lines' image of impermanence. This vagga returns to the same closing thought more than once, trying different openings on it.
Key terms
upanīyati — “is led onward” — the verb this discourse's title comes from, describing life as something continuously carried toward its end, not a state that simply persists.
jarūpanītassa — “for one led on to old age” — the specific destination this onward motion has, with no shelter (na santi tāṇā) once arrived.
lokāmisa — “the world's bait” — worldly and sensory pleasure imaged as bait set to hook a creature, from loka (“world”) + āmisa (“flesh, bait”).
santipekkho — “one who seeks peace” — the discourse's description of the person who drops the world's bait, from santi (“peace”) + pekkha (“looking toward, seeking”).
puññāni — “good deeds, merit” — the deity's own prescription, named in the verse's first half before the Buddha's answer replaces it.
The text
The discourse in full: a deity's verse on impermanence, and the Buddha's answer, sharing its diagnosis but not its prescription. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. Standing to one side, that deity spoke this verse in the Buddha’s presence:
§2“This life, so very short, is led onward. One led on to old age has no shelter. Seeing this peril in death, do good deeds that bring you joy.”
§3“This life, so very short, is led onward; one led on to old age has no shelter. Seeing this peril in death, a seeker of peace would drop the world’s bait.”
· · ·
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
What does the deity say about life in the opening verse?
Correct: A. ‘Upanīyati jīvitam appamāyu’ — life, so very short, is led onward.
Question 2 of 10
What conclusion does the deity draw from this peril?
Correct: A. The deity's own prescription is conventional merit-making.
Question 3 of 10
How does the Buddha's verse differ from the deity's?
Correct: A. Same first half, a different closing line: renunciation, not merit alone.
Question 4 of 10
What does 'lokāmisa' mean, and what image does it carry?
Correct: A. From loka ('world') + āmisa ('flesh, bait').
Question 5 of 10
What does 'jarūpanītassa' name?
Correct: A. The destination life's onward motion has, with no shelter once arrived.
Question 6 of 10
What happens in the very next discourse, SN 1.4, in relation to this one?
Correct: A. Same closing couplet, both deity's and Buddha's, with a new opening image.
Question 7 of 10
What is the setting of this discourse?
Correct: A. The Devatāsaṃyutta's recurring frame.
Question 8 of 10
Who speaks the first verse?
Correct: A. The deity states the diagnosis; the Buddha answers.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'santipekkho' describe?
Correct: A. Santi ('peace') + pekkha ('looking toward, seeking').
Question 10 of 10
Do the two verses in this discourse disagree about the diagnosis of impermanence?
Correct: A. The disagreement is entirely about what follows from the same premise.
