{"collection":"Samyutta Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_sn48.41/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_sn48.41","id":"suttacentral_sn48.41","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/sn48.41/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Samyutta Nikaya"],"text":"So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near S\u0101vatth\u012b in the stilt longhouse of Mig\u0101ra\u2019s mother in the Eastern Monastery. Then in the late afternoon, the Buddha came out of retreat and sat warming his back in the last rays of the sun. Then Venerable \u0100nanda went up to the Buddha, bowed, and while massaging the Buddha\u2019s limbs he said: \u201cIt\u2019s incredible, sir, it\u2019s amazing, how the complexion of your skin is no longer pure and bright. Your limbs are flaccid and wrinkled, and your body is stooped. And it\u2019s apparent that there has been a deterioration in your faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body.\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s how it is, \u0100nanda. When young you\u2019re liable to grow old; when healthy you\u2019re liable to get sick; and when alive you\u2019re liable to die. The complexion of the skin is no longer pure and bright. The limbs are flaccid and wrinkled, and the body is stooped. And it\u2019s apparent that there has been a deterioration in the faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body.\u201d That is what the Buddha said. Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say: \u201cCurse this wretched old age, which makes you so ugly. That\u2019s how much this delightful puppet is ground down by old age. Even if you live for a hundred years, you\u2019ll still end up dying. Death spares no one, but crushes all underfoot.\u201d","title":"Old Age","tradition":"Samyutta Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":237}