Deep Commentary

The Buddha taught this verse at the Jeta Grove concerning the nun Janapada-Kalyani Rupananda. Before her ordination, she was immensely proud of her exquisite beauty and often looked down on those less attractive. One day, she went to hear the Buddha preach. Knowing her attachment to her physical appearance, the Buddha used His psychic powers to create an illusion of a woman far more beautiful than her, standing nearby. As Rupananda watched, the illusory woman rapidly aged—her beauty fading into wrinkles and frailty—and eventually died, turning into a decaying corpse. This profound vision awakened Rupananda to the harsh reality that her own beauty, too, was entirely subject to the relentless law of impermanence. The Buddha then spoke this verse, comparing the human body to a city. Just as a city is built with a framework and covered with plaster, the body is structured by a framework of bones and plastered with flesh and blood. And just as a city holds its inhabitants, the physical body harbors aging, death, ego, pride, and deceit. The body is inherently impure and unstable, merely a temporary coming together of elements. By deeply contemplating this truth, practitioners can let go of their vanity, eradicate their attachments, and progress on the path to liberation.