Deep Commentary

This verse was taught at Jetavana regarding a grieving father who had lost his only son. The man was inconsolable, frequently visiting the cremation site to mourn. The Buddha visited him and provided comfort not by offering false hope, but by revealing the nature of impermanence. He illustrated that death is a natural transition—like a snake shedding its skin—and that grieving the inevitable is a product of deep-seated attachment. Upon understanding this, the man's grief vanished, and he attained spiritual fruit. The Buddha teaches that fear and sorrow are born from 'affection' or 'clinging' (hỷ ái). When we identify ourselves with the temporary forms of our loved ones, we suffer at their departure. True liberation comes from realizing that death is merely a change of state within the cycle of dependent arising, allowing one to live free from the anxiety of loss.