![[info icon]](./../../../img/question_16.gif "Summary: Doing good and making merit: are these the best one can aim for in this short life?")
At Rajagaha. As he was standing to one side, Uttara the deva's son recited this verse in the Blessed One's presence:
Life is swept along,
next-to-nothing its span.
For one swept on by aging
no shelters exist.
Perceiving this danger in death,
one should do deeds of merit
that bring about bliss.
[The Buddha:]
Life is swept along, next-to-nothing its span. For one swept to old age no shelters exist. Perceiving this danger in death, one should drop the world's bait and look for peace.
©1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
The text of this page ("Uttara Sutta: Uttara the Deva's Son", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions.
Transcribed from a file provided by the translator. Last revised for Access to Insight on 30 November 2013.
How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Uttara Sutta: Uttara the Deva's Son" (SN 2.19), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn02/sn02.019.than.html .