Understand that the body is as temporary as foam on water and as fleeting as a mirage. Strike down the flower-tipped arrows of the Evil One (temptation) and reach a place beyond the grasp of Yama, the God of Death.
While a person is captivated by picking flowers and lost in earthly desires, Death overwhelms them before they know it.
The seeker of truth will master this earthly realm, the underworld, and the realm of the gods.
(All passages from the Dhammapada)
When we hear words like “master” or “conquer,” we might imagine suppressing others by force or taking control over them. However, I believe Buddha’s words carry no nuance of overpowering others. In the end, it is about one’s own mind—preventing our mind from giving in to temptation and bringing peace to ourselves.
Furthermore, “seeking truth” does not simply mean studying or accumulating knowledge in a conventional sense; it means striving to understand ultimate reality. One answer to what that truth actually is can be found in the verse above.
It might sound repetitive, but this world is constantly changing. There is no such thing as a fixed, permanent self. After all, “the body is as temporary as foam on water and as fleeting as a mirage.”
And this does not apply to the physical body alone. The same is true for the mind, as well as the people and objects around us that we can see. Everything is in constant flux. Nothing is absolute or permanent.
Therefore, we must be careful not to let our minds be swept away by the temptation to believe that something wonderful—something we currently lack—exists out there. While we are distracted by such illusions, our lives pass us by in the blink of an eye.
I believe this passage serves as a gentle reminder to keep ourselves aware of this truth.