thag.2.2 Theragatha

Bhāradvāja the Alms-gatherer

You can’t live by fasting,
but food doesn’t lead to peace of heart.
Seeing how this bag of bones is sustained by food,
I wander, seeking.
They know it’s just a swamp,
this homage and veneration in respectable families.
Honor is a subtle dart, hard to extract,
and hard for a sinner to give up.
That is how these verses were recited by the senior venerable Bhāradvāja the Alms-gatherer.