(Dhammapada Verses 153-154)
The Search for the House-Builder (Dhammapada Verses 153-154): For countless lifetimes, the mind (citta) has wandered through saṃsāra, unknowingly trapped in the cycle of birth and death. Searching for the house-builder—the force constructing each new body (geham)—it has suffered again and again. At last, the house-builder (gahakāraka), the mind itself, is seen and understood. With this realization, the conditioned cycle is broken—the framework of craving and attachment that sustained rebirth is dismantled. The foundation of existence is shattered. Purified and freed from all conditioning (visaṅkhāra), the mind no longer constructs another body. With craving uprooted, it enters the Unconditioned and attains ultimate liberation, never to reenter the world of birth and death.
8(153). Anekajāti saṃsāraṃ, sandhāvissaṃ anibbisaṃ;
Gahakāraṃ gavesanto: dukkhā jāti punappunaṃ.
Through many births in saṃsāra I wandered, not finding the house-builder. Painful is birth again and again. 轮回无数次，漂泊无止境；不见造屋者，轮回皆是苦。
9(154). Gahakāraka diṭṭho’si, puna gehaṃ na kāhasi;
Sabbā te phāsukā bhaggā, gahakūṭaṃ visaṅkhataṃ;
Visaṅkhāragataṃ cittaṃ, taṇhānaṃ khayam ajjhagā.
O house-builder, you are seen! You will not build this house again. All your rafters are broken, your roof-ridge is destroyed. The mind (citta), having reached the Unconditioned, has attained the destruction of craving. 造屋者，我已见你！你将无法再造屋；你所有的椽子都已折断，屋脊已摧毁；心已经离行，已止息渴爱。
🔹 Verse 153 – The Search
Original Pali:
Anekajāti saṃsāraṃ, sandhāvissaṃ anibbisaṃ;
Gahakāraṃ gavesanto: dukkhā jāti punappunaṃ.
Word-by-Word Breakdown:
- Anekajāti: many births
- saṃsāraṃ: in the cycle of rebirth
- sandhāvissaṃ: I wandered
- anibbisaṃ: without finding shelter (not reaching refuge)
- gahakāraṃ: the house-builder
- gavesanto: seeking/searching for
- dukkhā: suffering
- jāti: birth
- punappunaṃ: again and again
Translation:
“Through many births in saṃsāra I wandered, not finding the house-builder. Painful is birth again and again.”
Analysis:
- Expresses the weariness of saṃsāra: repetition, suffering (birth, aging and death), futility
- The house-builder is still hidden—the causes of rebirth are still active
- The seeker is not yet enlightened
🔹 Verse 154 – The Revelation
Original Pali:
Gahakāraka diṭṭho’si, puna gehaṃ na kāhasi;
Sabbā te phāsukā bhaggā, gahakūṭaṃ visaṅkhataṃ;
Visaṅkhāragataṃ cittaṃ, taṇhānaṃ khayam ajjhagā.
Word-by-Word Breakdown:
- Gahakāraka: house-builder
- diṭṭho’si: you are seen
- puna gehaṃ na kāhasi: you will not build a house again
- sabbā te phāsukā: all your rafters
- bhaggā: are broken
- gahakūṭaṃ: roof-peak
- visaṅkhataṃ: is dismantled / destroyed
- visaṅkhāragataṃ cittaṃ: the mind (citta) has gone to the Unconditioned
- taṇhānaṃ khayam ajjhagā: has reached the destruction of craving
Translation:
“O house-builder, you are seen! You will not build this house again. All your rafters are broken, your roof-ridge is destroyed. The mind (citta), having reached the Unconditioned, has attained the destruction of craving.”
Analysis:
- The house-builder (deluded mind) is identified and purified
- Symbols like rafters and roof-peak represent defilements of the mind cause rebirth – now broken (the mind is purified)
- The Unconditioned (visaṅkhāra) refers to Nibbāna – no more formations and fabrications in this world
- Cessation of craving marks full liberation (taṇhānaṃ khaya)
🔹 Literary and Grammatical Notes
- Metaphor: Body as “house”; Mind as “builder”; Craving as “causes for building”
- Tense Usage:
- sandhāvissaṃ, gavesanto → Past habitual action
- diṭṭho’si, na kāhasi → Present realization and future negation
- Compound Structures:
- gahakāraka → Tatpurusa compound (“house” + “maker”)
- visaṅkhāragataṃ → Descriptive compound (mind gone to the unconditioned)
- Verb Forms: Optatives and past active used poetically
- Repetition: punappunaṃ reinforces endlessness of suffering
Philosophical Summary
These verses illustrate the end of ignorance and craving, a purified mind get liberated, identifying a deluded mind as the causes for all the struggles through saṃsāra. Upon realizing this truth, the mind is purified, not conditioned, and does not return to birth.
They also reflect the psychological and existential insight unique to the Buddha’s teaching: freedom lies in knowing the builder of your cyclic existence—and disempowering it.
10 quotes from the Theravāda Pāli Canon where the Buddha declared ending the cycle of rebirth, by emphasizing the “last body,” using the term “kāya” (the physical body) in Pāli, as embodiment in Saṃsāra. With the cessation of craving, a purified mind will be liberated from the involuntary cyclic worldly incarnations, and reach the realm of Nibbāna, there is no further becoming into this world.
- “Ayaṃ antimā kāyo, natthi dāni punabbhavo.”
“This is my last body; now there is no more rebirth.”
— Dhammapada 153 - “Natthi dāni punabbhavo, khīṇā jāti, vusitaṃ brahmacariyaṃ, ayaṃ antimā kāyo.”
“There is now no further becoming; birth is destroyed, the holy life (brahmacariya) has been lived, this is the last body.”
— Majjhima Nikāya 72 - “Pahīnā bhavataṇhā, khīṇā jāti, ayaṃ antimā kāyo.”
“Craving for existence has been abandoned, birth is destroyed, this is the last body.”
— Saṃyutta Nikāya 22.89 - “So imaṃ kāyaṃ pahāya, anupādāya parinibbuto.”
“Having abandoned this body, he attains final Nibbāna without clinging.”
— Itivuttaka 44 - “Ayaṃ kāyo pacchimo, natthi dāni punabbhavo.”
“This body is the last; now there is no more becoming.”
— Theragāthā 1.111 - “Antimoyaṃ kāyo, natthi dāni punabbhavo.”
“This is the final body; now there is no further existence.”
— Saṃyutta Nikāya 12.68 - “Khīṇā jāti, ayaṃ antimā kāyo, natthi dāni punabbhavo.”
“Birth is destroyed; this is the last body; now there is no more becoming.”
— Majjhima Nikāya 26 - “So imaṃ kāyaṃ jahitvā, anāsavaṃ cetovimuttiṃ pāpuṇāti.”
“Having abandoned this body, he attains the taintless liberation of mind.”
— Saṃyutta Nikāya 35.87 - “Ayaṃ kāyo pacchimo, natthi dāni punabbhavo.”
“This body is the last; now there is no more rebirth.”
— Therīgāthā 3.14 - “Khīṇā jāti, vusitaṃ brahmacariyaṃ, ayaṃ antimā kāyo.”
“Birth is destroyed; the holy life has been lived; this is the last body.”
— Dīgha Nikāya 16
Gautama Dhamma 
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