faculties uncontrolled. Just as a firebrand from a funeral pyre–burning at both ends, covered with excrement in the middle–is used as fuel neither in a village nor in the wilderness: I tell you that this is a simile for this person. He has missed out on the householderâs enjoyments and does not fulfill the purpose of the contemplative life." Heâs missed out on the householderâs enjoyment & the purpose of the contemplative life –unfortunate man! Ruining it, he throws it away, perishes like a firebrand used at a funeral. Better to eat an iron ball –glowing, aflame– than that, unprincipled & unrestrained, he should eat the alms of the country.1 Note 1. This last verse = Dhp 308. - --> - - - -