The verses present suffering as an inescapable feature of unawakened life, rooted not so much in outer circumstances as in the inner movements of the mind. Craving, hatred, anger, and ignorance are depicted as the primary sources of distress, and unwholesome actions are said to bring suffering as inevitably as a cart’s wheel follows the ox that pulls it. Suffering arises when the mind clings to desires and aversions, holding tightly to what cannot last. In this way, attachment to impermanent things and ignorance of reality’s true nature are shown to perpetuate grief, fear, and disappointment. When the mind is free from craving, by contrast, the verses suggest that grief and fear no longer find a foothold.

Impermanence is described as a universal law that marks all conditioned phenomena. The verses explicitly affirm that all conditioned things are impermanent, and they employ vivid images—flowers that wither, bubbles, mirages, and a yellow leaf—to evoke the fragility of life and the fleeting nature of worldly pleasures, relationships, and possessions. Human existence is portrayed as precarious and short-lived, with no refuge from aging and death. By contemplating this transience, the practitioner is gently but firmly invited to loosen the grip on what is temporary and unreliable.

The relationship between suffering and impermanence is drawn with great clarity: suffering arises when beings treat what is inherently unstable as if it were lasting and secure. Clinging to what must change inevitably leads to loss and pain, while resistance to change only intensifies this distress. Recognizing impermanence, by contrast, is portrayed as a liberating insight that undermines attachment and opens the way to peace. As understanding deepens, disenchantment with conditioned things naturally gives rise to a cooling of desire, and with the fading of craving, the conditions for suffering are gradually extinguished.

In response to these truths, the verses point toward a path of ethical conduct, mental discipline, and wisdom. Abstaining from evil, cultivating wholesome actions, and purifying the mind form the ethical foundation for freedom from suffering. Mindfulness and concentration are encouraged so that the arising and passing of phenomena can be seen directly, rather than merely grasped intellectually. This clear seeing of impermanence and the unsatisfactory nature of clinging culminates in the realization of a state beyond craving, hatred, and delusion, where the turmoil born of attachment to the impermanent no longer arises.