Though one should live a hundred years
foolish, uncontrolled,
yet better is life for a single day
moral and meditative.
Explanation: A single day lived as a virtuous, meditative person is greater than a hundred years as an individual bereft of virtue and uncomposed in mind.
The Story of Novice Monk Samkicca (Verse 110)
While residing at the Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha spoke this verse, with reference to novice monk Samkicca.
On one occasion, thirty monks each took a meditation topic from the Buddha and left for a large village, one hundred and twenty yojanas (leagues) away from Savatthi. At that time, five hundred robbers were staying in a thick jungle, and they wanted to make an offering of human flesh and blood to the guardian spirits of the forest. So they came to the village monastery and demanded that one of the monks be given up to them for sacrifice to the guardian spirits. From the eldest to the youngest, each one of the monks volunteered to go. With the monks, there was also a young novice monk by the name of Samkicca, who was sent along with them by Venerable Sariputta. This novice monk was only seven years old, but had already attained arahatship. Samkicca said that Venerable Sariputta, his teacher, knowing this danger in advance, had purposely sent him to accompany the monks, and that he should be the one to go with the robbers. So saying, he went along with the robbers. The monks felt very bad for having let the young novice monk go. The robbers made preparations for the sacrifice; when everything was ready, their leader came to the young novice monk, who was then seated, with his mind fixed on Jhana concentration. The leader of the robbers lifted his sword and struck hard at the young novice monk, but the blade of the sword curled up without cutting the flesh. He straightened up the blade and struck again; this time, it bent upwards right up to the hilt without harming the novice monk. Seeing this strange happening, the leader of the robbers dropped his sword, knelt at the feet of the novice monk and asked his pardon. All the five hundred robbers were amazed and terror-stricken; they repented and asked permission from Samkicca to become monks. He complied with their request.
Having so done, he established them in the ten precepts, and taking them with him, set out. So with a retinue of five hundred monks he went to their place of residence. When they saw him, they were relieved in mind.
Then Samkicca and the five hundred monks continued on their way to pay respect to Venerable Sariputta, his teacher, at the Jetavana Monastery. After seeing Venerable Sariputta they went to pay homage to the Buddha. When told what had happened, the Buddha said, “Monks, if you rob or steal and commit all sorts of evil deeds, your life would be useless, even if you were to live a hundred years. Living a virtuous life even for a single day is much better than a hundred years of a life of depravity.”