As the shepherd with his rod drives the cattle to pasture, so old age and death drive the life of beings.

Yathā daṇḍena gopālo gāvo pājeti gocaraṃ — as the shepherd with his rod drives the cattle: the image is bucolic but its meaning is somber. The cattle do not choose where they go — the shepherd decides. Daṇḍa (rod, staff) is also the word that gives this chapter its name.

Evaṃ jarā ca maccū ca āyuṃ pājenti pāṇinaṃ — so old age and death drive the life of beings: jarā (old age) and maccu (death) are the shepherds of existence. The life of beings (pāṇinaṃ āyu) is driven by them irresistibly, like cattle by the shepherd.

The passivity of the cattle is the key to the image. Ordinary beings are driven by old age and death without the option of resistance. They do not choose when they age or when they die — they are taken.

Contemplative practice transforms this passive relationship. Although it does not eliminate old age or death, it changes the attitude: from cattle that do not understand where they are being taken to conscious beings who understand the nature of the process. Understanding does not eliminate death but it does eliminate the suffering of useless resistance against it.