Come, look at this world, adorned like a royal chariot, where fools sink, but where there is no attachment for those who know.

Etha passathimaṃ lokaṃ cittaṃ rājarathūpamaṃ — come, look at this world, adorned like a royal chariot: cittaṃ is adorned, decorated, painted. The world is like a royal chariot decorated: impressive, dazzling, attracting attention with its external splendor.

Yattha bālā visīdanti — where fools sink: visīdanti is to sink, to be submerged. Fools sink in the decorated world like in quicksand: attracted by external beauty, they become trapped without being able to escape.

Natthi saṅgo vijānataṃ — there is no attachment for those who know: saṅga is attachment, adhesion. The vijānata (those who know, those with direct knowledge) can see the same decorated world without sinking into it. It is not that they reject the world but that they do not attach to its decoration.

This verse is a direct invitation: “come, look” — do not avoid the world but understand it. The wise relationship with the world is not avoidance but penetrating comprehension that allows participation without being swallowed.