Tanhavagga: Craving

  1. The craving of one given to heedless living grows like a creeper. Like the monkey seeking fruits in the forest, he leaps from life to life (tasting the fruit of his kamma).
  2. Whoever is overcome by this wretched and sticky craving, his sorrows grow like grass after the rains.

  3. But whoever overcomes this wretched craving, so difficult to overcome, from him sorrows fall away like water from a lotus leaf.

  4. This I say to you: Good luck to all assembled here! Dig up the root of craving, like one in search of the fragrant root of the birana grass. Let not Mara crush you again and again, as a flood crushes a reed.

  5. Just as a tree, though cut down, sprouts up again if its roots remain uncut and firm, even so, until the craving that lies dormant is rooted out, suffering springs up again and again.

  6. The misguided man in whom the thirty-six currents of craving strongly rush toward pleasurable objects, is swept away by the flood of his passionate thoughts.

  7. Everywhere these currents flow, and the creeper (of craving) sprouts and grows. Seeing that the creeper has sprung up, cut off its root with wisdom.

  8. Flowing in (from all objects) and watered by craving, feelings of pleasure arise in beings. Bent on pleasures and seeking enjoyment, these men fall prey to birth and decay.

  9. Beset by craving, people run about like an entrapped hare. Held fast by mental fetters, they come to suffering again and again for a long time.

  10. Beset by craving, people run about like an entrapped hare. Therefore, one who yearns to be passion-free should destroy his own craving.

  11. There is one who, turning away from desire (for household life) takes to the life of the forest (i.e., of a monk). But after being freed from the household, he runs back to it. Behold that man! Though freed, he runs back to that very bondage! [22]

345-346. That is not a strong fetter, the wise say, which is made of iron, wood or hemp. But the infatuation and longing for jewels and ornaments, children and wives — that, they say, is a far stronger fetter, which pulls one downward and, though seemingly loose, is hard to remove. This, too, the wise cut off. Giving up sensual pleasure, and without any longing, they renounce the world.

  1. Those who are lust-infatuated fall back into the swirling current (of samsara) like a spider on its self-spun web. This, too, the wise cut off. Without any longing, they abandon all suffering and renounce the world.
  • Let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of the present, and cross over to the farther shore of existence. With mind wholly liberated, you shall come no more to birth and death.

  • For a person tormented by evil thoughts, who is passion-dominated and given to the pursuit of pleasure, his craving steadily grows. He makes the fetter strong, indeed.

  • He who delights in subduing evil thoughts, who meditates on the impurities and is ever mindful — it is he who will make an end of craving and rend asunder Mara’s fetter.

  • He who has reached the goal, is fearless, free from craving, passionless, and has plucked out the thorns of existence — for him this is the last body.

  • He who is free from craving and attachment, is perfect in uncovering the true meaning of the Teaching, and knows the arrangement of the sacred texts in correct sequence — he, indeed, is the bearer of his final body. He is truly called the profoundly wise one, the great man.

  • A victor am I over all, all have I known. Yet unattached am I to all that is conquered and known. Abandoning all, I am freed through the destruction of craving. Having thus directly comprehended all by myself, whom shall I call my teacher? [23]

  • The gift of Dhamma excels all gifts; the taste of the Dhamma excels all tastes; the delight in Dhamma excels all delights. The Craving-Freed vanquishes all suffering.

  • Riches ruin only the foolish, not those in quest of the Beyond. By craving for riches the witless man ruins himself as well as others.

  • Weeds are the bane of fields, lust is the bane of mankind. Therefore, what is offered to those free of lust yields abundant fruit.

  • Weeds are the bane of fields, hatred is the bane of mankind. Therefore, what is offered to those free of hatred yields abundant fruit.

  • Weeds are the bane of fields, delusion is the bane of mankind. Therefore, what is offered to those free of delusion yields abundant fruit.

  • Weeds are the bane of fields, desire is the bane of mankind. Therefore, what is offered to those free of desire yields abundant fruit.

  • “Tanhavagga: Craving” (Dhp XXIV), translated from the Pali by Acharya Buddharakkhita. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013
    https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.24.than.html

     

    Tanhavagga: Craving

    334

    When a person lives heedlessly,
    his craving grows like a creeping vine.
    He runs now here
    & now there,
    as if looking for fruit:
    a monkey in the forest.

    335-336

    If this sticky, uncouth craving
    overcomes you in the world,
    your sorrows grow like wild grass
    after rain.

    If, in the world, you overcome
    this uncouth craving, hard to escape,
    sorrows roll off you,
    like water beads off
    a lotus.

    337

    To all of you gathered here
    I say: Good fortune.
    Dig up craving
    — as when seeking medicinal roots, wild grass —
    by the root.
    Don’t let Mara cut you down
    — as a raging river, a reed —
    over & over again.

    338

    If its root remains
    undamaged & strong,
    a tree, even if cut,
    will grow back.
    So too if latent craving
    is not rooted out,
    this suffering returns
    again
    &
    again.

    339-340

    He whose 36 streams,
    flowing to what is appealing, are strong:
    the currents — resolves based on passion —
    carry him, of base views, away.

    They flow every which way, the streams,
    but the sprouted creeper stays
    in place.
    Now, seeing that the creeper’s arisen,
    cut through its root
    with discernment.

    341

    Loosened & oiled
    are the joys of a person.
    People, bound by enticement,
    looking for ease:
    to birth & aging they go.

    342-343

    Encircled with craving,
    people hop round & around
    like a rabbit caught in a snare.
    Tied with fetters & bonds
    they go on to suffering,
    again & again, for long.

    Encircled with craving,
    people hop round & around
    like a rabbit caught in a snare.
    So a monk
    should dispel craving,
    should aspire to dispassion
    for himself.

    344

    Cleared of the underbrush
    but obsessed with the forest,
    set free from the forest,
    right back to the forest he runs.
    Come, see the person set free
    who runs right back to the same old chains!

    345-347

    That’s not a strong bond
    — so say the enlightened —
    the one made of iron, of wood, or of grass.
    To be smitten, enthralled,
    with jewels & ornaments,
    longing for children & wives:
    that’s the strong bond,
    — so say the enlightened —
    one that’s constraining,
    elastic,
    hard to untie.
    But having cut it, they
    — the enlightened — go forth,
    free of longing, abandoning
    sensual ease.

    Those smitten with passion
    fall back
    into a self-made stream,
    like a spider snared in its web.
    But, having cut it, the enlightened set forth,
    free of longing, abandoning
    all suffering & stress.
    348

    Gone to the beyond of becoming,
    you let go of in front,
    let go of behind,
    let go of between.
    With a heart everywhere let-go,
    you don’t come again to birth
    & aging.

    349-350

    For a person
    forced on by his thinking,
    fierce in his passion,
    focused on beauty,
    craving grows all the more.
    He’s the one
    who tightens the bond.

    But one who delights
    in the stilling of thinking,
    always mindful
    cultivating
    a focus on the foul:
    He’s the one
    who will make an end,
    the one who will cut Mara’s bond.

    351-352

    Arrived at the finish,
    unfrightened, unblemished, free
    of craving, he has cut away
    the arrows of becoming.
    This physical heap is his last.

    Free from craving,
    ungrasping,
    astute in expression,
    knowing the combination of sounds —
    which comes first & which after.
    He’s called a
    last-body
    greatly discerning
    great man.

    353

    All-conquering,
    all-knowing am I,
    with regard to all things,
    unadhering.
    All-abandoning,
    released in the ending of craving:
    having fully known on my own,
    to whom should I point as my teacher?

    354

    A gift of Dhamma conquers all gifts;
    the taste of Dhamma, all tastes;
    a delight in Dhamma, all delights;
    the ending of craving, all suffering
    & stress.

    355

    Riches ruin the man
    weak in discernment,
    but not those who seek
    the beyond.
    Through craving for riches
    the man weak in discernment
    ruins himself
    as he would others.

    356-359

    Fields are spoiled by weeds;
    people, by passion.
    So what’s given to those
    free of passion
    bears great fruit.

    Fields are spoiled by weeds;
    people, by aversion.
    So what’s given to those
    free of aversion
    bears great fruit.

    Fields are spoiled by weeds;
    people, by delusion.
    So what’s given to those
    free of delusion
    bears great fruit.

    Fields are spoiled by weeds;
    people, by longing.
    So what’s given to those
    free of longing
    bears great fruit.

    “Tanhavagga: Craving” (Dhp XXIV), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013
    https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.24.budd.html

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