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Snp 4.1PTS Snp 1511 min read

Sensual Pleasures

Kāmasutta

The drawbacks of sensual desires.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Sutta Nipāta 4.1Anthology of Discourses 4.1

0.2KāmasuttaSensual Pleasures

1.1Kāmaṁ kāmayamānassa,If a mortal desires sensual pleasure1.2tassa ce taṁ samijjhati;and their desire succeeds,1.3Addhā pītimano hoti,they definitely become elated,1.4laddhā macco yadicchati.having got what they want.

2.1Tassa ce kāmayānassa,But for that personage in the throes of pleasure,2.2chandajātassa jantuno;aroused by desire,2.3Te kāmā parihāyanti,when those pleasures fade,2.4sallaviddhova ruppati.it inflicts them like an arrow strike.

3.1Yo kāme parivajjeti,One who, being mindful,3.2sappasseva padā siro;avoids sensual pleasures3.3Somaṁ visattikaṁ loke,like side-stepping a snake’s head,3.4sato samativattati.transcends attachment to the world.

4.1Khettaṁ vatthuṁ hiraññaṁ vā,There are many objects of sensual desire:4.2gavāssaṁ dāsaporisaṁ;fields, lands, and gold; cattle and horses;4.3Thiyo bandhū puthu kāme,slaves and servants; women and relatives.4.4yo naro anugijjhati.When a man lusts over these,

5.1Abalā naṁ balīyanti,the weak overpower him5.2maddantenaṁ parissayā;and adversities crush him.5.3Tato naṁ dukkhamanveti,Suffering follows him15.4nāvaṁ bhinnamivodakaṁ.like water in a leaky boat.

6.1Tasmā jantu sadā sato,That’s why a personage, ever mindful,6.2Kāmāni parivajjaye;should avoid sensual pleasures.6.3Te pahāya tare oghaṁ,Give them up and cross the flood,6.4Nāvaṁ sitvāva pāragūti.as a bailed-out boat reaches the far shore.

6.5Kāmasuttaṁ paṭhamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. Bodhi, Norman, and Ñāṇadīpa all have “enter” here, while Ṭhānissaro has “invades”. But this is a stock line, and it’s hard to read anveti as anything other than “follows”. Niddesa (Mnd 1:70.2) has anveti anugacchati anvāyikaṁ hoti. The metaphor is not that water “enters” a boat, but that a leaky boat already contains water and takes it along (like a shadow or an ox-cart per the opening verses of the Dhammapada). That’s why it has to be bailed out in the next verse.

    ↩ snp4.1:5.3