Sutta Nipāta 39

Anthology of Discourses 4.1

Sensual Pleasures

1 If a mortal desires sensual pleasure

and their desire succeeds,

they definitely become elated,

having got what they want.

2 But for that personage in the throes of pleasure,

aroused by desire,

when those pleasures fade,

it inflicts them like an arrow strike.

3 One who, being mindful,

avoids sensual pleasures

like side-stepping a snake’s head,

transcends attachment to the world.

4 There are many objects of sensual desire:

fields, lands, and gold; cattle and horses;

slaves and servants; women and relatives.

When a man lusts over these,

5 the weak overpower him

and adversities crush him.

Suffering follows him

like water in a leaky boat.

6 That’s why a personage, ever mindful,

should avoid sensual pleasures.

Give them up and cross the flood,

as a bailed-out boat reaches the far shore.