Udāna 63

Heartfelt Sayings 7.3

Clinging (1st)

1 So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Now at that time most of the people in Sāvatthī overly clung to sensual pleasures. Lustful, greedy, tied, infatuated, they lived completely addicted to sensual pleasures.

2 Then several mendicants robed up in the morning and, taking their bowls and robes, entered Sāvatthī for alms. Then, after the meal, when they returned from almsround, they went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and told him what was happening.

3 Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:

4 “Clinging to sensual pleasures,

to the chains of the senses,

blind to the faults of the fetters,

clinging to the chain of the fetters,

they’ll never cross the flood so vast.”