Udāna 64

Heartfelt Sayings 7.4

Clinging (2nd)

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 clung to sensual pleasures. Lustful, greedy, tied, infatuated, attached, and blinded, they lived completely addicted to sensual pleasures.

2 Then the Buddha robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, entered Sāvatthī for alms. He saw how attached the humans were.

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

4 “Blinded by sensual pleasures, wrapped in a net,

they are smothered over by craving;

bound by the kinsman of the negligent,

like a fish caught in a funnel-net trap.

They chase old age and death,

like a suckling calf its mother.”