814
Tissa Metteyya
Tell us the trouble, sir, that befalls one given to sexual intercourse.
Having heard your teaching we will train ourselves in solitude.
Methunamanuyuttassa vighātaṃ brūhi mārisa
Sutvāna tava sāsanaṃ viveke sikkhissāmase
815
The Buddha
In one given to sexual intercourse
The teaching is forgotten and he conducts himself wrongly.
This is dishonourable of him.
Methunamanuyuttassa mussate vāpi sāsanaṃ
Micchā ca paṭipajjati etaṃ tasmiṃ anāriyaṃ
816
Whoever formerly fared alone,
Who then indulges in sexual intercourse,
In the world is called
A ‘lurching vehicle’,
‘Contemptible’,
A ‘common worldling’.
Eko pubbe caritvāna methunaṃ yo nisevati
Yānaṃ bhantaṃ va taṃ loke hīnamāhu puthujjanaṃ
817
His earlier glory and reputation is lost.
Seeing this, one should train oneself
To give up one’s sexual inclinations.
Yaso kitti ca yā pubbe hāyate vāpi tassa sā
Etampi disvā sikkhetha methunaṃ vippahātave
818
Overcome by thought, he broods like a miserable wretch.
On hearing others’ criticism, he becomes downcast.
Saṅkappehi pareto so kapaṇo viya jhāyati
Sutvā paresaṃ nigghosaṃ maṅku hoti tathāvidho
819
Or, provoked by the rumours against him,
He retaliates,
Or sinks to false speech.
Such, indeed, is his great worldly attachment.
Atha satthāni kurute paravādehi codito
Esa khvassa mahāgedho mosavajjaṃ pagāhati
820
They called him wise when he was committed to faring alone.
But now that he is given to sexual intercourse
He is harassed as a fool.
Paṇḍitoti samaññāto ekacariyaṃ adhiṭṭhito
Athāpi methune yutto mandova parikissati
821
Having realised the wretchedness of all this,
The sage for his whole life remains firmly committed to remaining solitary.
He does not pursue sexual intercourse.
Etamādīnavaṃ ñatvā muni pubbāpare idha
Ekacariyaṃ daḷhaṃ kayirā na nisevetha methunaṃ
822
He should indeed train himself in solitude.
For noble ones this is the supreme training.
But he should not suppose that he is therefore ‘the best’.
He is indeed at freedom’s threshold.
Vivekaññeva sikkhetha etadariyānamuttamaṃ
Na tena seṭṭho maññetha sa ve nibbānasantike
823
The emancipated sage
Abides indifferent to sensual pleasure.
People enslaved by sensual pleasure envy him,
The flood-crosser.
Rittassa munino carato kāmesu anapekkhino
Oghatiṇṇassa pihayanti kāmesu gadhitā pajā ti
Notes on Translation:
Verse 819) Worldly attachment: although gedha means greed, I call it worldly attachment because the PED says the two words are closely linked. Norman calls it 'great entanglement'. It seems that blame, one of the eight worldly states, is what the disrobed monk is attached to.
