The Second Discourse about Clinging

Evaṁ me sutaṁ—

ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.

Tena kho pana samayena sāvatthiyā manussā yebhuyyena kāmesu sattā (…) rattā giddhā gathitā mucchitā ajjhosannā andhīkatā sammattakajātā kāmesu viharanti.

Atha kho bhagavā pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā pattacīvaramādāya sāvatthiṁ piṇḍāya pāvisi.

Addasā kho bhagavā sāvatthiyā te manusse yebhuyyena kāmesu satte ratte giddhe gathite mucchite ajjhopanne andhīkate sammattakajāte kāmesu viharante.

Atha kho bhagavā etamatthaṁ viditvā tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

“Kāmandhā jālasañchannā,

Taṇhāchadanachāditā;

Pamattabandhunā baddhā,

Macchāva kumināmukhe;

Jarāmaraṇamanventi,

Vaccho khīrapakova mātaran”ti.

Catutthaṁ.

SC 1Thus I heard: At one time the Gracious One was dwelling near Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Wood, at Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then at that time almost all the people in Sāvatthī clung to sense pleasures, delighted, greedy, tied, infatuated, indulgent and blinded, they dwelt having become completely intoxicated with sense pleasures.

SC 2Then the Gracious One, having dressed in the morning time, after picking up his bowl and robe, entered Sāvatthī for alms. The Gracious One saw that almost all the people in Sāvatthī clung to sense pleasures, delighted, greedy, tied, infatuated, indulgent and blinded, and dwelt having become completely intoxicated with sense pleasures. Then the Gracious One, having understood the significance of it, on that occasion uttered this exalted utterance:

SC 3“Blinded by sense pleasure, covered with a net,
covered over with the covering of craving,
Bound by Māra the heedless one’s kin, like fish in the mouth of a trap,
They go to old age and death, like a suckling calf to its mother.”