Chapter 24

Tanhà Vagga
Craving
(Text and Translation by Ven. Nàrada)



1. Manujassa pamattacàrino
tanhà vaddhati màluvà viya
So plavati huràhuram
phalam iccham'va vanasmim vànaro. 334.
2. Yam esà sahatã jammã
tauhà loke visattikà
Sokà tassa pavaddhanti
abhivaññham'va bãrauam. 335.
3. Yo c'etam sahatã jammim
tauham loke duraccayam
Sokà tamhà papatanti
udabindu'va pokkharà. 336.
4. Tam vo vadàmi bhaddam vo
yàvant' ettha samàgatà
Tauhàya mulam khanatha
usãrattho' va bãrauam
Mà vo naëam' va soto' va
màro bhañji punappunam. 337.

CRAVING ARISES IN THE NEGLIGENT

1. The craving 1 of the person addicted to careless living grows like a creeper. He jumps from life to life like a fruit-loving monkey in the forest. 334.

THOSE WHO CRAVE MULTIPLY THEIR SORROWS

2. Whomsoever in this world this base clinging thirst overcomes, his sorrows flourish like well-watered bãraua grass. 335.

THERE IS NO SORROW TO THE CRAVING-FREE

3. Whoso in the world overcomes this base unruly craving, from him sorrows fall away like water-drops from a lotus-leaf. 336.

CUT OFF CRAVING FROM THE ROOT

4. This I say to you: Good luck to you all who have assembled here! Dig up the root of craving like one in quest of bãraua's sweet root. Let not Màra 2 crush you again and again as a flood (crushes) a reed. 337.

Story

The Buddha uttered these verses with reference to an insolent monk, who though well-versed in the Dhamma, was full of craving and through pride used to disparage others.
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Big sitting bronze Sakyamuni Buddha, Fo Guang Shan Buddhist monastery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. One of the largest sitting Buddha statue in the world.

Ghanasārappadittena
Dīpena tama-dhaṃsinā
Tiloka-dīpaṃ sambuddhaṃ
Pūjayāmi tamo-nudaṃ

Ghandha-sambhāra-yuttena
Dhūpenāhaṃ sugandhinā
Pūjaye pūjaneyyaṃ taṃ
Pūjābhajanamuttamaṃ

Pujemi Buddham kusumenanena
Puññenametena ca hotu mokkham
Puppham milāyāti yathā idam me
Kāyo tathā yāti vināsa-bhavam

With lights brightly shining
Abolishing this gloom
I adore the Enlightened One,
The Light of the three worlds.

With perfumed incense
And fragrant smoke
I worship the Exalted One,
Who is great and worthy of worship.

I worship the Buddha with these flowers;
May this virtue be helpful for my emancipation;
Just as these flowers fade,
Our body will undergo decay.

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5. Yathà' pi mule anupaddave daëhe
chinno' pi rukkho punareva ruhati
Evam pi tauhànusaye anuhate
nibbattatã dukkham idam punappunam. 338.
6. Yassa chattimsatã sotà
manàpassavanà bhusà
Vàhà vahanti duddiññhim
saïkappà ràganissità. 339.
7. Savanti sabbadhã sotà
latà ubbhijja tiññhati
Tañ ca disvà latam jàtam
mulam paññàya chindatha. 340.
8. Saritàni sinehitàni ca
somanassàni bhavanti jantuno
Te sàtasità sukhesino
te ve jàtijarupagà narà. 341.
9. Tasiuàya purakkhatà pajà
parisappanti saso' va bàdhito
Samyojanasaïgasattà
dukkham upenti punappunam ciràya. 342.
10. Tasiuàya purakkhatà pajà
parisappanti saso' va bàdhito
Tasmà tasiuam vinodaye
bhikkhu àkaïkhã viràgam attano. 343.

THERE IS SUFFERING AS LONG AS THERE IS CRAVING

5. Just as a tree with roots unharmed and firm, though hewn down, sprouts again, even so while latent craving is not rooted out, this sorrow springs up again and again. 338.

LUSTFUL THOUGHTS ARISE IN HIM WHO HAS CRAVING

6. If in anyone the thirty-six streams (of craving 3) that rush towards pleasurable thoughts 4 are strong, such a deluded person, torrential thoughts of lust carry off. 339.

CUT OFF CRAVING WITH WISDOM

7. The streams (craving) flow everywhere. The creeper (craving) sprouts 5 and stands. 6 Seeing the creeper that has sprung up, with wisdom cut off root. 340.

ATTACHMENT TO SENSUAL PLEASURES LEAD TO BIRTH AND DECAY

8. In beings there arise pleasures that rush (towards sense-objects) and (such beings) are steeped in craving. Bent on happiness, they seek happiness. Verily, such men come to birth and decay. 341.

FETTERED BY CRAVING THEY COME TO GRIEF

9. Folk enwrapt in craving are terrified like a captive hare. Held fast by fetters and bonds, 7 for long they come to sorrow again and again. 342.

HE WHO DESIRES PASSIONLESSNESS SHOULD DISCARD CRAVING

10. Folk, enwrapt in craving, are terrified like a captive hare. Therefore a bhikkhu who wishes his own passionlessness (Nibbàna) should discard craving. 343.

Story

While the Buddha was passing along a street he saw a young sow. Relating how in some of her past births she had enjoyed high estate and in others suffered degradation, He spoke on the manifold evil consequences of craving.
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…So Ānanda, live as your own island, your own refuge, with no other refuge. Let the teaching be your island and your refuge, with no other refuge. And how does a mendicant do this? It’s when a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of feelings … mind … principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. That’s how a mendicant is their own island, their own refuge, with no other refuge. That’s how the teaching is their island and their refuge, with no other refuge.…

Partial excerpts from DN 16 From… Mahaparinibbanasutta: The Great Discourse on the Buddha’s Extinguishment—Live as an Island

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Kamma and rebirth are often understood to be teachings of fate and helplessness in the face of unknowable influences from the past. For this reason, they’re often rejected. However, the real problem with kamma and rebirth is that we tend to misunderstand what these teachings have to say. This is because Buddhism came to the West at the same time as other Indian religions, and its luggage got mixed up with theirs in transit. Instead of teaching fate, The Buddha’s teachings on kamma and rebirth are empowering, showing how people can develop skills in the present that will lead to the end of suffering. So, to help show how valuable these teachings are, here’s a set of answers, based on the Pāli Canon, to some questions frequently asked about these topics.

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===

11. Yo nibbanatho vanàdhimutto
vanamutto vanam eva dhàvati
Tam puggalam etha passatha
mutto bandhanam eva dhàvati. 344.

IT IS FOOLISH TO RETURN TO WORLDLY LIFE

11. Whoever with no desire (for the household) finds pleasure in the forest (of asceticism) and though freed from desire (for the household), (yet) runs back to that very home. Come, behold that man! Freed, he runs back into that very bondage. 8 344.

Story

This verse was uttered by the Buddha about a young man who, through faith, entered the Order, but later, tempted by sensual pleasures, returned to the household life.
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Javanese dancers at a Buddhist festival, Borobudur temple, Java island, Indonesia.

Dainichi Nyorai (Mahavairochana Buddha) rock carvings Ima-kumanosan Taizōji temple, Mount Tawarayama in the Kunisaki Peninsula, Ōita Prefecture, Japan built during Heian period (794–1185). Dainichi is the central Buddha in Japanese Tendai Buddhism and above his head are three mandalas expressing the secret truths of Mikkyō in Sanskrit letters.

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This book is a substantially revised and expanded version of the 2009 original. It explores the link between external action and mind cultivation – both of which are forms of the kamma that leads to liberation. The book teaches formal meditation practices, the role of devotion, aspects of dependent origination, and the need to establish skilful relationships – kalyānamitta – and the cessation of suffering and stress.


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Kamma and the End of Kamma (2nd Edition)
By Ajahn Sucitto

This book is a substantially revised and expanded version of the 2009 original. It explores the link between external action and mind cultivation – both of which are forms of the kamma that leads to liberation. The book teaches formal meditation practices, the role of devotion, aspects of dependent origination, and the need to establish skilful relationships – kalyānamitta – and the cessation of suffering and stress.


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https://cdn.amaravati.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/17/Kamma-and-the-End-of-Kamma-Ajahn-Sucitto-2021.pdf
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Piprahwa gems Buddha's relics, Siddharthnagar city, Lumbini, Uttar Pradesh, Bharat Ganarajya. The relics were stored in a stupa during Emperor Ashoka period c. 230 BCE with the inscription reads ...Sukiti-bhatinaṃ sabhaginikanam sa-puta-dalanam iyaṃ salila-nidhane Budhasa bhagavate sakiyanam "Relics of the Buddha Lord".

12. Na tam daëham bandhanam àhu dhãrà
yadàyasam dàrujam babbajañ ca
Sàrattarattà mauikuudalesu
puttesu dàresu ca yà apekhà 345.
13. Etam daëham bandhanam àhu dhãrà
ohàrinam sithilam duppamuñcam
Etam pi chetvàna paribbajanti 9
anapekkhino kàmasukham pahàya. 346.

ATTACHMENT TO WORLDLY OBJECTS IS FAR STRONGER THAN IRON CHAINS

12. That which is made of iron, wood or hemp, is not a strong bond, say the wise; the longing for jewels, ornaments, children, and wives is a far greater attachment. 345.

RENOUNCE SENSUAL PLEASURES

13. That bond is strong, say the wise. It hurls down, is supple, and is hard to loosen. This too the wise cut off, and leave the world, with no longing, renouncing sensual pleasures. 346.

Story

Some monks passing a prison house observed the criminals bound by chains. They inquired of the Buddha whether there were other bonds stronger than what they had seen. The Buddha replied that the bond of craving was a thousand times stronger.
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"There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; & that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"What is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.

Samyutta Nikaya 56 :
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta

Thanissaro Bhikkhu