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This was said by the Blessed One,
said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Suppose a man was being carried along by
the flow of a river, lovely & alluring. And then another man with good
eyesight, standing on the bank, on seeing him would say: 'My good man, even
though you are being carried along by the flow of a river, lovely &
alluring, further down from here is a pool with waves & whirlpools, with
monsters & demons. On reaching that pool you will suffer death or
death-like pain.' Then the first man, on hearing the words of the second man,
would make an effort with his hands & feet to go against the flow.
"I have given you this simile
to illustrate a meaning. The meaning is this: the flow of the river stands for
craving. Lovely & alluring stands for the six internal sense-media. The
pool further down stands for the five lower fetters.* The waves stand
for anger & distress. The whirlpools stand for the five strands of
sensuality. The monsters & demons stand for the opposite sex. Against the
flow stands for renunciation. Making an effort with hands & feet stands for
the arousing of persistence. The man with good eyesight standing on the bank
stands for the Tathagata, worthy & rightly self-awakened."
Even if it's with pain,
you should abandon
sensual desires
if you aspire
to future safety from bondage.
Alert,
with a mind well-released,
touch release now here,
now there.
An attainer-of-wisdom,
having fulfilled the holy life,
is said to have gone
to the end of the world, gone
beyond.
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