death, and so I seek to find a sure mode of deliverance; I
have put away thought of relatives and family affection, how is it
possible then for me to return to the world and not to fear to revive
the poisonous snake, and after the hail to be burned in the fierce fire;
indeed, I fear the objects of these several desires, this whirling in
the stream of life troubles my heart, these five desires, the inconstant
thieves--stealing from men their choicest treasures, making them unreal,
false, and fickle--are like the man called up as an apparition; for a
time the beholders are affected by it, but it has no lasting hold upon
the mind; so these five desires are the great obstacles, forever
disarranging the way of peace; if the joys of heaven are not worth
having, how much less the desires common to men, begetting the thirst of
wild love, and then lost in the enjoyment, as the fierce wind fans the
fire, till the fuel be spent and the fire expires; of all unrighteous
things in the world, there is nothing worse than the domain of the five
desires; for all men maddened by the power of lust, giving themselves to
pleasure, are dead to reason. The wise man fears these desires, he fears
to fall into the way of unrighteousness; for like a king who rules all
within the four seas, yet still seeks beyond for something more, so is
lust; like the unbounded ocean, it knows not when and where to stop.
Mandha, the Kakravartin, when the heavens rained yellow gold, and he
ruled all within the seas, yet sighed after the domain of the
thirty-three heavens; dividing with Sakra his seat, and so through the
power of this lust he died; Nung-Sha, whilst practising austerities, got
power to rule the thirty-three heavenly abodes, but from lust he became
proud and supercilious; the Rishi whilst stepping into his chariot,
through carelessness in his gait, fell down into the midst of the
serpent pit. Yen-lo, the universal monarch (Kakravartin), wandering
abroad through the Trayastrimsas heaven, took a heavenly woman (Apsara)
for a queen, and unjustly extorted the gold of a Rishi; the Rishi, in
anger, added a charm, by which the country was ruined, and his life
ended. Po-lo, and Sakra king of Devas, and Nung-Sha returning to Sakra;
what certainty is there, even for the lord of heaven? Neither is any
country safe, though kept by the mighty strength of those dwelling in
it. But when one's clothing consists of grass, the berries one's food,
the rivulets one's dri