Disclaimer: This translation does not guarantee complete accuracy, please confirm with the original page text.
## The Fifth Chapter
Then, as the lotus buds began to close their petals, the king saw a dead bee trapped within a lotus bud.
Seeing this, a thought arose in his heart, a thought that would destroy his worldly attachments. He thought, "This foolish bee, intoxicated by the nectar, did not find satisfaction and thus met its death. The Acharya says, "May this endless desire be cursed!"
Just as this bee, attached to the lotus, met its death, so too shall we, attached to the lotus-like faces of women, meet our death.
If this bee died due to its sense of smell and taste, then what of us, who are enslaved by all five senses?
Or perhaps this bee, being a member of the lower species, is ignorant, and so its actions are understandable. But we, who are endowed with knowledge, why are we still attached to these objects?
What pleasure is there in licking the blade of a honey-coated sword, which, upon contact, shatters the tongue into a hundred pieces?
What kind of happiness can arise from objects that, far from offering pleasure, only bring forth a continuous stream of suffering?
I bow down to those great souls who have turned away from objects like the fruit of the *kipaak* tree, with their body, speech, and mind.
Alas, how unfortunate! I have been deceived, cheated for a long time by these wicked objects, whose attachments are extremely harmful and deadly like poison.
At that moment, a great sage named Shruta Sagar, bearing a meaningful name, arrived in that garden.
Shruta Sagar Muni was endowed with a most beautiful form, his radiance put the moon to shame, his brilliance scorned the sun, and his steadfastness defeated Mount Meru.
His soul was always absorbed in meditation on Dharma, free from attachment and aversion. He was a devotee of the *kshaayas* (passions), and his association was like a broken staff.