Saman suttam

Author(s): Jinendra Varni
Publisher: Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan

Page 47

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SOURCE OF ILLUMINATION (46) Sensuous enjoyments give momentary pleasure, but prolonged misery, more of misery and less of pleasure and they are the obstructions to salvation and a veritable mine of misfortunes.
(47) Just as no substantial thing can be found in a bananaplant even after a minute search, similarly there can be no happiness in the objects of senses even when minutely looked for.
(48) From the real point of view the pleasures enjoyed by emperors and the lord of gods are painful as they are momentary and agonizing in their effect, therefore it is proper to remain away from them.
(49) Just as a person suffering from itches considers the scratching of his body to be a pleasure though really it is painful, similarly people who are under the spell of infatuation consider the sensuous enjoyment to be pleasurable.
(50) He who is immersed in carnal pleasures becomes perverted in knowing what is beneficial and conducive to spiritual welfare, becomes ignorant, dull and infatuated and entangles himself in his own Karmas like a fly caught in phlegm.
(51) Everyone knows and thinks about the pains of birth, old age and death, and yet no one develops disregard for the objects of sense. Oh: how tight is this knot of conceit?