There are those who warring
against desire are still influenced by desire; who whilst possessed of
body, act as though they had none; who put away from themselves all
sources of true merit--briefly will I recount their sorrowful lot. Like
smothering a raging fire, though carefully put out, yet a spark left, so
in their abstraction, still the germ of 'I,' the source of great sorrow
still surviving, perpetuates the suffering caused by lust, and the evil
consequences of every kind of deed survive. These are the sources of
further pain, but let these go and sorrow dies, even as the seed of corn
taken from the earth and deprived of water dies; the concurrent causes
not uniting, then the bud and leaf cannot be born; the intricate bonds
of every kind of existence, from the Deva down to the evil ways of
birth, ever revolve and never cease; all this is produced from covetous
desire; falling from a high estate to lower ones, all is the fault of
previous deeds. But destroy the seed of covetousness and the rest, then
there will be no intricate binding, but all effect of deeds destroyed,
the various degrees of sorrow then will end for good. Having this, then,
we must inherit that; destroying this, then that is ended too; no birth,
old age, disease, or death; no earth, or water, fire, or wind. No
beginning, end, or middle; and no deceptive systems of philosophy; this
is the standpoint of wise men and sages; the certain and exhausted
termination, complete Nirvana.
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