“Those of great wealth and property,
Even khattiyas who rule the country,
Look at each other with greedy eyes,
Insatiable in sensual pleasures.
72 Among these who have become so avid,
Flowing along in the stream of existence,
Who here have abandoned craving?
Who in the world are no longer avid?”“Having left their homes and gone forth,
Having left their dear sons and cattle,
Having left behind lust and hatred,
Having expunged ignorance—
The arahants with taints destroyed
Are those in the world no longer avid.”
sn.1.28 Saṁyutta Nikāya (Linked Discourses)
Those of Great Wealth
- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Editor: Blake Walsh
Affluent
“The affluent and the wealthy,even the aristocrats who rule the land,
are jealous of each other,
insatiable in sensual pleasures.
Among those of such an avid nature,
flowing along the stream of lives,
who here has given up craving?
Who in the world is not avid?”
“Having given up their home, their child, their cattle,
and all that they love, they went forth.
Having given up desire and hate,
having dispelled ignorance,
the perfected ones with defilements ended—
they in the world are not avid.”