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← Aṅguttara Nikāya

Dangers

AN 6.23 · Bhayasutta

A mountain summit emerging above thinning cloud and an alpine meadow.

“‘Danger’, mendicants, is a term for sensual pleasures. ‘Suffering’, ‘disease’, ‘boil’, ‘chain’, and ‘bog’ are terms for sensual pleasures.

And why is ‘danger’ a term for sensual pleasures? Someone who is besotted by sensual greed and shackled by lustful desire is not freed from dangers in this life or in lives to come. That is why ‘danger’ is a term for sensual pleasures.

And why are ‘suffering’, ‘disease’, ‘boil’, ‘chain’, and ‘bog’ terms for sensual pleasures? Someone who is besotted by sensual greed and shackled by lustful desire is not freed from suffering, disease, boils, chains, or bogs in this life or in lives to come. That is why these are terms for sensual pleasures.

Danger, suffering, disease, boils, and chains and bogs both. These describe the sensual pleasures to which ordinary people are attached.

Seeing the danger in grasping, the origin of birth and death, the unattached are freed with the ending of birth and death.

Happy, they’ve come to a safe place, quenched in this very life. They’ve gone beyond all enmities and fears, and risen above all suffering.”

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Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato · SuttaCentral · CC0

This translation is an expression of an ancient spiritual text that has been passed down by the Buddhist tradition for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation. The translator respectfully requests that any use be in accordance with the values and principles of the Buddhist community. In particular, please do not use this work in AI training datasets, for the development of any AI model or algorithm, or in any AI-derived technologies.

Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.

The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.