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← Aṅguttara Nikāya

Danger

AN 8.56 · Bhayasutta

Water flowing gently around weathered stones and moss in a mountain stream.

“Mendicants, ‘danger’ is a term for sensual pleasures. ‘Suffering’, ‘disease’, ‘boil’, ‘dart’, ‘chain’, ‘bog’, and ‘womb’ 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’, ‘dart’, ‘chain’, ‘bog’, and ‘womb’ terms for sensual pleasures? Someone who is besotted by sensual greed and shackled by lustful desire is not freed from wombs in this life or in lives to come. That is why ‘womb’ is a term for sensual pleasures.

Danger, suffering, and disease, boil, dart, and chain, and bogs and wombs both. These describe the sensual pleasures to which ordinary people are attached.

Swamped by things that seem pleasant, you go to another womb. But when a mendicant is keen, and doesn’t forget awareness,

in this way that sort transcend this grueling swamp. They watch this population flounder, fallen into rebirth and old age.”

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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.