འཕགས་པ་བད་སའ་རྒྱལ་པ་འཆར་བྱད་ཀྱས་ཞས་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བའ་ལའ 10

10

So, too, do the unwise delight in women.¹⁵

“Infamous and shameful, they degrade positive qualities;
Because of them, one’s pure discipline declines,
And the higher realms are lost as one falls into the hells.
Who among the wise would indulge their desirous cravings?

“Just as the body deteriorates and delusions arise
When one consumes halāhala poison,
In the same way sense pleasures cause foolish beings
Not to see physical forms, like one’s own body, as poison.

“In the same way that a skilled magician
Delights hundreds with conjured illusions,
Foolish beings, who seek pleasure for themselves,
Fall to the lower realms because of their delight in sense pleasures.

“Using feasts of food and drink,
Accompanied by song, dance, and music,
To take a bride from a good family
Is the accrual of pain, the accumulation of suffering.

“Craving for the enjoyment of sense pleasures is pain,
Yet people praise these filthy things, which cause injury and ignorance.
By praising and indulging in such lowly desires,
Inferior people will fall to the lower realms.

“Those who desire for such pain praise these objects
And delight in such harmful desires.
Pointlessly forsaking their lives, these foolish beings
Will fall down into the great and unbearable abyss.

“These people who are dominated by pride and ignorance
Are like birds unable to see the far shores of the ocean;
For so long as they are consumed with the five precious metals,
These foolish beings will wander and burn.

“These foolish beings, utterly intoxicated and confused,
Mistake mere glass for an exquisite vase;
Ignorant as to the path, they will remain forever here,
Where they claim, ‘It is perfect,’ due to their desires.

“Because they do not know karma in all its diversity,
They do not believe in the downfall of all beings.
They do not truly honor their fathers and mothers

So, too, do the unwise delight in women.¹⁵

“Infamous and shameful, they degrade positive qualities;
Because of them, one’s pure discipline declines,
And the higher realms are lost as one falls into the hells.
Who among the wise would indulge their desirous cravings?

“Just as the body deteriorates and delusions arise
When one consumes halāhala poison,
In the same way sense pleasures cause foolish beings
Not to see physical forms, like one’s own body, as poison.

“In the same way that a skilled magician
Delights hundreds with conjured illusions,
Foolish beings, who seek pleasure for themselves,
Fall to the lower realms because of their delight in sense pleasures.

“Using feasts of food and drink,
Accompanied by song, dance, and music,
To take a bride from a good family
Is the accrual of pain, the accumulation of suffering.

“Craving for the enjoyment of sense pleasures is pain,
Yet people praise these filthy things, which cause injury and ignorance.
By praising and indulging in such lowly desires,
Inferior people will fall to the lower realms.

“Those who desire for such pain praise these objects
And delight in such harmful desires.
Pointlessly forsaking their lives, these foolish beings
Will fall down into the great and unbearable abyss.

“These people who are dominated by pride and ignorance
Are like birds unable to see the far shores of the ocean;
For so long as they are consumed with the five precious metals,
These foolish beings will wander and burn.

“These foolish beings, utterly intoxicated and confused,
Mistake mere glass for an exquisite vase;
Ignorant as to the path, they will remain forever here,
Where they claim, ‘It is perfect,’ due to their desires.

“Because they do not know karma in all its diversity,
They do not believe in the downfall of all beings.
They do not truly honor their fathers and mothers