འཕགས་པ་བད་སའ་རྒྱལ་པ་འཆར་བྱད་ཀྱས་ཞས་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བའ་ལའ 17

17

Attached to women, they are befuddled
Like crows flocking to feces.¹⁹

“They are within Māra’s domain.
Those headed to the lower realms
Are addicted to enjoyment
Just like maggots in a pile of feces.²⁰

“If one thinks about how executioners
Discard the body parts of a human,
It will lead one to find liberation
And not to fall under the sway of women.

“Being caught up in gazing upon women,
The objects of one’s desires, is a fearsome situation.
Yet foolish beings fixate on appearances
And their craving for sense pleasure grows.

“They are like travelers in the summertime,
Making their way across a great desert,
Who foolishly drink salt water.
Their thirst returns more strongly.

“Similarly, foolish beings, blind to the truth,
Who live out their lives in states of ignorance,
Will strengthen desirous cravings
For women here in this world.

“In the same way that a leper’s body
becomes food for tiny insects,
So, too, ordinary beings who crave sense pleasures
Are devoured by women.

“A chamber pot may be decorated
with many variegated colors
Yet be filled with halāhala,
The strongest of all poisons.²¹

“Bejeweled women are like that too.
They may glitter with adornments,
Yet they are filled with urine and excrement.
They are like leather bellows filled with air.²²

“Just like a blade sharpened with oil
And wrapped in a cloth,
So too is a dressed-up woman
Like a sword sheathed in a scabbard.

“In the same way a blazing fire pit
Can burn without any smoke,
Women are like fire.
They are deceptive, like dangerous insects.

“When the fire at the end of the eon blazes,
The entirety of this land will be consumed,
The grasses and trees will be destroyed,
And the rivers will completely dry up.

“As for this abode of the great elements—
The vast oceans will dry up
And the great mountains will burn away.
Even Mount Meru will likewise be destroyed.

“This earth, the great king, sustainer of beings,
Will be completely destroyed.

Attached to women, they are befuddled
Like crows flocking to feces.¹⁹

“They are within Māra’s domain.
Those headed to the lower realms
Are addicted to enjoyment
Just like maggots in a pile of feces.²⁰

“If one thinks about how executioners
Discard the body parts of a human,
It will lead one to find liberation
And not to fall under the sway of women.

“Being caught up in gazing upon women,
The objects of one’s desires, is a fearsome situation.
Yet foolish beings fixate on appearances
And their craving for sense pleasure grows.

“They are like travelers in the summertime,
Making their way across a great desert,
Who foolishly drink salt water.
Their thirst returns more strongly.

“Similarly, foolish beings, blind to the truth,
Who live out their lives in states of ignorance,
Will strengthen desirous cravings
For women here in this world.

“In the same way that a leper’s body
becomes food for tiny insects,
So, too, ordinary beings who crave sense pleasures
Are devoured by women.

“A chamber pot may be decorated
with many variegated colors
Yet be filled with halāhala,
The strongest of all poisons.²¹

“Bejeweled women are like that too.
They may glitter with adornments,
Yet they are filled with urine and excrement.
They are like leather bellows filled with air.²²

“Just like a blade sharpened with oil
And wrapped in a cloth,
So too is a dressed-up woman
Like a sword sheathed in a scabbard.

“In the same way a blazing fire pit
Can burn without any smoke,
Women are like fire.
They are deceptive, like dangerous insects.

“When the fire at the end of the eon blazes,
The entirety of this land will be consumed,
The grasses and trees will be destroyed,
And the rivers will completely dry up.

“As for this abode of the great elements—
The vast oceans will dry up
And the great mountains will burn away.
Even Mount Meru will likewise be destroyed.

“This earth, the great king, sustainer of beings,
Will be completely destroyed.