[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [四十二章經](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.784) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.784~en-mt) › 1.36 # 四十二章經 1.36 English (machine translation) 1.36 - **Language:** English ### [1.36](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.784~en-mt.1.36) The Buddha said: "There was a man afflicted with lust whose passions did not cease; he squatted over the edge of an axe to cut off his own genitals. The Buddha said to him: 'Severing your genitals is not as good as severing your mind. The mind is the officer-in-charge; if you halt the officer-in-charge, his followers will all cease. If the perverse mind does not cease, what benefit is there in severing the genitals? You would die in an instant.'" The Buddha said: "The inverted views of the worldly are like this foolish man." - [Previous: 1.35](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.784~en-mt.1.35) - [Next: 1.37](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.784~en-mt.1.37) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.784~en-mt.1) ## Linked texts (1) - [四十二章經](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.784.1.36) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.784~en-mt.1.36](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.784~en-mt.1.36) · Pramāṇa