Uttarajjhayana 128.1.26_8

128.1.26_8

uvaṇijjaī jīviyam appamāyaṃ | vaṇṇaṃ jarā harai narassa rāya /
paṃcālarāyā vayaṇaṃ suṇāhi | mā kāsi kammāi mahālayāiṃ ||26||

"Life drags on (towards death) continuously; old age carries off the vigour of man. King of the Pañkâlas, mark my words: do no fearful actions." (26)
'I, too, know just as well as you, O saint, what you have told me in your speech: pleasures will get a hold on men and are not easily abandoned by such as we are, sir. (27)
'O Kitra, in Hastinâpura I saw the powerful king (Sanatkumâra), and I took that sinful resolution in my desire for sensual pleasures. (28)
And since I did not repent of it, this has come of it, that I still long for sensual pleasures, though I know the Law. (29)
'As an elephant, sinking down in a quagmire, sees the raised ground but does not get to the shore, so do we who long for sensual pleasures, not follow the path of monks. (30)
'Time elapses and quickly pass the days; the pleasures of men are not permanent; they come to a man and leave him just as a bird leaves a tree void of fruit.' (31)
"If you are unable to abandon pleasure, then do noble actions, O king; following the Law, have compassion on all creatures: then you will become a god on entering a new existence. (32)
"If you have no intention of abandoning pleasure, and still long for undertakings and property, my long talk has been to no purpose. I go, king, farewell." (33)
And Brahmadatta, king of the Pañkâlas, did not act on the counsel of the saint; he enjoyed the highest pleasure, and (afterwards) sank into the deepest hell. (34)