人爲恩愛惑 不能捨情欲 如是憂苦多 潤草雨益深 伐樹不伐根 樹雖伐猶生 伐愛不盡本 苦必重至生 愛欲意如水 欲恣心復生 雖欲截斷水 永難截斷水
rén wèi ēn ài huò bù néng shě qíng yù rú shì yōu kǔ duō rùn cǎo yǔ yì shēn fá shù bù fá gēn shù suī fá yóu shēng fá ài bù jìn běn kǔ bì chóng zhì shēng ài yù yì rú shuǐ yù zì xīn fù shēng suī yù jié duàn shuǐ yǒng nán jié duàn shuǐ
Key Message
As a tree regrows when its root is left intact, so too does suffering inevitably return if craving is not extirpated at its very root — for the mind of craving flows on like water, impossible to permanently cut.
▸The Taṇhāvagga (Chapter on Craving) is the Dhammapada's most extended and urgent treatment of taṇhā — the 'thirst' or craving that the Four Noble Truths identify as the origin of all suffering.
The Taṇhāvagga (Chapter on Craving) is the Dhammapada's most extended and urgent treatment of taṇhā — the 'thirst' or craving that the Four Noble Truths identify as the origin of all suffering. People, bewildered by affection and love, cannot let go of emotional desire; from this come manifold sorrows that deepen like grass watered by rain. The tree metaphor is decisive: if a tree is cut down but the root is left intact, the tree grows again; if craving is severed without eliminating its root, suffering will inevitably return. Most hauntingly, the mind of craving is like water — as desire grows, the mind regenerates it; though one might wish to cut off water permanently, water cannot ultimately be cut.