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iti.58 Itivuttaka

Craving

This was said by the Lord…

“Bhikkhus, there are these three cravings. What three? The craving for sensual pleasures, the craving for being, and the craving for non-being. These are the three.”

Those fettered by the bond of craving,
Whose minds delight in being this or that,
Are people in the bondage of Māra
Who enjoy no security from bondage.
Such beings continue in saṁsāra,
Going on from birth to death.

But those who have abandoned craving,
Free from craving for being this or that,
Having attained the taints’ destruction,
Though in the world, have gone beyond.

- Translator: John D. Ireland

- Editor: Bhikkhu Sujato