iti.93 Itivuttaka

The Fires

This was said by the Lord…

“Bhikkhus, there are these three fires. What three? The fire of lust, the fire of hate, and the fire of delusion. These, bhikkhus, are the three fires.”

The fire of lust burns mortals
Infatuated by sensual pleasures;
The fire of hate burns malevolent people
Who kill other living beings;

The fire of delusion burns the bewildered,
Ignorant of the Noble One’s Dhamma.
Being unaware of these three fires,
Humankind delights in personal existence.

Unfree from the bonds of Māra
They swell the ranks of hell,
Existence in the animal realm,
Asura-demons and the sphere of ghosts.

But those engaged in practising
The Buddha’s teaching day and night
Ever perceiving the body’s foulness,
Extinguish the fire of lust.

Those best of humans by loving-kindness
Extinguish the fire of hate,
And they extinguish the fire of delusion
By wisdom that leads to penetration.

Having extinguished these fires,
Unwearied night and day,
Those discerning ones attain Nibbāna
And overcome all suffering.

The noble seers, masters of knowledge,
Wise ones with perfect understanding,
By directly knowing the end of birth
Come no more to renewal of being.

- Translator: John D. Ireland

- Editor: Bhikkhu Sujato

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Fire

always perceiving ugliness;
This was said by the Buddha, the Perfected One: that is what I heard.
“Mendicants, there are these three fires.
What three?
The fires of greed, hate, and delusion.
These are the three fires.”
The Buddha spoke this matter.
On this it is said:
“The fire of greed burns a mortal,
lustful, infatuated by sensual pleasures;
while, fallen in the fire of hate,
a person kills living creatures;
and, bewildered by the fire of delusion,
they miss the teaching of the noble ones.
Not recognizing these three fires,
people are caught up in identity.
They fill the ranks of hell,
of birth as an animal,
or of demons and ghosts,
not freed from Māra’s bonds.
But as to those committed day and night
to the teaching of the Buddha:
they quench the fire of greed,
while those supreme persons
quench the fire of hate with love;
and the fire of delusion with the wisdom
that leads to penetration.
Having quenched these fires, alert,
tireless all day and night,
they become completely quenched,
completely transcending suffering.
Seers of the noble truths, knowledge masters,
the astute, understanding rightly,
directly know the ending of rebirth,
they come not back to future lives.”
This too is a matter that was spoken by the Blessed One: that is what I heard.