34d: The 20th Rains Retreat (Sudinna) – 1175 

 

cut off attachment tinged with craving, to eliminate the roots of the round of 
suffering, to cease craving, to reject desires, to stop craving and to extinguish 
defilement? 

You foolish man, did I not teach you, in various ways, the removal of sensual 
pleasures? Did I not teach you the analytical knowledge of perception 
concerning sensual pleasure? Did I not teach you the removal of craving for 
sensual pleasure? Did I not teach you the cutting off of thoughts concerning 
sensual pleasure? Did I not teach you the extinguishing of the heat of sensual 
pleasure? 

You foolish man, it is better to put your male organ into the mouth of a highly 
poisonous, severely poisonous snake! But it is not good to put it into the female 
organ! You foolish man, it is better to put your male organ into the mouth of a 
cobra! But it is not good to put it into the female organ! You foolish man, it is 
better to put your male organ into a heap of embers with glowing and blazing 
flames that burn all around! But it is not good to put it into the female organ! 

Because, foolish man, by putting your male organ into the snake’s mouth or into 
the heap of embers, you will just come to death or you will suffer almost to 
death. By putting your male organ into the snake’s mouth or into the heap of 
embers, you cannot go to the four suffering states of long suffering, of animals, 
of departed spirits and the Asuras on destruction of your body. But by doing so 
with regard to the female organ, foolish man, you may go to those suffering 
states on destruction of your body! 

You foolish man, you have committed sexual intercourse which is not the 
practice of noble persons, which is the practice of villagers, which is a crude act 
that ends in washing, which is done only in a secluded place because of its 
unseemly sight, which is done by a couple of a man and a woman. You foolish 
man, you are a pioneer in the sense that you engage in unwholesomeness ahead 
of others! 

You foolish man, what you have done now cannot cause the faithless to become 

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 faithful; nor can it cause the faithful to become more faithful. In fact, 

foolish man, the evil deed of yours will make the faithless remain faithless and 
lead to the destruction of the faith of the faithful.” 

Then the Buddha censured Ven. Sudinna in many ways and taught the 
disadvantages of such unseemly things as difficulty of maintenance of self,