7.
The Discourse on Sexual Intercourse
50.
Then the brahmin Jāṇussoṇi approached the Blessed One;
having approached, he exchanged friendly greetings with the Blessed One.
Having concluded the pleasant and memorable talk, he sat down to one side.
Seated to one side, the brahmin Jāṇussoṇi said this to the Blessed One -
"Does Master Gotama also claim to be one leading the holy life?"
"Whatever, brahmin, one speaking rightly would say -
'He lives the holy life that is unbroken, without gaps, spotless, unblemished, complete and pure' - that, brahmin, one speaking rightly would say of me -
'For I, brahmin, live the holy life that is unbroken, without gaps, spotless, unblemished, complete and pure.'"
"But what, Master Gotama, is a break, a gap, a spot, a blemish in the holy life?"
"Here, brahmin, a certain ascetic or brahmin, while claiming to be rightly leading the holy life, does not indeed engage in sexual intercourse with a woman; but he consents to being rubbed, massaged, bathed and shampooed by a woman. He enjoys it, desires it, and finds satisfaction on account of it. This too, brahmin, is a break, a gap, a spot, a blemish in the holy life. This one is called, brahmin, one who lives the holy life impurely, bound by the bondage of sexual intercourse; he is not released from birth, from ageing, from death, from sorrows, from lamentations, from sufferings, from displeasures, from anguishes; he is not released from suffering, I say.
"Furthermore, brahmin, here a certain ascetic or brahmin, while claiming to be rightly leading the holy life, does not indeed engage in sexual intercourse with a woman, nor does he consent to being rubbed, massaged, bathed and shampooed by a woman; but he jokes, plays and sports with a woman, etc. nor does he joke, play and sport with a woman; but he gazes upon and looks at a woman's eye with his own eye, etc. nor does he gaze upon and look at a woman's eye with his own eye; but he hears the sound of a woman through a wall or through a rampart, whether laughing, speaking, singing or crying, etc. nor does he hear the sound of a woman through a wall or through a rampart, whether laughing, speaking, singing or crying; but he recollects those former laughing, talking and playing together with a woman, etc. nor does he recollect those former laughing, talking and playing together with a woman; but he sees a householder or a householder's son endowed and furnished with the five kinds of sensual pleasure, indulging himself, etc. nor does he see a householder or a householder's son endowed and furnished with the five kinds of sensual pleasure, indulging himself; but he lives the holy life having aspired to a certain order of gods - 'By this morality or by this ascetic practice or by this austerity or by this holy life I shall become a god or an inferior deity.' He enjoys it, desires it, and finds satisfaction on account of it. This too, brahmin, is a break, a gap, a spot, a blemish in the holy life. This one is called, brahmin, one who lives the holy life impurely, bound by the bondage of sexual intercourse; he is not released from birth, from ageing, from death, from sorrows, from lamentations, from sufferings, from displeasures, from anguishes; he is not released from suffering, I say.
"As long as I, brahmin, regarded any one of these seven bondages of sexual intercourse as not abandoned in myself, I did not acknowledge, brahmin, in the world with its gods, with its Māras, with its Brahmās, among the generation with its ascetics and brahmins, with its gods and humans, that I had fully awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.
"But when I, brahmin, did not regard any one of these seven bondages of sexual intercourse as not abandoned in myself, then I acknowledged, brahmin, in the world with its gods, with its Māras, with its Brahmās, among the generation with its ascetics and brahmins, with its gods and humans, that I had fully awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. 'And knowledge and vision arose in me: "Unshakable is my liberation, this is the last birth, there is now no more rebirth."'"
When this was said, the brahmin Jāṇussoṇi said this to the Blessed One - "Excellent, Master Gotama! Excellent, Master Gotama! Etc. May Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from this day forth for life." The seventh.