8.
The Discourse on the Courtesan
58.
Thus have I heard -
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrels' Feeding Ground.
Now at that time in Rājagaha two guilds were filled with lust for a certain courtesan, with minds bound to her;
quarrelling, disputing, engaging in contention, they attack one another with fists, attack with clods, attack with sticks, attack with knives.
They there undergo death and suffering like death.
Then several monks, having dressed in the earlier period of the day, taking their bowls and robes, entered Rājagaha for almsfood. Having walked for almsfood in Rājagaha, after the meal, having returned from their alms round, they approached the Blessed One; having approached, they paid respect to the Blessed One and sat down to one side. Seated to one side, those monks said this to the Blessed One -
"Here, venerable sir, in Rājagaha two guilds are filled with lust for a certain courtesan, with minds bound to her; quarrelling, disputing, engaging in contention, they attack one another with fists, attack with clods, attack with sticks, attack with knives. They there undergo death and suffering like death."
Then the Blessed One, having understood this matter, at that time uttered this inspired utterance -
"What has been attained and what is to be attained, both of these are strewn with dust, for one who is afflicted and follows the training. Those for whom training is the essence, moral rules and austerities, life, holy life, with attendance as the essence - this is one extreme. And those who speak thus - 'There is no fault in sensual pleasures' - this is the second extreme. Thus these two extremes increase the cemetery; the cemeteries increase views. Not having directly known these two extremes, some lag behind, some run beyond. But those who, having directly known them, were not therein, and by that did not conceive - for them there is no round of rebirths to be declared." The eighth.