Iti 93 · uttaka 93
This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: “Monks, there are these three fires. Which three? The fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion. These are the three fires.”
The fire of passion burns in a mortal
delighting in,
smitten with
sensual desires;
the fire of aversion, in a malevolent person
taking life;
the fire of delusion, in a bewildered person
ignorant
of the noble teaching.
Not understanding these fires, people
–fond of self-identity–
unreleased from Māra’s shackles,
swell the ranks of hell,
the wombs of common animals, demons,
the realm of the hungry ghosts.
While those who, day & night,
are devoted
to the message
of the rightly self-awakened,
put out the fire of passion,
constantly perceiving the foul.
They, superlative people,
put out the fire of aversion
with good will,
and the fire of delusion
with the discernment leading
to penetration.
They, the masterful, untiring by night & day,
having put out [the fires],
having, without remainder,
comprehended stress,
are, without remainder,
totally unbound.
They, the wise, with an attainer-of-wisdom’s
noble vision,
right gnosis,
directly knowing
the ending of birth,
come to no further becoming.
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 licence, for free distribution only. Source: dhammatalks.org (Metta Forest Monastery).
