Buddhism

SN 1:63 · Craving (Taṇhā Sutta)

Thai temple painting: Prince Vessantara gives away the white elephant — Vessantara Jātaka, Chapter 2 (Himavanta Forest) · Thai, Rattanakosin, c. 1850–1870 · Walters Art Museum

“By what	is the world led?
By what	is it dragged around?
What	is the one thing
	that has the all
	under its sway?”

“By craving 	is the world led.
By craving 	is it dragged around.
Craving 		is the one thing
	that has the all
	under its sway.”

See also: SN 35:23; SN 35:82; AN 10:58

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).