Skip to main content
Buddhism

SN 1:65 · Bondage (Bandhana 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
“With what 	is the world placed in bondage?
What 	is its exploration?
With the abandoning
of what
		are all bonds broken?”
“With delight 		is the world placed in bondage.
Directed thought		is its exploration.
With the abandoning
of craving
		all bonds are broken.”

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).

Join the Journal

Subscribe to Ninth Heaven | Literary & Arts Journal

New issues, stories, and poems, delivered to your inbox.
Subscribe