Deep Commentary

This verse was taught by the Buddha at Jetavana Monastery, in connection with Bhikkhuni Uppalavanna. The story is explained in detail in the commentary to the verse beginning, “The fool thinks evil is sweet while it has not yet ripened.” The story continues as follows: some time later, the monks were discussing in the Dhamma hall: “Even those who have destroyed the taints must still be capable of sensual desire. Why would they not be? They are not trees, stones, or lumps of earth; they still have human bodies of flesh and blood, so surely they must still enjoy pleasure.” Hearing this, the Blessed One explained: “Monks, one who has completely removed craving never delights in sensual pleasure or seeks to satisfy lust. Just as a drop of water falling on a lotus leaf does not cling to it, but rolls off and falls away; just as a mustard seed does not cling to the point of a needle; in the same way, sensual desire does not bind or remain in those who have fully destroyed craving.”

In this verse, the Buddha again points to the human tendency to be intoxicated by sensual desire. He makes it clear that whoever is not stained or bound by desire is like water on a lotus leaf: the water and the leaf do not cling to each other. The Buddha taught this principle clearly in the chapter on craving, so there is no need to discuss it at length here. Still, we should remember that desire begins in thought. If the thought does not arise, desire has no ground on which to grow.

As human beings, most of us carry some degree of desire. For those who truly practice, desire becomes lighter and less commanding than for those who do not practice or only appear to practice. Desire arises according to the way we perceive and imagine things. It has many levels, from subtle to heavy. If someone lives completely carried away by the current of craving, always seeking bodily pleasure and never restraining the mind, then the waves of passion become overwhelming, and that person is bound to drown in the sea of desire.

To help prevent attachment, especially strong romantic and sensual attachment, the Buddha taught practitioners to guard the senses and keep the mind upright. When meeting others, one should cultivate respectful and compassionate perception, seeing elders with reverence, peers with kindness, younger people with care, and all beings with the wish to protect and liberate them. In this way, unwholesome thoughts can be weakened and removed.

This teaching was given especially for monastics, but laypeople who wish to free themselves from the painful net of attachment can also apply its spirit. It reveals an important psychological truth: desire depends greatly on perception. When we see someone as an object of possession or pleasure, craving easily arises. But when we regard others with respect, kinship, compassion, and moral clarity, sensual desire has much less room to grow.

At a higher level, when one sees beauty without being stained by attachment, the Buddha says that person is like water on a lotus leaf or a mustard seed resting on the point of a needle: there is no clinging, no merging, no entanglement. Such a person is truly free and liberated. Such a person is worthy to be called a Brahmin.