| 17. (The deva said:)
"Difficult it is for the unwise to fulfil the task of the
bhikkhu (i.e., winning the Path); hard it is for him to endure it.
Such a foolish one is
unable to fulfil the bhikkhu practice---as there are many difficulties in that
practice."
(The Bhagava said:)
If one's
(improper) mind be not held in check, for how many days could one maintain the
bhikkhu practice?
To one who yields
to (sensuous) thoughts, there would arise defilements from every sense-object.
"Just as the tortoise hides his head and four limbs inside the shell,* so
also the bhikkhu should keep his thoughts under control.
Not having Craving
and wrong view, he does not harass others, he has achieved calm (through the
extinction of defilements) and he does not find fault with
anyone."
* The simile of the tortoise: Stray thoughts
are subject to defilements, so the mind must be guarded by concentrating on the
meditation subject. In other words, the mind concentrated on a chosen subject
of meditation is safe against defilements.
End of the Dukkara Sutta,
the seventh in this vagga.
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