> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Iti 109 · uttaka 109
- URL: https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/iti-109/
- Published: 2026-06-01T01:46:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-13T16:38:23.000Z
- Description: Itivuttaka · Iti 109. Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.
- Author: Ninth Heaven Literature & Arts Association (NHLAA)
- Tags: Buddhism, Sutta Piṭaka, Text, Indian, The Buddha, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Verse, Pali, Early Buddhist, Library

*This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:* “Monks, suppose a man were being carried along by the flow of a river, lovely & alluring. And then another man with good eyesight, standing on the bank, on seeing him would say, ‘My good man, even though you are being carried along by the flow of a river, lovely & alluring, further down from here is a pool with waves & whirlpools, with seizers & demons. On reaching that pool you will suffer death or death-like pain.’ Then the first man, on hearing the words of the second man, would make an effort with his hands & feet to go against the flow.

“I have given you this simile to illustrate a meaning. The meaning is this: the flow of the river stands for craving. Lovely & alluring stands for the six internal sense-media. The pool further down stands for the five lower fetters.[1](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Iti/iti109.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) The waves stand for anger & distress. The whirlpools stand for the five strings of sensuality. The seizers & demons stand for the opposite sex. Against the flow stands for renunciation. Making an effort with hands & feet stands for the arousing of persistence. The man with good eyesight standing on the bank stands for the Tathāgata, worthy & rightly self-awakened.”

Even if it’s with pain,

you should abandon

sensual desires

if you aspire

to future safety from bondage.

Rightly discerning,

with a mind well released,

touch release now here,

now there.

An attainer-of-wisdom,

having fulfilled the holy life,

is said to have gone

to the end of the world, gone

beyond.

Note

1\. The five lower fetters are self-identity view, uncertainty, attachment to habits & practices, sensual passion, and resistance. See also [AN 7:48](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-7-48/) and [AN 10:13](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-10-13/).

---

*Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) licence, for free distribution only. Source: [dhammatalks.org](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Iti/iti109.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) (Metta Forest Monastery).*