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# Snp 4:7 · 4:7 To Tissa-metteyya
- URL: https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/snp-4-7/
- Published: 2026-06-01T00:45:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-13T16:40:18.000Z
- Description: Sutta Nipāta · Snp 4:7. Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.
- Author: Ninth Heaven Literature & Arts Association (NHLAA)
- Tags: Buddhism, Sutta Piṭaka, Text, Indian, The Buddha, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Sutta Nipāta, Verse, Pali, Early Buddhist, Library, #Import 2026-07-06 03:29

Tissa-metteyya:

“Tell the damage, dear sir,

for one given over

to sexual intercourse.

Having heard your teaching,

we’ll train in seclusion.”

The Buddha:

“In one given over

to sexual intercourse,

the teaching is muddled

and he practices wrongly:

This is ignoble

in him.

Whoever once went alone,

but then resorts

to sexual intercourse

—like a carriage out of control—

is called vile in the world,

a person run-of-the-mill.

His earlier honor & dignity:

lost.

Seeing this,

he should train himself

to abandon sexual intercourse.

Overcome by resolves,

he broods

like a miserable wretch.

Hearing the scorn of others,

he’s chagrined.

He makes weapons,

attacked by the words of others.

This, for him, is a great entanglement.

He

sinks

into lies.

They thought him wise

when he committed himself

to the life alone,

but now that he’s given

to sexual intercourse

they declare him a dullard.

Knowing these drawbacks, the sage

here—before & after—

stays firm in the life alone;

doesn’t resort to sexual intercourse;

would train himself

in seclusion—

this, for the noble,

is highest.

He wouldn’t, because of that,

suppose himself

to be better than others:

*He’s* on the verge

of unbinding.

People enmeshed

in sensual pleasures,

envy him:

a sage remote,

leading his life

unconcerned for sensual pleasures

—one who’s crossed over the flood.”

vv. 814–823

See also: [MN 22](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/mn-22/); [SN 1:20](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-1-20/); [AN 4:159](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-4-159/); [AN 5:75–76](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-5-75/); [AN 7:48](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-7-48/); [Ud 3:2](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/ud-3-2/)

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*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/StNp/StNp4%5F7.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) (Metta Forest Monastery).*