Paṭhamasattasutta
Thus have I heard—once, the Blessed One was staying in Savatthi, at Jetavana, Anathapindika’s monastery. At that time, the majority of people in Savatthi were overly attached to sensual pleasures, engrossed, greedy, entangled, infatuated, and immersed in them, behaving as if drunk and insane.
Then, several monks, after dressing in the morning and taking their bowls and robes, entered Savatthi for alms. After wandering for alms in Savatthi and after their meal, they approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, and sat on one side. Seated there, those monks said to the Blessed One: “Here, venerable sir, the people of Savatthi are mostly overly attached to sensual pleasures, engrossed, greedy, entangled, infatuated, and immersed in them.”
Knowing the situation, the Blessed One then uttered this exclamation:
“Bound to pleasures, entangled in sensual pleasure,
Not seeing the danger in attachments;
Indeed, those bound to the attachment, to entanglement,
Would not cross over the vast, great flood.”
This teaching is lightly touching on the danger of sensual pleasures. The great flood is a reference to ignorance (avijjā) which results in a continued cycle of rebirth, aging, and death.
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