332. Sweet it is to be a mother, sweet the lot of fatherhood, Sweet the life of holy hermits, sweet the life of Brāhmans good. 333. Sweet is growing old in goodness, sweet is faith established, Sweet to gain the prize of wisdom when desire for sin is dead. [1] _Nibbāna._ [2] A favourite beast of the king of Benares. The elephant, to the East, typifies wisdom, strength and endurance. The Buddha is called _Mahā-nāga_, "mighty elephant"; The _nāga-grove_ is _Nibbāna_. Those who wander in the jungle are those still bound by the fetters of rebirth. [3] Cf. verse 61. CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. CRAVING. 334. Even as a creeper groweth, Creatures that are indolent Find their craving ever grow; Like a monkey in the forest Seeking fruit from bough to bough, So they wander to and fro.[1] 335. He who yields to sordid craving That thro' all the world doth go, Like the gadding vine that spreadeth, That man's sorrows ever grow. 336. He who quiets sordid craving, Hard in this world to allay, Like the dewdrop from the lotus, All his sorrows fall away. 337. Lo! to all of ye assembled This the good advice I tell: "Dig ye up the root of craving, As men dig the scented grass. Let not Death so oft assail ye, Even as the rushing torrent O'er the river reeds doth pass." 338. If the root be still uninjured, Trees cut down will spring again; If the root of craving liveth, Still there is rebirth of pain. 339. When the six and thirty currents[2] Bring one under pleasure's sway, Thoughts, like waves, with passion surging. Sweep him all confused away. 340. Everywhere those streams are flowing; Now the creeper of desire Plants its roots and standeth fast; Cut it ere it riseth higher, Cut it with the axe of wisdom, Root the creeper up at last. 341. Restless, wanton is men's craving; They who wander to and fro In the restless search for pleasure Birth and death must undergo. 342. They who in the trap of craving, Like a hare run to and fro, By the fetters' bonds entangled, Long must sorrow undergo. 343. Beings, in the trap of craving Like a hare run to and fro: Mendicants who hope for freedom Must their passions all forego. 344. Whoso, free from human passions, Junglewards to run is fain;[3] Who, from lust emancipated, To his lust runs back again; Lo! the man infatuated Plunges into bonds of pain. 345. Not by ties of wood or iron Nor of rope (the wise men say) Are men held in bondage strong; But for jewels, wives and children, They who passionately crave, They are held in bondage long. 346. But the downward-dragging chain, Yielding, hard to loose again-- This is bondage real (they say): Who this chain of craving breaks, Free from lust, the world forsakes.