[516] "Bhikkhus, what is the undertaking of things (dhammasamādāna) that is pleasant in the present but has suffering (dukkha) as its ripening in the future? Bhikkhus, there are some ascetics and brahmins whose doctrine is thus, whose view is thus: 'There is no fault in sensual pleasures (kāma).' They plunge into indulgence in sensual pleasures. They amuse themselves with female wanderers who wear their hair bound in topknots, and they say: 'What future danger, indeed, do those honorable ascetics and brahmins see in sensual pleasures, that they speak of the abandoning of sensual pleasures and declare the full understanding (pariññā) of sensual pleasures? Pleasant is the touch of this female wanderer's arm — young, soft, and downy!' And so they plunge into indulgence in sensual pleasures. Having plunged into indulgence in sensual pleasures, with the breaking up of the body, after death, they reappear in a state of deprivation, a bad destination, perdition, hell. There they feel painful, piercing, bitter feelings (vedanā), and they say: 'This indeed is that future danger which those honorable ascetics and brahmins, seeing in sensual pleasures, spoke of the abandoning of sensual pleasures and declared the full understanding of sensual pleasures; for it is with sensual pleasure as cause, with sensual pleasure as source, that we feel these painful, piercing, bitter feelings.' Suppose, bhikkhus, in the last month of the hot season a pod of the māluvā creeper were to burst open, and then, bhikkhus, that māluvā seed were to fall at the root of a certain sāla tree. Then, bhikkhus, the deity dwelling in that sāla tree, frightened and agitated, would fall into trembling. Then, bhikkhus, the friends and companions, kinsmen and blood relations of the deity dwelling in that sāla tree — park deities, forest deities, tree deities, and deities dwelling in herbs, grasses, and lords of the forest — gathering and assembling together, would console it thus: 'Fear not, good sir; fear not, good sir. Perhaps a peacock will swallow that māluvā seed, or a deer will devour it, or a forest fire will burn it, or woodsmen will remove it, or termites will consume it; or it may not even be fertile.' But then, bhikkhus, no peacock would swallow that māluvā seed, no deer would devour it, no forest fire would burn it, no woodsmen would remove it, no termites would consume it — and it would indeed be fertile. Rained upon by a monsoon cloud, it would duly sprout; and it would become a māluvā creeper — young, soft, downy, and trailing — and it would cling close to that sāla tree. Then, bhikkhus, it would occur to the deity dwelling in that sāla tree: 'What future danger, indeed, did those honorable friends and companions, kinsmen and blood relations — park deities, forest deities, tree deities, and deities dwelling in herbs, grasses, and lords of the forest — see in the māluvā seed, that, gathering and assembling together, they consoled me thus: "Fear not, good sir; fear not, good sir. Perhaps a peacock will swallow that māluvā seed, or a deer will devour it, or a forest fire will burn it, or woodsmen will remove it, or termites will consume it; or it may not even be fertile"? Pleasant is the touch of this māluvā creeper — young, soft, downy, and trailing!' Then that creeper would envelop the sāla tree; having enveloped the sāla tree, having formed a canopy above it and sent down a dense trailing mass, it would split apart each of the great trunks of that sāla tree. Then, bhikkhus, it would occur to the deity dwelling in that sāla tree: 'This indeed is that future danger which those honorable friends and companions, kinsmen and blood relations — park deities, forest deities, tree deities, and deities dwelling in herbs, grasses, and lords of the forest — saw in the māluvā seed, on account of which, gathering and assembling together, they consoled me thus: "Fear not, good sir; fear not, good sir. Perhaps a peacock will swallow that māluvā seed, or a deer will devour it, or a forest fire will burn it, or woodsmen will remove it, or termites will consume it; or it may not even be fertile." For it is because of that māluvā seed that I now feel painful, piercing, bitter feelings.' Just so, bhikkhus, there are some ascetics and brahmins whose doctrine is thus, whose view is thus: 'There is no fault in sensual pleasures.' They plunge into indulgence in sensual pleasures. They amuse themselves with female wanderers who wear their hair bound in topknots, and they say: 'What future danger, indeed, do those honorable ascetics and brahmins see in sensual pleasures, that they speak of the abandoning of sensual pleasures and declare the full understanding of sensual pleasures? Pleasant is the touch of this female wanderer's arm — young, soft, and downy!' And so they plunge into indulgence in sensual pleasures. Having plunged into indulgence in sensual pleasures, with the breaking up of the body, after death, they reappear in a state of deprivation, a bad destination, perdition, hell. There they feel painful, piercing, bitter feelings, and there they say: 'This indeed is that future danger which those honorable ascetics and brahmins, seeing in sensual pleasures, spoke of the abandoning of sensual pleasures and declared the full understanding of sensual pleasures; for it is with sensual pleasure as cause, with sensual pleasure as source, that we feel these painful, piercing, bitter feelings.' This, bhikkhus, is called the undertaking of things that is pleasant in the present but has suffering as its ripening in the future.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.