[292] "Bhikkhus, suppose there were a milk-sap tree — an assattha, a nigrodha, a milakkhu¹, or an udumbara — young, fresh, tender. If a man were to split it with a sharp axe at whatever spot, would milky sap come out?"
"Yes, venerable sir."
"Why is that?"
"Because, venerable sir, the milky sap is present."
"So too, bhikkhus, in the case of any bhikkhu or bhikkhunī: regarding forms cognizable by the eye, the lust (rāga) that is there is present, the hatred that is there is present, the delusion that is there is present; that lust is unabandoned, that hatred is unabandoned, that delusion is unabandoned — then even trifling forms cognizable by the eye, coming into the range of the eye, overwhelm their mind (citta). What, then, to say of prominent ones? Why is that? Bhikkhus, because the lust that is there is present, the hatred that is there is present, the delusion that is there is present; that lust is unabandoned, that hatred is unabandoned, that delusion is unabandoned. … In the case of any bhikkhu or bhikkhunī, bhikkhus, regarding tastes cognizable by the tongue, the lust that is there is present … In the case of any bhikkhu or bhikkhunī, bhikkhus, regarding mental phenomena (dhammas) cognizable by the mind, the lust that is there is present, the hatred that is there is present, the delusion that is there is present; that lust is unabandoned, that hatred is unabandoned, that delusion is unabandoned — then even trifling dhammas cognizable by the mind, coming into the range of the mind, overwhelm their mind. What, then, to say of prominent ones? Why is that? Because the lust that is there is present, the hatred that is there is present, the delusion that is there is present; that lust is unabandoned, that hatred is unabandoned, that delusion is unabandoned."
¹ Pali footnote: M. and Yu. editions read *pilakkha* (so throughout); also *kuṭhāriyā* for *kudhāriyā* and *ābhindeyya* for *bhindeyya*.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.