[55] On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī, in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's Park. Now on that occasion a mother and son had both entered the rains residence at Sāvatthī, as a bhikkhu and a bhikkhunī. They desired to see one another often: the mother desired to see her son often, and the son desired to see his mother often. From their seeing one another often, bonding arose; when there was bonding, intimacy arose; when there was intimacy, an opening arose. With minds overcome, without having renounced the training and without having disclosed their weakness, they engaged in sexual intercourse.
Then a number of bhikkhus approached the Blessed One; having approached and paid homage to the Blessed One, they sat down to one side. Sitting to one side, those bhikkhus said this to the Blessed One: "Here, venerable sir, a mother and son had both entered the rains residence at Sāvatthī, as a bhikkhu and a bhikkhunī. They desired to see one another often: the mother desired to see her son often, and the son desired to see his mother often. From their seeing one another often, bonding arose; when there was bonding, intimacy arose; when there was intimacy, an opening arose. With minds overcome, without having renounced the training and without having disclosed their weakness, they engaged in sexual intercourse."
"What, bhikkhus, does that foolish man think—that a mother does not lust after her son, or a son after his mother? Bhikkhus, I do not see even one other form so enticing, so desirable, so intoxicating, so binding, so infatuating, so obstructive to the attainment of the unsurpassed security from bondage (yogakkhema), as the form of a woman. Bhikkhus, beings who are lustful, greedy, tied, infatuated, and engrossed in the form of a woman sorrow for a long time, having come under the control of a woman's form. Bhikkhus, I do not see even one other sound … even one other odour … even one other taste … even one other touch so enticing, so desirable, so intoxicating, so binding, so infatuating, so obstructive to the attainment of the unsurpassed security from bondage, as the touch of a woman. Bhikkhus, beings who are lustful, greedy, tied, infatuated, and engrossed in the touch of a woman sorrow for a long time, having come under the control of a woman's touch.
"Bhikkhus, a woman, even while walking, overwhelms a man's mind (citta) and remains there; while standing … while sitting, while lying down, while reclining, while laughing, while speaking, while singing, while weeping, even when bloated, even when dead, she overwhelms a man's mind and remains there. Bhikkhus, if one speaking rightly could say of anything, 'It is entirely a snare of Māra,' it is precisely of womankind that one speaking rightly could say, 'It is entirely a snare of Māra.'
"One might converse with a man with sword in hand,
one might converse even with a demon,
one might even sit close to a poisonous snake
whose bite means death,
but never should one, alone, converse with a woman alone.
"They bind one whose mindfulness has lapsed
with a glance and with a smile,
and also with disordered dress
and with honeyed speech.
This person is not safe to approach,
even when bloated and dead.
"These five strands of sensual pleasure
are seen in a woman's form:
forms, sounds, tastes, odours,
and touches delighting the mind.
"Those swept along by the flood of sensuality,
not fully understanding sensual pleasures,
are consigned to time, to destination,
to existence upon existence in saṃsāra.
"But those who, having fully understood sensual pleasures,
live on with no fear from any quarter—
they indeed have gone beyond in the world,
those who have attained the destruction of the taints (āsava)."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.