[145] Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī, in the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍika's Park. Now on that occasion the Blessed One was seated in the open air in the thick darkness of the night, while oil lamps were burning. And on that occasion many moths were swooping down upon and falling around those oil lamps, meeting with misfortune, meeting with disaster, meeting with misfortune and disaster. The Blessed One saw those many moths swooping down upon and falling around those oil lamps, meeting with misfortune, meeting with disaster, meeting with misfortune and disaster.
Then the Blessed One, having understood this matter, on that occasion uttered this inspired utterance (udāna):
"They rush on past, they do not reach the essence;
new bond after new bond they make grow;
they fall, as moths fall into the lamp —
some who are entrenched thus in the seen and the heard."
The Ninth.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.