[149] 3. 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 people in Sāvatthī were for the most part attached beyond measure to sensual pleasures (kāma); lustful, greedy, tied, infatuated, blindly absorbed, grown utterly besotted, they dwelt among sensual pleasures.
Then, in the morning, a number of bhikkhus dressed, and taking their bowls and robes, entered Sāvatthī for almsfood. Having walked for almsfood in Sāvatthī, after the meal, when they had returned from the alms round, they 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, the people in Sāvatthī are for the most part attached beyond measure to sensual pleasures; lustful, greedy, tied, infatuated, blindly absorbed, grown utterly besotted, they dwell among sensual pleasures."
Then the Blessed One, having understood the meaning of this, on that occasion uttered this inspired utterance (udāna):
"Attached to sensual pleasures, attached to the tie (saṅga) of sensual pleasures,
seeing no fault in the fetter (saṃyojana) —
never indeed could those attached to the tie of the fetter
cross over the flood (ogha), so vast and great."
The third.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.