Mahānāradakassapajātaka

Suttapiṭaka · Khuddakanikāya · Jātaka (2) · Vol. 28 · Section 860

[860] But you, sire, are wise, a steadfast sage, skilled in the meaning (attha); how have you, like the fools, come to so base a view (diṭṭhi)? For if one is purified by the course of saṃsāra, then the going forth (pabbajjā) of Guṇa is useless: like an insect that flies into a blazing fire, he, confounded by delusion, comes to the state of nakedness. Settled beforehand in the conviction 'purification (suddhi) is by saṃsāra,' many, in their ignorance, disparage action (kamma); a matter wrongly grasped, like an unlucky throw (kali) taken up before, is hard to release — as a fish is hard to free from the hook.

English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.