[732] **"One should not be restless with the eyes" (cakkhūhi neva lolassa):** How is one restless with the eyes (cakkhulola)? Here someone is restless with the eyes, endowed with restlessness of the eyes. Thinking, "What has not been seen must be seen; what has been seen must be passed over," he dwells devoted to long journeys and to unsettled wandering — from park to park, from garden to garden, from village to village, from town to town, from city to city, from country to country, from district to district — for the sake of seeing forms. Thus too one is restless with the eyes.
Or else, having entered among the houses, walking along a street, he goes unrestrained: looking at an elephant, looking at a horse, looking at a chariot, looking at a foot-soldier, looking at women, looking at men, looking at boys, looking at girls, looking at the shops, looking at the house-fronts, looking up, looking down, he goes gazing about in the various directions. Thus too one is restless with the eyes.
Or else, having seen a form with the eye, he grasps at its signs (nimitta) and grasps at its features. Since, were he to dwell with the eye faculty unrestrained, evil, unwholesome states of covetousness and grief (abhijjhā-domanassa) might flow in upon him, yet he does not practise for its restraint; he does not guard the eye faculty; he does not undertake restraint with regard to the eye faculty. Thus too one is restless with the eyes.
Or just as some honorable ascetics and brahmins, having eaten food given in faith, dwell devoted to seeing such unsuitable shows (visūkadassana), that is: dancing, singing, instrumental music, theatrical shows, story-recitations, hand-clapping music, cymbal music (vetāḷa), drum music (kumbhathūna), fairy-scene displays (sobhanagaraka), acrobatic feats of caṇḍālas, bamboo-pole feats, washing rites (dhovana), elephant fights, horse fights, buffalo fights, bull fights, goat fights, ram fights, cock fights, quail fights, fighting with staves, fist-fighting, wrestling, sham fights, roll-calls, battle arrays, and reviews of troops — in such a way too one is restless with the eyes.
How is one not restless with the eyes? Here a bhikkhu, having entered among the houses, walking along a street, goes restrained: not looking at an elephant, not looking at a horse, not looking at a chariot, not looking at a foot-soldier, not looking at women, not looking at men, not looking at boys, not looking at girls, not looking at the shops, not looking at the house-fronts, not looking up, not looking down, he goes without gazing about in the various directions. Thus too one is not restless with the eyes.
Or else, a bhikkhu, having seen a form with the eye, does not grasp at its signs and does not grasp at its features. Since, were he to dwell with the eye faculty unrestrained, evil, unwholesome states of covetousness and grief might flow in upon him, he practises for its restraint; he guards the eye faculty; he undertakes restraint with regard to the eye faculty. Thus too one is not restless with the eyes.
Or just as some honorable ascetics and brahmins, having eaten food given in faith, dwell not devoted to such unsuitable shows, that is: dancing, singing, instrumental music, theatrical shows, story-recitations … reviews of troops — he is one who abstains from devotion to such unsuitable shows. Thus too one is not restless with the eyes.
**"One should not be restless with the eyes" (cakkhūhi neva lolassa):** one should abandon restlessness of the eyes, dispel it, make an end of it, bring it to non-existence; one should be aloof from restlessness of the eyes, abstaining, desisting, gone out from it, given it up, released from it, detached from it; one should dwell with a mind (citta) made free of boundaries. Therefore it is said: "One should not be restless with the eyes."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.