[170] **"One would cross over clinging in the world" (tare loke visattikaṃ):** "clinging (visattikā)" is a term for craving (taṇhā) — that lust, passion … covetousness, greed, the unwholesome root.
**Visattikā:** in what sense is it "clinging" (visattikā)? It is spread about (visatā), thus it is visattikā. It is extensive (visālā), thus it is visattikā. It is diffused (visaṭā), thus it is visattikā. It clings on (visakkati), thus it is visattikā. It drags one away (visaṃharati), thus it is visattikā. It is deceptive (visaṃvādikā), thus it is visattikā. It has poison as its root (visamūlā), thus it is visattikā. It has poison as its fruit (visaphalā), thus it is visattikā. It has poison as its enjoyment (visaparibhogā), thus it is visattikā.
Or alternatively, that craving (taṇhā) is extensive — it is diffused and spread out over forms, sounds, odours, tastes, tangibles, family, group, dwelling, gain, fame, praise, happiness, robes, almsfood, lodging, and medicinal requisites for the sick; over the sense-sphere element, the form element, and the formless element; over sense-sphere existence, form existence, formless existence, percipient existence, non-percipient existence, neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient existence, one-constituent existence, four-constituent existence, and five-constituent existence; over the past, the future, and the present; and over dhammas seen, heard, sensed, and to be cognized — thus it is visattikā.
**"In the world" (loke):** in the world of the states of loss, the world of humans, the world of devas, the world of the aggregates (khandha), the world of the elements (dhātu), the world of the sense bases (āyatana).
**"One would cross over clinging in the world" (tare loke visattikaṃ):** that which is clinging in the world — possessed of mindfulness (sati), one would cross, cross over, cross beyond, transcend, and pass beyond that clinging in the world; thus, "one would cross over clinging in the world." Therefore the Blessed One said:
"I shall proclaim to you the Dhamma," (said the Blessed One to Mettagū,)
"visible in this very life, not based on hearsay,
having understood which, wandering mindful,
one would cross over clinging in the world."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.