Aṇguttara Nikāya
VIII. Aṭṭhaka Nipāta
II: Mahā Vagga
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Eights
II. The Great Chapter
Suttas 17-18
Purisa-Bandhana Suttaṃ and Itthi-Bandhana Suttaṃ
Translated from the Pali by E.M. Hare.
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Sutta 17
Purisa-Bandhana Suttaṃ
A Woman's Toils
[17.1][olds][bodh] Thus have I heard:
Once the Exalted One was dwelling near Sāvatthī,
at Jeta Grove,
in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
There the Exalted One addressed the monks, saying:
"Monks."
"Yes, lord," they replied, and the Exalted One said:
"Monks, a woman enslaves a man in eight ways.
What eight?
A woman enslaves a man by appearance,
by laughter,
by speech,
by song,
by tears,
by attire,
by garlands from the forest[1]
and by touch.
Monks, in these eight ways a woman enslaves a man,
and beings caught by these
are verily caught as though in a snare.'
§
Sutta 18
Itthi-Bandhana suttaṃ
A Man's Hold
[18.1][olds][bodh] Thus have I heard:
Once the Exalted One was dwelling near Sāvatthī,
at Jeta Grove,
in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
There the Exalted One addressed the monks, saying:
"Monks."
"Yes, lord," they replied, and the Exalted One said:
[ed1]'Monks, a man enslaves a woman in eight ways.
What eight?
A man enslaves a woman by appearance,
by laughter,
by speech,
by song,
by tears,
by attire,
by garlands from the forest
and by touch.
Monks, in these eight ways a man enslaves a woman,
and beings caught by these
are verily caught as though in a snare.'
Bhaṇga. Numerous slang terms for cannibis are common words for other similar things: 'weed', 'tea', 'herb', so here the reverse may apply. Today 'bhanga' would not be understood as "flowers": 'wild cannibis blooms' = "forest flowers". On the other hand there is a considerable body of anecdotal evidence that cannibis flowers are and have always been used to enhanse sexual pleasure. PED: "Bhanga1 (nt.) [cp. Sanskrit bhanga, which occurs already Atharva-veda XI. 6. 15 (see Zimmer. Altind. Leben 68), also Av. baṃha, Polish pienka hemp. On its possible etymology connection with Vedic shaṇa (Ath. Veda II. 4. 5) = Pāli saṇa and sāṇa hemp ( = Gr. κάνναβις, Ger. hanf, E. hemp) see Walde, Latin Wtb. s. v. cannabis] hemp..."
— p.p.
[1] Vana-bhaṇgena. Comy. By presents of flowers and fruit, etc., from forests. See below, p. 291, n. 2, on bhaṇga.
[ed1] Hare abbreviates with the note: (Repeat sutta 17, with changes for a man.) Here the sutta is reconstructed per his instructions. This however completely misses the double meanings of the words used for which see the Olds translation.
