8. The Agreeable

Thus have I heard: 

At one time, the Buddha was dwelling in the country of Śrāvasti, at Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada's Park. 

At that time, the Bhagavān addressed the bhikṣus: "There are three dharmas that are very agreeable, and which people of the world crave. What are the three? They are youth, which is very agreeable, and which people of the world crave; freedom from disease, which is very agreeable, and which people of the world crave; and longevity, which is very agreeable, and which people of the world crave. These, O bhikṣus, are the three dharmas, which are very agreeable, and which people of the world crave. 

"Further, O bhikṣus, although there are these three dharmas, which are very agreeable, and which people of the world crave, there are yet three other dharmas which are not agreeable, and which people of the world do not crave. What are the three? Although there is youth, ageing is a certainty, which is not agreeable, and which people of the world do not crave. O ⁠bhikṣus, you should know that although there is freedom from sickness, sickness is a certainty, which is not agreeable, and which people of the world do not crave. O ⁠bhikṣus, you should know that although there is longevity, death is a certainty, which is not agreeable, and which people of the world do not crave. Therefore, O bhikṣus, even if one is youthful, one should seek the ageless, which is the nirvāṇa-realm; although there is freedom from sickness, one should seek the means to be free from sickness; and although there is longevity, one should seek the means to be free from the end of life. Thus, O ⁠bhikṣus, you should train thus." 

At that time, the bhikṣus, having heard what the Buddha had taught, gladly accepted and joyfully practised it.