“Mendicants, anyone who enters the water should anticipate four dangers. What four? The dangers of waves, marsh crocodiles, whirlpools, and gharials.
These are the four dangers that anyone who enters the water should anticipate. In the same way, a gentleman who goes forth from the lay life to homelessness in this teaching and training should anticipate four dangers. What four? The dangers of waves, marsh crocodiles, whirlpools, and gharials.
And what, mendicants, is the danger of waves? It’s when a gentleman has gone forth from the lay life to homelessness, thinking: ‘I’m swamped by rebirth, old age, and death; by sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. I’m swamped by suffering, mired in suffering. Hopefully I can find an end to this entire mass of suffering.’ When they’ve gone forth, their spiritual companions advise and instruct them: ‘You should go out like this, and come back like that. You should look to the front like this, and to the side like that. You should contract your limbs like this, and extend them like that. This is how you should bear your outer robe, bowl, and robes.’ They think: ‘Formerly, as a lay person, I advised and instructed others. And now these mendicants—who you’d think were my children or grandchildren—imagine they can advise and instruct me!’ Angry and upset, they resign the training and return to a lesser life. This is called a mendicant who resigns the training and returns to a lesser life because they’re afraid of the danger of waves. ‘Danger of waves’ is a term for anger and distress. This is called the danger of waves.…
Read the entire translation of Aṅguttara Nikāya 4.122 Ūmibhayasutta: The Danger of Waves by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or listen on PaliAudio.com or SC-Voice.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.