A Charnel Ground

“Mendicants, there are these five drawbacks to a charnel ground. What five? It’s filthy, stinking, frightening, a gathering place for savage monsters, and a weeping place for many people. These are the five drawbacks of a charnel ground.

In the same way there are five drawbacks of a person like a charnel ground. What five? To start with, some person has filthy conduct by way of body, speech, and mind. This is how they’re filthy, I say. That person is just as filthy as a charnel ground.

Because of their filthy conduct, they get a bad reputation. This is how they’re stinky, I say. That person is just as stinky as a charnel ground.

Because of their filthy conduct, good-hearted spiritual companions avoid them from afar. That’s how they’re frightening, I say. That person is just as frightening as a charnel ground.

Because of their filthy conduct, they live together with people of a similar character. This is how they gather with savage monsters, I say. That person is just as much a gathering place of savage monsters as a charnel ground.

Because of their filthy conduct, when good-hearted spiritual companions see them they complain: ‘Oh, it’s so painful for us to have to live together with such as these.’ This is how there’s weeping, I say. This person is just as much a weeping place for many people as a charnel ground These are the five drawbacks of a person like a charnel ground.”