This episode is the 22nd sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya: the Alagaddūpama sutta which is known as the “simile of the snake”. In this teaching one of the monks denies that breaking the rules of conduct is really a problem. The monks go to great lengths to persuade him to change his views. Then the Buddha compares someone who understands only the letter of the teachings to someone who grabs a snake by the tail, and also invokes the famous simile of the raft.
This translation of the Alagaddūpama Sutta is by Bhikkhu Sujato and was sourced from Sutta Central.
If you’d like to hear commentary on this teaching, you can listen to Ajahn Brahm discussing this sutta.
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