The Bliss of Nibbana
"Is nibbāna entirely blissful or is it partly painful?"
"It is entirely blissful."
"But that I cannot accept. Those who seek it have to practise austerity and exertion of body and mind, abstention from food at the wrong time, suppression of sleep, restraint of the senses, and they have to give up wealth, family, and friends. They are blissful who enjoy the pleasures of the senses, but you restrain and prevent such pleasures and so experience physical and mental discomfort and pain."
"O king, nibbāna has no pain; what you call pain is not nibbāna. It is true that those who seek nibbāna experience pain and discomfort, but afterwards they experience the unalloyed bliss of nibbāna. I will tell you a reason for that. Is there, O king, such a thing as the bliss of the sovereignty of kings?"
"Yes there is."
"Is it mixed with pain?"
"No."
"But why is it then, O king, that when the frontier provinces have revolted, kings have to set out from their palaces and march over uneven ground, tormented by mosquitoes and hot winds, and engage in fierce battles at the risk of their lives?"
"That, venerable Nagasena, is not the bliss of sovereignty. It is only the preliminary stage in the pursuit of that bliss. It is after they have won it that they enjoy the bliss of sovereignty. That bliss, Nagasena, is not mixed with pain."
"Just so, O king, nibbāna is unalloyed bliss and there is no pain mixed in it."
