The Buddha describes the four uprisings of craving that can arise in a bhikkhu - 1) for a robe, 2) alms food, 3) lodging, and 4) for this or that state of existence.

The Buddha’s serene conduct on an alms round catches the attention of King Bimbisāra. In the ensuing encounter, the king offers him wealth and royal pleasures, but the Buddha shares his insight on the drawbacks in sensual pleasures, his view of renunciation as security and where his mind delights in.

The Buddha uses the simile of a bonfire to explain how perceiving gratification in objects that can be grasped at leads to clinging, to suffering, and how perceiving drawbacks in objects that can be grasped at leads to the cessation of clinging, to the end of suffering.

Using the simile of a great tree nourished by sap, the Buddha explains that perceiving gratification in graspable objects fuels craving and perpetuates suffering, whereas seeing their drawbacks leads to the cessation of craving and the end of suffering.

Before his awakening, the Buddha reflected on the gratification in the world, the drawback in it, and the escape from it.

The story of the lay disciple Soṇa Kuṭikaṇṇa, whose desire to become a monk gets tested by his teacher. He eventually journeys to meet the Buddha, who is inspired by his beautiful recitation and his reason for delaying ordination, praising one who sees the world’s drawbacks and chooses a harmless life.