The Samyutta Nikaya
The Grouped Discourses
Samyutta Nikaya V.4
Vijaya Sutta
Sister Vijaya
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
At Savatthi. Then, early in the morning, Vijaya the nun
put on her robes and, taking her bowl & outer robe, went into Savatthi
for alms. When she had gone for alms in Savatthi and had returned from her
alms round, after her meal she went to the Grove of the Blind to spend the
day. Having gone deep into the Grove of the Blind, she sat down at the
foot of a tree for the day's abiding.
Then Mara the Evil One, wanting to arouse fear,
horripilation, & terror in her, wanting to make her fall away from
concentration, approached her & addressed her in verse:
You, a beautiful young woman.
I, a young man.
Come, my lady,
let's enjoy ourselves
to the music of a five-piece band.
Then the thought occurred to Vijaya the nun: "Now
who has recited this verse -- a human being or a non-human one?" Then
it occurred to her: "This is Mara the Evil One, who has recited this
verse wanting to arouse fear, horripilation, & terror in me, wanting
to make me fall away from concentration."
Then, having understood that "This is Mara the
Evil One," she replied to him in verses:
Lovely sights, sounds,
smells, tastes,
& tactile sensations
I leave to
you, Mara.
I
have no need
for them.
I'm disgusted, ashamed
of this putrid body --
disintegrating, dissolving.
Sensual craving
is rooted out.
Beings who have come to form,
& those with a share in the formless,
& the peaceful attainments:
their darkness
is completely destroyed.
Then Mara the Evil One -- sad & dejected at
realizing, "Vijaya the nun knows me" -- vanished right there.
Read an alternate translation by
Bhikkhu Bodhi
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