The Samyutta Nikaya
The Grouped Discourses
Samyutta Nikaya V.9
Sela Sutta
Sister Sela
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
At Savatthi. Then, early in the morning, Sela 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:
By whom was this doll
created?
Where is the doll's maker?
Where has the doll originated?
Where does it cease?
Then the thought occurred to Sela 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:
This doll isn't self-made,
nor is this misery made by another.[1]
In dependence on a cause
it comes into play.
With the dissolution of the cause
it ceases.
Just as a seed grows
-- when planted in a field --
because of the soil's savor
together with moisture;
in the same way, these
aggregates,
properties,
sense media
-- in dependence on a cause --
come into play.
With the dissolution of the cause
they cease.
Then Mara the Evil One -- sad & dejected at
realizing, "Sela the nun knows me" -- vanished right there.
Note
1. Alternative reading:
This doll, this misery,
isn't created.
[Go back]
Read an alternate
translation by Bhikkhu Bodhi
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