sn.5.4 Saṁyutta Nikāya (Linked Discourses)

Vijaya

At Savatthi. Then, in the morning, the bhikkhuni Vijaya dressed … she sat down at the foot of a tree for the day’s abiding.

Then Mara the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in the bhikkhuni Vijaya, desiring to make her fall away from concentration, approached her and addressed her in verse:

“You are so young and beautiful,
And I too am a youth in my prime.
Come, noble lady, let us rejoice
With the music of a fivefold ensemble.”

Then it occurred to the bhikkhuni Vijaya: “Now who is this…? This is Mara the Evil One … desiring to make me fall away from concentration.”

Then the bhikkhuni Vijaya, having understood, “This is Mara the Evil One,” replied to him in verses:

“Forms, sounds, tastes, odours,
And delightful tactile objects—
I offer them right back to you,
For I, O Mara, do not need them.

“I am repelled and humiliated
By this foul, putrid body,
Subject to break up, fragile:
I’ve uprooted sensual craving.

“As to those beings who fare amidst form,
And those who abide in the formless,
And those peaceful attainments too:
Everywhere darkness has been destroyed.”

Then Mara the Evil One, realizing “The bhikkhuni Vijaya knows me,” sad and disappointed, disappeared right there.

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

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With Vijayā

At Sāvatthī.
Then the nun Vijayā robed up in the morning …
and sat at the root of a tree for the day’s meditation.
Then Māra the Wicked, wanting to make the nun Vijayā feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make her fall away from immersion, went up to her and addressed her in verse:
“You’re so young and beautiful,
and I’m a youth in my prime.
Come, my lady, let us enjoy
the music of a five-piece band.”
Then the nun Vijayā thought,
“Who’s speaking this verse, a human or a non-human?”
Then she thought,
“This is Māra the Wicked, wanting to make me feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make me fall away from immersion!”
Then Vijayā, knowing that this was Māra the Wicked, replied to him in verse:
“Sights, sounds, tastes, smells,
and touches so delightful.
I hand them right back to you, Māra,
for I have no use for them.
This body is foul,
decaying and frail.
I’m horrified and repelled by it,
and I’ve eradicated sensual craving.
There are beings in the realm of luminous form,
others established in the formless,
and also those peaceful attainments:
I’ve destroyed the darkness regarding all of them.”
Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The nun Vijayā knows me!” miserable and sad, vanished right there.