sn.5.6 Saṁyutta Nikāya (Linked Discourses)

Cala

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

Then Mara the Evil One approached the bhikkhuni Cala and said to her: “What don’t you approve of, bhikkhuni?”

“I don’t approve of birth, friend.”

“Why don’t you approve of birth?
Once born, one enjoys sensual pleasures.
Who now has persuaded you of this:
‘Bhikkhuni, don’t approve of birth’?”

The bhikkhuni Cala:

“For one who is born there is death;
Once born, one encounters sufferings—
Bondage, murder, affliction—
Hence one shouldn’t approve of birth.

“The Buddha has taught the Dhamma,
The transcendence of birth;
For the abandoning of all suffering
He has settled me in the truth.

“As to those beings who fare amidst form,
And those who abide in the formless—
Not having understood cessation,
They come again to renewed existence.”

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

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

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With Cālā

At Sāvatthī.
Then the nun Cālā robed up in the morning …
and sat at the root of a tree for the day’s meditation.
Then Māra the Wicked went up to Cālā and said to her,
“Nun, what don’t you approve of?”
“I don’t approve of rebirth, sir.”
“Why don’t you approve of rebirth?
When you’re born, you get to enjoy sensual pleasures.
Who put this idea in your head:
‘Nun, don’t approve of rebirth’?”
“Death comes to those who are born,
when you’re born you undergo sufferings—
killing, caging, misery—
that’s why you shouldn’t approve of rebirth.
The Buddha taught me the Dhamma
for passing beyond rebirth,
for giving up all suffering;
he settled me in the truth.
There are beings in the realm of luminous form,
and others established in the formless.
Not understanding cessation,
they return in future lives.”
Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The nun Cālā knows me!” miserable and sad, vanished right there.