sn.5.9 Saṁyutta Nikāya (Linked Discourses)

Sela

At Savatthi. Then, in the morning, the bhikkhuni Sela 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 Sela, desiring to make her fall away from concentration, approached her and addressed her in verse:

By whom has this puppet been created?
Where is the maker of the puppet?
Where has the puppet arisen?
Where does the puppet cease?”

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

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

“This puppet is not made by itself,
Nor is this misery made by another.
It has come to be dependent on a cause;
With the cause’s breakup it will cease.

“As when a seed is sown in a field
It grows depending on a pair of factors:
It requires both the soil’s nutrients
And a steady supply of moisture:

“Just so the aggregates and elements,
And these six bases of sensory contact,
Have come to be dependent on a cause;
With the cause’s breakup they will cease.”

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

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

---

With Selā

Then Māra the Wicked, wanting to make the nun Selā feel fear, terror, and goosebumps …
At Sāvatthī.
Then the nun Selā robed up in the morning …
and sat at the root of a tree for the day’s meditation.
addressed her in verse:
“Who created this puppet?
Where is its maker?
Where has the puppet arisen?
And where does it cease?”
Then the nun Selā 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 Selā, knowing that this was Māra the Wicked, replied to him in verse:
“This puppet isn’t self-made,
nor is this misery made by another.
It comes to be because of a cause,
and ceases when the cause breaks up.
It’s like a seed that’s sown
in a field; it grows
relying on both the soil’s nutrients
as well as moisture.
In the same way the aggregates and elements
and these six sense fields
come to be because of a cause,
and cease when the cause breaks up.”
Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The nun Selā knows me!” miserable and sad, vanished right there.