Vajirāsutta

Sāvatthinidānaṁ. Atha kho vajirā bhikkhunī pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā pattacīvaramādāya sāvatthiṁ piṇḍāya pāvisi. Sāvatthiyaṁ piṇḍāya caritvā pacchābhattaṁ piṇḍapātapaṭikkantā yena andhavanaṁ tenupasaṅkami divāvihārāya. Andhavanaṁ ajjhogāhetvā aññatarasmiṁ rukkhamūle divāvihāraṁ nisīdi. Atha kho māro pāpimā vajirāya bhikkhuniyā bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo yena vajirā bhikkhunī tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā vajiraṁ bhikkhuniṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

At Sāvatthī. Then the nun Vajirā robed up in the morning and, taking her bowl and robe, entered Sāvatthī for alms. She wandered for alms in Sāvatthī. After the meal, on her return from almsround, she went to the Dark Forest for the day’s meditation, plunged deep into it, and sat at the root of a tree to meditate. Then Māra the Wicked, wanting to make the nun Vajirā feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make her fall away from immersion, went up to her and addressed her in verse:

“Kenāyaṁ pakato satto, kuvaṁ sattassa kārako; Kuvaṁ satto samuppanno, kuvaṁ satto nirujjhatī”ti.

“Who created this sentient being? Where is its maker? Where has the being arisen? And where does it cease?”

Atha kho vajirāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi: “ko nu khvāyaṁ manusso vā amanusso vā gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti? Atha kho vajirāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi: “māro kho ayaṁ pāpimā mama bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti. Atha kho vajirā bhikkhunī “māro ayaṁ pāpimā” iti viditvā, māraṁ pāpimantaṁ gāthāhi paccabhāsi:

Then the nun Vajirā 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 Vajirā, knowing that this was Māra the Wicked, replied to him in verse:

“Kiṁ nu sattoti paccesi, māra diṭṭhigataṁ nu te; Suddhasaṅkhārapuñjoyaṁ, nayidha sattupalabbhati.

“Why do you believe there’s such a thing as a <j>‘sentient being’? Māra, is this your theory? This is just a pile of conditions, you won’t find a sentient being here.

Yathā hi aṅgasambhārā, hoti saddo ratho iti; Evaṁ khandhesu santesu, hoti sattoti sammuti.

When the parts are assembled we use the word ‘chariot’. So too, when the aggregates are present ‘sentient being’ is the convention we use.

Dukkhameva hi sambhoti, dukkhaṁ tiṭṭhati veti ca; Nāññatra dukkhā sambhoti, nāññaṁ dukkhā nirujjhatī”ti.

But it’s only suffering that comes to be, lasts a while, then expires. Naught but suffering comes to be, naught but suffering ceases.”

Atha kho māro pāpimā “jānāti maṁ vajirā bhikkhunī”ti dukkhī dummano tatthevantaradhāyīti. Bhikkhunīvaggo paṭhamo.

Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The nun Vajirā knows me!” miserable and sad, vanished right there.

Āḷavikā ca somā ca, Gotamī vijayā saha; Uppalavaṇṇā ca cālā, Upacālā sīsupacālā ca; Selā vajirāya te dasāti. Bhikkhunīsaṁyuttaṁ samattaṁ.

The Linked Discourses on Nuns are complete.