Somāsutta

Sāvatthinidānaṁ. Atha kho somā 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 somāya bhikkhuniyā bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo yena somā bhikkhunī tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā somaṁ bhikkhuniṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

At Sāvatthī. Then the nun Somā 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 Somā feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make her fall away from immersion, went up to her and addressed her in verse:

“Yaṁ taṁ isīhi pattabbaṁ, ṭhānaṁ durabhisambhavaṁ; Na taṁ dvaṅgulapaññāya, sakkā pappotumitthiyā”ti.

“That state’s very challenging; it’s for the sages to attain. With her two-inch wisdom, it’s not possible for a woman.”

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

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

“Itthibhāvo kiṁ kayirā, cittamhi susamāhite; Ñāṇamhi vattamānamhi, sammā dhammaṁ vipassato.

“What difference does womanhood make when the mind is serene, and knowledge is present as you rightly discern the Dhamma.

Yassa nūna siyā evaṁ, Itthāhaṁ purisoti vā; Kiñci vā pana aññasmi, Taṁ māro vattumarahatī”ti.

Surely someone who might think: ‘I am woman’, or ‘I am man’, or ‘I am’ anything at all, is fit for Māra to address.”

Atha kho māro pāpimā “jānāti maṁ somā bhikkhunī”ti dukkhī dummano tatthevantaradhāyīti.

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