{"collection":"Buddhism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bud/pos/pos22.htm","path":"bud/pos/pos22.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bud/pos/pos22.htm","text":"THUS have I heard. The Exalted One was once staying at S\u0101vatth\u012b, in the Jeta Grove, the park of An\u0101thapi\u1e47\u1e0dika. Now \u0100\u1e37avik\u0101 the Bhikkhun\u012b dressed herself early and, taking bowl and robe, entered S\u0101vatth\u012b for food. And when she had gone about S\u0101vatth\u012b for it, had broken her fast and returned, she entered the Dark Wood, seeking solitude.\nThen M\u0101ra the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear, wavering, and dread in her, desiring to make her desist from being alone, went up to her, and addressed her in a verse:\n| 'Ne'er shalt thou find escape while in the world. What profiteth thee then thy loneliness? Take the good things of life while yet thou may'st, Repentance else too late awaiteth thee.' | \nThen \u0100\u1e37avik\u0101 thought: 'Who now is this, human or non-human, that speaketh this verse? Sure 'tis M\u0101ra the Evil One speaketh it, desirous to arouse in me fear, wavering and dread, desirous to make me desist from my solitude.' And Bhikkhun\u012b \u0100\u1e37avik\u0101, knowing that 'twas he, replied with a verse:\n| 'There is escape while in the world, and I Have well attained thereto by insight won. Thou evil limb of loafing! 455 'tis not thine To know that bourne, or how it may be reached. Like spears and jav'lins are the joys of sense, That pierce and rend the mortal frames of us. These that thou callest \"the good things of life,\" Good of that ilk to me is nothing worth.' | \nThen M\u0101ra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun\u012b \u0100\u1e37avik\u0101 knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.\n. . . . . 457 Now Som\u0101 . . . . . entered the Dark Wood for siesta, and, plunging into its depths, sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.\nThen M\u0101ra the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear, wavering, and dread in her, desiring to make her desist from concentrated thought, went up to her, and addressed her in a verse:\n| 'That vantage-ground the sages may attain is hard To reach. With her two-finger consciousness That is no woman competent to gain!' | \nThen Som\u0101 thought . . . . . 'Sure 'tis M\u0101ra!'. . . . and replied with verses:\n| 'What should the woman's nature do to them 458 Whose hearts are firmly set, who ever move With growing knowledge onward in the Path? What can that signify to one in whom Insight doth truly comprehend the Norm? To one for whom the question doth arise: Am I a woman in these matters, or Am I a man, or what not am I, then? To such an one is M\u0101ra fit to talk!' | \nThen M\u0101ra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun\u012b Som\u0101 knows me,' vanished thence, sad and dejected.\n. . . . . Now the Lean Gotamid . . . . . entered the Dark Wood for siesta, and, plunging into its depths, sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta. Then M\u0101ra . . . . . went up to her, and addressed her in a verse:\n| 'How now? Dost sit alone with tearful face As mother stricken by the loss of child? Thou who hast plunged into the woods alone, Is it a man that thou hast come to seek?' | \nThen the Lean Gotamid thought . . . . . 'Sure 'tis M\u0101ra!' . . . . . and replied with verses:\n| 'Ay, ever am I she whose child is lost! 460 And for the seeking, there are men at hand. I do not grieve, I am not shedding tears, And as for thee, good sir, I fear thee not. Slain everywhere is love of worldly joys, And the thick gloom of ignorance is rent in twain. Defeating all the army of the power of death, I here abide purged of the poison-drugs.' 461 | \nThen M\u0101ra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun\u012b Gotam\u012b knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.\n. . . . . Now Bhikkhun\u012b Vijay\u0101 . . . . . sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.\nThen M\u0101ra . . . . . addressed her in a verse: 463\n| 'A maiden thou and beautiful\u2013and I So young a lad! Now where to fivefold art 464 Of sounds melodious we may list, O come, Lady, and let us take our fill of joy!' | \nThen Bhikkhun\u012b Vijay\u0101 thought . . . . . 'Sure 'tis M\u0101ra!' . . . . . and . . . . . replied with verses:\n| 'Sights, sounds and tastes and smells and things to touch, Wherein the mind delights, I leave them all To thee, M\u0101ra; for such no mind have I! This body vile, this brittle, crumbling thing, Doth touch me only with distress and shame. Craving for joys of sense is rooted out. They who have come to worlds of form, and they Who dwell where form is not, and that perfect Attainment which is peace 465 \u2013from all, From everywhere, the darkness is dispelled.' | \nThen M\u0101ra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun\u012b Vijay\u0101 knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.\n. . . . . Now, Bhikkhun\u012b Uppalava\u1e47\u1e47\u0101 . . . . . entered the Dark Wood for siesta, and, plunging into its depths, halted at the root of a certain s\u0101la-tree in full blossom.\nThen M\u0101ra . . . . . addressed her in a verse:\n| 'Thou that art come where over thee crown\u00e8d with blossom [Waveth] the s\u0101l-tree, Sister, and standest alone in the shade of it, No one like thee could hither come rival to beauty as thine is! Fearest thou not, O foolish maiden, the wiles of seducers?' 466 | \nThen Bhikkhun\u012b Uppalava\u1e47\u1e47\u0101 thought . . . . . 'Sure 'tis M\u0101ra!' . . . . . and . . . . . replied with verses:\n| 'Were there an hundred thousand seducers e'en such as thou art, Ne'er would I tremble affrighted thereat, or turn a hair of me. M\u0101ra, I fear not thee, all lonely though I be standing. Here though I stand, I vanish, or enter into thy body. See! 'twixt thine eyelashes hide, standing where thou canst not see me. For all my mind is wholly self-controlled, And the Four Paths to Potency are thoroughly learnt. Yea, I am free from all the Bonds there be. In sooth, good sir, no fear have I of thee!' | \nThen M\u0101ra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun\u012b Uppalava\u1e47\u1e47\u0101 knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.\n. . . . . Now, Bhikkhun\u012b C\u0101l\u0101 . . . . . sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.\nThen M\u0101ra the Evil One went up to her, and spoke thus to her: 'Wherein, O Sister, dost thou find no pleasure?'\n'In birth, 468 good sir, I find no pleasure.'\n'Why findest thou no pleasure in birth? Once born, one enjoys the pleasures of a life of sense. Who hath put this into thy mind\u2013\"Find no pleasure in birth\"\u2013Sister?'\n| 'Once born, we die. Once born, we see life's Ills\u2013 The bonds, the torments, and the life cut off. 469 The Buddha hath revealed the Norm to us\u2013 How we may get beyond the power of birth, How we may put an end to every Ill. 'Tis He hath guided me into the True. They who have come to worlds of Form, and they Who in those worlds abide where Form is not, An they know not how they may end it all, Are goers, all of them, again to birth. 470 | \nThen M\u0101ra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun\u012b C\u0101l\u0101 knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.\n. . . . . Now, Bhikkhun\u012b Upac\u0101l\u0101 . . . . . sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.\nThen M\u0101ra the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear . . . . . to make her desist from concentrated thought, went up to her, and spoke thus to her:\n| 'Where, Sister, dost thou wish to rise again?' 'Nowhere, good sir, I wish to rise again.' 'Now, think upon the Three-and-Thirty gods, And on the gods who rule in realm of Shades, On those who reign in Heaven of Bliss, and on Those higher deities who live where life Yet flows by way of sense and of desire\u2013 Think, and thither aspire with longing heart, The bliss of each in turn shall then be thine.' Upac\u0101l\u0101. Ay, think upon the Three-and-Thirty gods, And on the gods who rule in realm of Shades, On those who reign in Heaven of Bliss, and on Those higher deities who live where life Yet flows by way of sense and of desire! They all are bound by bonds of sense-desire, Hence come they evermore 'neath M\u0101ra's sway. On fire is all the world, is wrapt in smoke. 472 Ablaze is all the world, the heav'ns do quake! But that which quaketh not, influctuate, 473 Untrodden by the average worldling's feet, Where M\u0101ra cometh not nor hath way-gate\u2013 There doth my heart abide in blest retreat.' 474 | \nThen M\u0101ra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun\u012b Upac\u0101l\u0101 knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.\n. . . . . Now, Bhikkhun\u012b S\u012bsupac\u0101l\u0101 . . . . . sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.\nThen M\u0101ra the Evil One went up to her, and spoke to her thus: 'Of whose shibboleth, Sister, dost thou approve?' 'I approve of no one's shibboleth, good sir.'\n| 'Why now and whereto art thou seen thus garbed And shaven like a nun, yet dost not join Ascetics of some sort and shibboleth? What, futile and infatuate, is thy quest?' ''Tis they that are without, caught in the net Of the vain shibboleths in which they trust\u2013 Their's is the doctrine I cannot approve. 'Tis they that lack acquaintance with the Norm. 'Lo! in the princely S\u0101kiya clan is born A Buddha peerless 'mong the sons of men, Who all hath overcome, before whose face M\u0101ra doth flee away, who everywhere Unconquered stands, He that is wholly freed And fetterless, the Seer who seeth all, For whom all karma is destroyed, who in The perishing of every germ that birth Once more engenders, is at liberty. This the Exalted One, my Master and my Lord: His doctrine, His the word that I approve.' | \nThen M\u0101ra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun\u012b S\u012bsupac\u0101l\u0101 knows me! . . . . .\n. . . . . Now, Bhikkhun\u012b Sel\u0101 . . . . . sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.\nThen M\u0101ra . . . . . went up to her, and addressed her with a verse:\n| 'Who was't that made this human puppet's form? Where, tell me, is the human doll's artificer? Whence hath the human puppet come to be? Where, tell me, shall it cease and pass away?' | \nThen Bhikkhun\u012b Sel\u0101 thought . . . . . ' Sure 'tis M\u0101ra!' . . . . . and . . . . . replied with verses:\n| 'Neither self-made the puppet is, nor yet By other is this evil fashion\u00e8d. By reason of a cause it came to be; By rupture of a cause, it dies away. Like to a given seed sown in the field, Which, when it lighteth on the taste of earth And moisture likewise\u2013by these twain doth grow, So the five aggregates, the elements, And the six spheres of sense\u2013even all these\u2013 By reason of a cause they came to be; By rupture of a cause they die away.' | \nThen M\u0101ra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun\u012b Sel\u0101 knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.\n. . . . . Now Bhikkhun\u012b Vajir\u0101 . . . . . sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.\n| 'Who hath this being 477 fashioned? Where is The maker of this being? Whence hath it sprung? Where doth this being cease and pass away?' | \nThen Bhikkhun\u012b Vajir\u0101 thought . . . . . 'Sure 'tis M\u0101ra!' . . . . . and replied with a verse:\n| '\"Being\"? Why dost thou harp upon that word? 'Mong false opinions, M\u0101ra, art thou strayed. This a mere bundle of formations is. Therefrom no \"being\" mayest thou obtain. For e'en as, when the factors are arranged, The product by the word \"chariot\" is known, So doth our usage covenant to say\u2013 \"A being\"\u2013when the aggregates are there. ''Tis simply Ill that riseth, simply Ill That doth persist, and then fadeth away. Nought beside Ill it is that doth become; Nought else but Ill it is doth pass away.' | \nThen M\u0101ra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun\u012b Vajir\u0101 knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.\nHere endeth the Bhikkhun\u012b Series.\nThe Yakkha-Sa\u014byutta, or Fairy Series in the same Nik\u0101ya, gives the summons uttered by the indignant tree-fairy to the people of R\u0101jagaha in Sukk\u0101's little poem (Ps. xxxiv.). The lines are exactly the same, except that 'wayfarer' is panthag\u016b instead of addhag\u016b.\nIn the following Sutta presumably the same devoted spirit proclaims the praises both of Sukk\u0101 and of a lay-disciple who supplied the eloquent Ther\u012b with food:\n| 'O surely plenteous merit hath he wrought, That layman wise, who Sukk\u0101's wants supplied\u2013 Sukk\u0101's, who from all bonds is wholly free!' 478 | \n 454 Cf. Sel\u0101's Psalm, xxxv. She was the daughter of the King of \u0100\u1e37av\u012b.\n \n 455 Pamatto.\n \n 456 See Ps. xxxvi., comparing the vastly more interesting reply given here.\n \n 457 Where dotted lines occur, here and below, the reading is as for \u0100\u1e37avik\u0101.\n \n 458 Not 'to us,' as in the Psalm.\n \n 459 Cf. Ps. lxiii. In the case of elisions, read as for Som\u0101.\n \n 460 By 'ever'\u2013accanta\u014b, lit. exceedingly, endlessly\u2013it is conceivable that she alludes, not to her own too common case, as a mother bereaved of a son, but either to endless past bereavements, or to the fact that, as Arahant, she had cut herself off from age-long possibilities of being often again in similar circumstances. Cf., e.g., Ps. xxxiii.\n \n 461 \u0100savas.\n \n 462 Vijay\u0101, to whom Ps lvii. is ascribed, is apparently a different person.\n \n 463 Cf. Khem\u0101's Psalm (lii.)\n \n 464 Five sorts of musical instruments are supposed to be implied in this idiomatic phrase\u2013\u0101tata\u014b, vitata\u014b, \u0101tata-vitata\u014b, ghana\u014b, susira\u014b.\n \n 465 I have ventured to bridge over the hiatus, in what Professor Windisch calls the 'loose construction' of this g\u0101th\u0101, by the insertion of 'from all, from. . . .' For what may have been the original, and is the more logical, ending, see C\u0101l\u0101's verses below. As the g\u0101th\u0101 in Pali stands here, it seems to mean: '\"I see life steadily, and see it whole.\" Trouble me not with your foolish little solicitations to sensual joys.'\n \n 466 Where the text differs from that of Psalm lxiv. may be seen by the following:\n \nTherig\u0101th\u0101. Sa\u014byutta. Supupphitagga\u014b upagamma pad\u0101pa\u014b ek\u0101 tuva\u014b ti\u1e6d\u1e6dhasi rukkham\u016ble Supupphitagga\u014b upagamma bhikkhuni ek\u0101 tuva\u014b ti\u1e6d\u1e6dhasi s\u0101lam\u016ble Na c\u0101pi te dutiyo atthi; koci na tva\u014b b\u0101le bh\u0101yasi dhuttak\u0101na\u014b. Na c'atthi te dutiy\u0101 va\u1e47\u1e47adh\u0101tu idh\u0101gat\u0101 t\u0101disik\u0101 bhaveyyu\u014b. \nB\u0101le na tva\u014b bh\u0101yasi dhuttak\u0101na\u014b.\nOn choice of reading in the preceding line, see the Psalm in question, n.\n 467 Pronounced Ch\u0101l\u0101. Cf. Ps. lix., lx. The latter Psalm\u2013Upac\u0101l\u0101's\u2013incorporates most of what is here attributed to her sister.\n \n 468 I.e., in the fact or phenomenon of 'being born over and over again.'\n \n 469 Literally, meaning the punishments of criminals, but standing for the ills of life in general. Cf. Ps. lxx., verse 345; lxxiii., verse 505.\n \n 470 Cf. last note to Vijay\u0101's verses above.\n \n 471 In the Psalms, her Psalm is put into the mouth of her sister, S\u012bsupac\u0101l\u0101.\n \n 472 Padh\u016bpito, in the corresponding Psalm parid\u012bpito.\n \n 473 \n \nSanyutta. Therig\u0101th\u0101. Akampita\u014b acalita\u014b aputthujana-sevita\u014b Akampita\u014b atuliya\u014b aputhujjana-sevita\u014b Agati yattha M\u0101rassa tattha me nirato mano. Buddho dhamma\u014b me desesi tattha me nirato mano. \n 474 Lit., Thereto is my heart (or mind) devoted. \n \n 475 In the Psalms she is made to utter her sister C\u0101l\u0101's Psalm.\n \n 476 The Psalm ascribed to Sel\u0101 (xxxv., p. 144) is, in this Appendix, put into the mouth of \u0100\u1e37avik\u0101, which, in the Commentary, is Sel\u0101's patronymic.\n \n 477 Satto, a concrete living entity, not the abstract idea.\n \n 478 Cf. Ps. xlvi. 111.","title":"Psalms of the Sisters: Appendix","type":"page"}