Chapter XLI - The temptation by Māra

The Exalted One, fully enlightened and having realised the aim he had set himself, was staying in Benares, in the Deer Park at Ṛṣivadana. And there the Exalted One spoke to the venerable good group of five monks.^[1] “Monks,” said he, “I am freed from all snares, whether of devas or of men. Go on your journeys, monk, but do not go two of you the same way. For, monks, there are beings who are pure, undefiled, with but little dust in their eyes,^[2] but who, because they have not heard the dharma, are losing ground. As for me, I will go to the village of Senāpati^[3] at Uruvilvā, out of compassion for the Matted-Hair Ascetics.”^[4]

Then most wicked Māra thought, “Here is this recluse Gotama staying in Benares, in the Deer Park at Ṛṣivadana. And he has spoken to the group of five monks, saying, ‘Monks, I am freed from all snares, whether of devas or of men. You, too, monks, are freed from all snares, whether of devas or of men. Do you, monks, go on your journeys, but do not go two of you the same way. There are, monks, beings who are undefiled and with but little dust in their eyes,^[5] but who, because they have not heard the dharma, are losing ground. As for me, I will go to the village of Senāpati at Uruvilvā, out of compassion for the Matted-Hair Ascetics.’ What, then, if I were (416) to go to them in order to confuse^[6] him?”

Then wicked Māra addressed the Exalted One in a verse:

Unfreed, thou thinkest thyself freed. What meanest thou to say thou art freed? In close bonds art thou bound, for from me thou wilt not escape, O Recluse.

But the Exalted One replied to wicked Māra in a verse:

Freed am I from all snares, whether of dev as or of men. Know this, wicked one, that thou art beaten by me, O Death.^[7]

Then wicked Māra, thinking “Gotama the recluse knows me,” wretched, dejected and discomfited forthwith disappeared.^[8] This is the tradition.^[9]

The Exalted One, perfectly enlightened and having realised the aim he had set himself, was staying in Benares, in the Deer Park at Ṛṣivadana, teaching devas and men. And while the Exalted One was alone in seclusion and retirement this mental reflexion uprose in him. “Sensual pleasures”, thought he, “are impermanent, ill, liable to change.” But then wicked Māra thought, “Here is this recluse, Gotama, staying in Benares, in the Deer Park at Ṛṣivadana, and he, while he is alone in seclusion and retirement has had the mental reflexion that sensual pleasures are impermanent, ill and liable to change. What if I were to go to him and confuse him?” And so wicked Māra approached the Exalted One and addressed him in verse:

Fast is the snare I’ve set, for it is the very life of thy mind.^[10] By means of this I’ll hold thee bound; thou wilt not escape from me, O Recluse.^[11]

(417) But the Exalted One replied to wicked Māra in a verse:

There are five strands of sensual pleasures in the world; the mind has been declared a sixth.^[12] Gone, scattered, destroyed is my wish for them. Know this, O wicked one; thou art beaten, O Death.

Then wicked Māra thought, “Gotama the recluse knows me.” And wretched, dejected and discomfited he forthwith disappeared. Such is the tradition.

The Exalted One, perfectly enlightened and having realised the aim he had set himself, was staying in Benares, in the Deer Park at Ṛṣivadana. And while the Exalted One was alone in seclusion and retirement this mental reflexion uprose in him. “All attachment to existence”,^[13] thought he, “is impermanent, ill, and liable to change.” But wicked Māra thought, “Here is this recluse, Gotama, staying in Benares, in the Deer Park at Ṛṣivadana. And he, while he is alone in seclusion and retirement has had the mental reflexion that all attachment to existence is impermanent, ill and liable to change. What if I were to go to him and confuse him?”

And so wicked Māra approached the Exalted One and addressed him in a verse:

He who has sons delights in his sons; the cowherd delights in his cattle. Man delights in attachments, but he who has no attachments has naught to delight in.

(418) But the Exalted One replied to wicked Māra in a verse:

He who has sons worries over his sons; the cowherd worries over his cattle. A man is tormented by his attachments to existence. But he who has no attachments has no occasion to worry.^[14]

Then wicked Māra thought, “Gotama the recluse knows, me.” Wretched, dejected and discomfited he forthwith disappeared. Such is the tradition.

Far famed is the stainlessness of the exalted Gotama, the spotless, the undefiled and the pure one.^[15] He gives to all beings this honoured^[16] place. He brings within reach^[17] of the whole world complete extinction of the deed.^[18]

The monks asked the Exalted One, “How does the Lord speak a solemn utterance”?

He in whom no illusion dwells, nor pride; he who is rid of passion, free from evil^[19] and from longing; he who has shaken off all wrath, and whose self is completely freed, he is a brahman, he is a recluse, he is a monk.^[20]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

See p. 313, n. 2.

[2]:

Reading alparajaskajātikā for aparokṣajātikā. The parallel passage, V. 1.28, has apparajakkhajātikā. The aparokṣavijñāna of Lal. Vist. 403 is no analogical justification for preserving aparokṣajātiko (-jātīyo) in the Mhvu. The Lal. Vist. compound admits of intelligible analysis, but, as Edgerton himself confesses, the precise meaning of aparokṣajātika is obscure. (B.H.S.D. s.v.) See further p. 312, n. 3.

[3]:

See vol. 2, p. 119, n. 2.

[4]:

Jaṭilas. V. 1.21 says only dhammadesanāyā—“to teach the dharma.”

[5]:

Reading, as above, alparajaskajātikā foraparokṣa—.

[6]:

Or, “blur his vision”, vicakṣurkarmāya, dat. of vicakṣurkarma, Pali vicakkhukamma. See P.E.D. and B.H.S.D.

[7]:

Literally “ender”, antaka. See I.B. Horner, Bk. of Disc., 4, p. 29.

[8]:

The Mārakathā of the Mahāvagga, however, inserts two additional verses before describing the final discomfiture of Māra. But in the Mhvu., as in the Mārasaṃyutta of S. 1.105f., these verses seem to form part of separate traditions concerning the temptation; hence the words itthametaṃ śrūyati with which the incident closes in the Mhvu. See Windisch, op. cit., p. 30-1.

[9]:

Itthametaṃ śrūyati.

[10]:

Carati mānasaṃ tava. Cf. V. 1.21, ayaṃ carati mānaso.

[11]:

S. 1.111.

[12]:

Identical with Sn. 171 (cf. 5. 1.16), but not with any of the lines in V. 1.21 or S. 1.103ff.

[13]:

Upadhi.

[14]:

These last two verses are almost verbally identical with Sn. 33, 34, where they are, as here, put into the mouths of Māra and the Buddha, respectively, and with two of the verses in the parallel passage at S. 1.107-8.

[15]:

This verse and the next one are introduced abruptly, having no connection either with what precedes or with what follows.

[16]:

Tam arahitaṃ pradeśam. But Senart’s restoration must be regarded as very doubtful. For arahita (= Sk. arhita), see C.P.D.

[17]:

Prāpuṇeti, in causal sense, according to Senart, but Edgerton (B.H.S.D. s.v.) points out the uncertainty of the text.

[18]:

Kriyābhirnirvṛti, i.e., deliverance from the results of action.

[19]:

Anigha. See p. 399, n. 4.

[20]:

Cf. Sn., 464, 494.