Chapter XXI

Pride and Other Deeds of Mara

But when there arises in him the conceit, 'I have been predestined
[Because] by [my] declaration of the Truth manifold things get accomplished,'
When a Bodhisattva sets himself above other [Bodhisattvas] as one who has been predestined,
One should know that he stands in conceit, and has little intelligence.

Again, as to the power of the name, Mara, having approached,
Will say [to him]: 'This is your name.'
The lineage of [your] father and mother for seven generations backwards he runs through;
'When you are a Buddha, this will then be your name!'

If he is one who has behaved in accordance with the ascetic practices, a devoted Yogin,
[Mara will tell him:] 'Formerly [in your past lives] you have also had these very same qualities.'
The Bodhisattva who, on hearing this, becomes conceited,
One should know him to be possessed by Mara, of little intelligence.

Faults in Connection with Detachment

Though he might practise quite detached from villages or cities in a mountain cave,
In a remote forest, or in isolated woods, -
The Bodhisattva who exalts himself, who deprecates others,
One should know him to be possessed by Mara, of little intelligence.

Although they may constantly dwell in a village, a royal city [or] a market town;
If therein they do not generate longing for the vehicle of the Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas,
But are devoted to enlightenment for the sake of maturing beings:
Then this has been preached as the detachment of the Sugata's sons.

Though he may reside in mountain caves, five hundred miles wide,
Infested with wild beasts, for many kotis of years:
That Bodhisattva does not know this [true] detachment
If he dwells contaminated by conceit.

When he feels superior to Bodhisattvas who practise for the weal of the world,
And who have attained the concentrations, emancipations, faculties, trances and powers,
On the ground that they do not course in the detachment of the remote forest, -
Of him the Jina has said that 'he is established in Mara's sphere.'

Whether he dwells in the neighbourhood of a village, or in the remote forest:
If he is free from the thought of the twofold vehicle and fixed on the supreme enlightenment,
Then this is the detachment of those who have set out for the weal of the world.
As one whose self is extinct should that Bodhisattva be considered.