Mahavagga, Khandaka 1, Chapter 11

1. And the Blessed One said to the Bhikkhus: 'I am delivered, O Bhikkhus, from all fetters, human and divine. You, O Bhikkhus, are also delivered from all fetters, human and divine. Go ye now, O Bhikkhus, and wander, for the gain of the many, for the welfare of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the good, for the gain, and for the welfare of gods and men, Let not two of you go the same way^[1], Preach, O Bhikkhus, the doctrine which is glorious in the beginning, glorious in the middle, glorious at the end, in the spirit and in the letter; proclaim a consummate, perfect, and pure life of holiness. There are beings whose mental eyes are covered by scarcely any dust, but if the doctrine is not preached to them, they cannot attain salvation. They will understand the doctrine. And I will go also, O Bhikkhus, to Uruvelā, to Senāninigama^[2], in order to preach the doctrine.'

2. And Māra the wicked One went to the place where the Blessed One was; having approached him, he addressed the Blessed One in the following stanza: 'Thou art bound by all fetters, human and divine. Thou art bound by strong fetters. Thou wilt not be delivered from me, O Samaṇa.'

Buddha replied: 'I am delivered from all fetters, human and divine. I am delivered from the strong fetters. Thou art struck down, O Death.'

(Māra said): 'The fetter which pervades the sky, with which mind is bound, with that fetter I will bind thee. Thou wilt not be delivered from me, O Samaṇa.'

(Buddha replied): 'Whatever forms, sounds, odours, flavours, or contacts there are which please the senses, in me desire for them has ceased. Thou art struck down, O Death.'

Then Māra the wicked One understood: 'The Blessed One knows me, the perfect One knows me,' and, sad and afflicted, he vanished away.

Here ends the story of Māra.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

This cannot be understood as a general rule, for it is repeated nowhere where precepts for wandering Bhikkhus are given, and, on the contrary, numerous instances occur in the Sacred Texts in which two or more Bhikkhus are mentioned as wandering together, without any expression of disapproval being added. The precept given here evidently is intended to refer only to the earliest period in the spread of the new doctrine; just as in chap. 12 a form of upasampadā is introduced by Buddha which was regarded as inadmissible in later times.

[2]:

The correct spelling of this name appears to be Senāninigama ('the General's Town'), and not Senānigama ('the Army's Town'); the Jātaka Atthavaṇṇanā (vol. i. p. 68) and the Paris MS. of the Mahāvagga (manu secunda) read Senāninigama. The Lalita Vistara has Senāpatigrāma.