Tipitaka » Sutta
Pitaka » Samyutta Nikaya » Context
of this sutta
- Samyutta Nikaya V.4
- Vijaya Sutta
- Sister Vijaya
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
At Savatthi. Then, early in the morning, Vijaya the nun put on her robes and, taking
her bowl & outer robe, went into Savatthi for alms. When she had gone for alms in
Savatthi and had returned from her alms round, after her meal she went to the Grove of the
Blind to spend the day. Having gone deep into the Grove of the Blind, she sat down at the
foot of a tree for the day's abiding.
Then Mara the Evil One, wanting to arouse fear, horripilation, & terror in her,
wanting to make her fall away from concentration, approached her & addressed her in
verse:
You, a beautiful young woman.
I, a young man.
Come, my lady,
let's enjoy ourselves
to the music of a five-piece band.
Then the thought occurred to Vijaya the nun: "Now who has recited this verse -- a
human being or a non-human one?" Then it occurred to her: "This is Mara the Evil
One, who has recited this verse wanting to arouse fear, horripilation, & terror in me,
wanting to make me fall away from concentration."
Then, having understood that "This is Mara the Evil One," she replied to him
in verses:
Lovely sights, sounds,
smells, tastes,
& tactile sensations
I leave to
you, Mara.
I
have no need
for them.
I'm disgusted, ashamed
of this putrid body --
disintegrating, dissolving.
Sensual craving
is rooted out.
Beings who have come to form,
& those with a share in the formless,
& the peaceful attainments:
their darkness
is completely destroyed.
Then Mara the Evil One -- sad & dejected at realizing, "Vijaya the nun knows
me" -- vanished right there.