SN 1–11 The Group of Connected Discourses With Verses – Sagāthāvaggasaṁyutta > SN 5 Connected Discourses With Nuns – Bhikkhunīsaṁyutta > SN 5.9 With Selā

Linked Discourses 5.9 – Saṁyutta Nikāya 5.9

1. Nuns – 1. Bhikkhunīvagga

SN 5.9 With Selā – Selāsutta

At Sāvatthī.

Sāvatthinidānaṁ.

Then the nun Selā robed up in the morning …

Atha kho selā bhikkhunī pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā …pe…

and sat at the root of a tree for the day’s meditation.

aññatarasmiṁ rukkhamūle divāvihāraṁ nisīdi.

Then Māra the Wicked, wanting to make the nun Selā feel fear, terror, and goosebumps …

Atha kho māro pāpimā selāya bhikkhuniyā bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo …pe…

addressed her in verse:

selaṁ bhikkhuniṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

“Who created this puppet?

“Kenidaṁ pakataṁ bimbaṁ,

Where is its maker?

kvanu bimbassa kārako;

Where has the puppet arisen?

Kvanu bimbaṁ samuppannaṁ,

And where does it cease?”

kvanu bimbaṁ nirujjhatī”ti.

Then the nun Selā thought,

Atha kho selāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi:

“Who’s speaking this verse, a human or a non-human?”

“ko nu khvāyaṁ manusso vā amanusso vā gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti?

Then she thought,

Atha kho selāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi:

“This is Māra the Wicked, wanting to make me feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make me fall away from samādhi!”

“māro kho ayaṁ pāpimā mama bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti.

Then Selā, knowing that this was Māra the Wicked, replied to him in verse:

Atha kho selā bhikkhunī “māro ayaṁ pāpimā” iti viditvā māraṁ pāpimantaṁ gāthāhi paccabhāsi:

“This puppet isn’t self-made,

“Nayidaṁ attakataṁ bimbaṁ,

nor is this misery made by another.

nayidaṁ parakataṁ aghaṁ;

It comes to be because of a cause,

Hetuṁ paṭicca sambhūtaṁ,

and ceases when the cause breaks up.

hetubhaṅgā nirujjhati.

It’s like a seed that’s sown

Yathā aññataraṁ bījaṁ,

in a field; it grows

khette vuttaṁ virūhati;

relying on both the soil’s nutrients

Pathavīrasañcāgamma,

as well as moisture.

sinehañca tadūbhayaṁ.

In the same way the aggregates and elements

Evaṁ khandhā ca dhātuyo,

and these six sense fields

cha ca āyatanā ime;

come to be because of a cause,

Hetuṁ paṭicca sambhūtā,

and cease when the cause breaks up.”

hetubhaṅgā nirujjhare”ti.

Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The nun Selā knows me!” miserable and sad, vanished right there.

Atha kho māro pāpimā “jānāti maṁ selā bhikkhunī”ti dukkhī dummano tatthevantaradhāyīti.