The Samyutta Nikaya
The Grouped Discourses
Samyutta Nikaya V.1
Alavika Sutta
Sister Alavika
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
At Savatthi. Then, early in the
morning, Alavika 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
solitude, approached her & addressed her in verse:
There's no
escape
in the world,
so what are you trying to do
with solitude?
Enjoy sensual delights.
Don't be someone
who later regrets.
Then the thought occurred to Alavika 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 solitude."
Then, having understood that "This is Mara the
Evil One," she replied to him in verses:
There is
an escape in the world,
well touched by me
with discernment --
something that you,
you Evil One,
kinsman of the heedless,
don't know.
Sensual pleasures
are like swords & spears;
the aggregates,
their executioner's block.
What you call sensual delight
is no delight for me.
Then Mara the Evil One -- sad & dejected at
realizing, "Alavika the nun knows me" -- vanished right there.
Read an alternate translation by
Bhikkhu Bodhi
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