The Samyutta Nikaya
The Grouped Discourses
Samyutta Nikaya V.2
Soma Sutta
Sister Soma
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
At Savatthi. Then, early in the
morning, Soma 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:
That
which is
to be attained by seers
-- the place so very hard to reach --
women
can't
-- with their two-inch discernment --
attain.
Then the thought occurred to Soma 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:
What
difference
does being a woman make
when the mind's well-centered,
when knowledge is progressing,
seeing clearly, rightly,
into the Dhamma.
Anyone who thinks
'I'm a woman'
or 'a man'
or 'Am I anything at all?' --
that's who Mara's
fit to address.
Then Mara the Evil One -- sad & dejected at
realizing, "Soma the nun knows me" -- vanished right there.
Read an alternate translation by
Bhikkhu Bodhi
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