Uppalavaṇṇāsutta — Reader

With Uppalavaṇṇā

Uppalavaṇṇāsutta

At Sāvatthī. Then the nun Uppalavaṇṇā robed up in the morning … and stood at the root of a sal tree in full flower. Then Māra the Wicked, wanting to make the nun Uppalavaṇṇā feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make her fall away from immersion, went up to her and addressed her in verse:

Sāvatthinidānaṁ. Atha kho uppalavaṇṇā bhikkhunī pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā …pe… aññatarasmiṁ supupphitasālarukkhamūle aṭṭhāsi. Atha kho māro pāpimā uppalavaṇṇāya bhikkhuniyā bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo yena uppalavaṇṇā bhikkhunī tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā uppalavaṇṇaṁ bhikkhuniṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

“You’ve come to this sal tree all crowned with flowers, and stand at its root all alone, O nun. Your beauty is second to none— silly girl, aren’t you afraid of rascals?”

“Supupphitaggaṁ upagamma bhikkhuni, Ekā tuvaṁ tiṭṭhasi sālamūle; Na catthi te dutiyā vaṇṇadhātu, Bāle na tvaṁ bhāyasi dhuttakānan”ti.

Then the nun Uppalavaṇṇā thought, “Who’s speaking this verse, a human or a non-human?” Then she thought, “This is Māra the Wicked, wanting to make me feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make me fall away from immersion!”

Atha kho uppalavaṇṇāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi: “ko nu khvāyaṁ manusso vā amanusso vā gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti? Atha kho uppalavaṇṇāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi: “māro kho ayaṁ pāpimā mama bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti.

Then Uppalavaṇṇā, knowing that this was Māra the Wicked, replied to him in verse: “Even if 100,000 rascals like you were to come here, I’d stir not a hair nor panic.

Atha kho uppalavaṇṇā bhikkhunī “māro ayaṁ pāpimā” iti viditvā māraṁ pāpimantaṁ gāthāhi paccabhāsi: “Sataṁ sahassānipi dhuttakānaṁ, Idhāgatā tādisakā bhaveyyuṁ; Lomaṁ na iñjāmi na santasāmi,

I’m not scared of you, Māra, even alone. I’ll vanish, or I’ll enter your belly; I could stand between your eyebrows

Na māra bhāyāmi tamekikāpi. Esā antaradhāyāmi, kucchiṁ vā pavisāmi te; Pakhumantarikāyampi,

and you still wouldn’t see me. I’m the master of my own mind, I’ve developed the bases of psychic power well. I’m free from all bonds,

tiṭṭhantiṁ maṁ na dakkhasi. Cittasmiṁ vasībhūtāmhi, iddhipādā subhāvitā; Sabbabandhanamuttāmhi,

and I’m not afraid of you, sir!” Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The nun Uppalavaṇṇā knows me!” miserable and sad, vanished right there.

na taṁ bhāyāmi āvuso”ti. Atha kho māro pāpimā “jānāti maṁ uppalavaṇṇā bhikkhunī”ti dukkhī dummano tatthevantaradhāyīti.