Sappasutta — Reader

A Cobra

Sappasutta

So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground. Now at that time the Buddha was meditating in the open during the dark of night, while a gentle rain drizzled down. Then Māra the Wicked, wanting to make the Buddha feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, manifested in the form of a big cobra king and approached him.

Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe viharati veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe. Tena kho pana samayena bhagavā rattandhakāratimisāyaṁ abbhokāse nisinno hoti, devo ca ekamekaṁ phusāyati. Atha kho māro pāpimā bhagavato bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo mahantaṁ sapparājavaṇṇaṁ abhinimminitvā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami.

Its body was like a big canoe carved from a single tree. Its hood was like a large brewer’s sieve.

Seyyathāpi nāma mahatī ekarukkhikā nāvā; evamassa kāyo hoti. Seyyathāpi nāma mahantaṁ soṇḍikākiḷañjaṁ; evamassa phaṇo hoti.

Its eyes were like big bronze cups from Kosala. Its tongue flickered from its mouth like lightning flashes in a thunderstorm.

Seyyathāpi nāma mahatī kosalikā kaṁsapāti; evamassa akkhīni bhavanti. Seyyathāpi nāma deve gaḷagaḷāyante vijjullatā niccharanti; evamassa mukhato jivhā niccharati.

The sound of its breathing was like the puffing of a blacksmith’s bellows. Then the Buddha, knowing that this was Māra the Wicked, replied to him in verse: “One who frequents empty buildings

Seyyathāpi nāma kammāragaggariyā dhamamānāya saddo hoti; evamassa assāsapassāsānaṁ saddo hoti. Atha kho bhagavā “māro ayaṁ pāpimā” iti viditvā māraṁ pāpimantaṁ gāthāhi ajjhabhāsi: “Yo suññagehāni sevati,

for lodging—that sage is self-restrained. It’s appropriate for that sort to live there after relinquishing. Though there are lots of creepy crawlies,

Seyyā so muni attasaññato; Vossajja careyya tattha so, Patirūpañhi tathāvidhassa taṁ. Carakā bahū bheravā bahū,

and lots of flies and reptiles, they wouldn’t stir a hair of a great sage in that empty hut. Though the firmament may split <j>and the earth may quake,

Atho ḍaṁsasarīsapā bahū; Lomampi na tattha iñjaye, Suññāgāragato mahāmuni. Nabhaṁ phaleyya pathavī caleyya,

and all creatures be stricken with fear; and even if an arrow’s aimed at their breast, the Buddhas take no shelter in attachments.” Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The Buddha knows me! The Holy One knows me!” miserable and sad, vanished right there.

Sabbepi pāṇā uda santaseyyuṁ; Sallampi ce urasi pakappayeyyuṁ, Upadhīsu tāṇaṁ na karonti buddhā”ti. Atha kho māro pāpimā “jānāti maṁ bhagavā, jānāti maṁ sugato”ti dukkhī dummano tatthevantaradhāyīti.