Vijayāsutta — Reader

With Vijayā

Vijayāsutta

At Sāvatthī. Then the nun Vijayā robed up in the morning … and sat at the root of a tree for the day’s meditation. Then Māra the Wicked, wanting to make the nun Vijayā 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 vijayā bhikkhunī pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā …pe… aññatarasmiṁ rukkhamūle divāvihāraṁ nisīdi. Atha kho māro pāpimā vijayāya bhikkhuniyā bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo yena vijayā bhikkhunī tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā vijayaṁ bhikkhuniṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

“You’re so young and beautiful, and I’m a youth in my prime. Come, my lady, let us enjoy the music of a five-piece band.”

“Daharā tvaṁ rūpavatī, ahañca daharo susu; Pañcaṅgikena turiyena, ehayyebhiramāmase”ti.

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

Then Vijayā, knowing that this was Māra the Wicked, replied to him in verse: “Sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and touches so delightful. I hand them right back to you, Māra,

Atha kho vijayā bhikkhunī “māro ayaṁ pāpimā” iti viditvā māraṁ pāpimantaṁ gāthāhi paccabhāsi: “Rūpā saddā rasā gandhā, phoṭṭhabbā ca manoramā; Niyyātayāmi tuyheva,

for I have no use for them. This body is rotting, decaying and frail. I’m horrified and repelled by it,

māra nāhaṁ tenatthikā. Iminā pūtikāyena, bhindanena pabhaṅgunā; Aṭṭīyāmi harāyāmi,

and I’ve eradicated sensual craving. There are beings in the realm of luminous form, and others stuck in the formless. I’ve destroyed the darkness

kāmataṇhā samūhatā. Ye ca rūpūpagā sattā, ye ca arūpaṭṭhāyino; Yā ca santā samāpatti,

regarding all such peaceful attainments.” Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The nun Vijayā knows me!” miserable and sad, vanished right there.

sabbattha vihato tamo”ti. Atha kho māro pāpimā “jānāti maṁ vijayā bhikkhunī”ti dukkhī dummano tatthevantaradhāyīti.