Somāsutta — Reader

With Somā

Somāsutta

At Sāvatthī. Then the nun Somā robed up in the morning and, taking her bowl and robe, entered Sāvatthī for alms. She wandered for alms in Sāvatthī. After the meal, on her return from almsround, she went to the Dark Forest for the day’s meditation, plunged deep into it, and sat at the root of a tree to meditate.

Sāvatthinidānaṁ. Atha kho somā bhikkhunī pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā pattacīvaramādāya sāvatthiṁ piṇḍāya pāvisi. Sāvatthiyaṁ piṇḍāya caritvā pacchābhattaṁ piṇḍapātapaṭikkantā yena andhavanaṁ tenupasaṅkami divāvihārāya. Andhavanaṁ ajjhogāhetvā aññatarasmiṁ rukkhamūle divāvihāraṁ nisīdi.

Then Māra the Wicked, wanting to make the nun Somā feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make her fall away from immersion, went up to her and addressed her in verse: “That state’s very challenging; it’s for the sages to attain. With her two-inch wisdom,

Atha kho māro pāpimā somāya bhikkhuniyā bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo yena somā bhikkhunī tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā somaṁ bhikkhuniṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi: “Yaṁ taṁ isīhi pattabbaṁ, ṭhānaṁ durabhisambhavaṁ; Na taṁ dvaṅgulapaññāya,

it’s not possible for a woman.” Then the nun Somā thought, “Who’s speaking this verse, a human or a non-human?” Then she thought,

sakkā pappotumitthiyā”ti. Atha kho somāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi: “ko nu khvāyaṁ manusso vā amanusso vā gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti? Atha kho somāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi:

“This is Māra the Wicked, wanting to make me feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make me fall away from immersion!” Then Somā, knowing that this was Māra the Wicked, replied to him in verse: “What difference does womanhood make when the mind is serene,

“māro kho ayaṁ pāpimā mama bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti. Atha kho somā bhikkhunī “māro ayaṁ pāpimā” iti viditvā māraṁ pāpimantaṁ gāthāhi paccabhāsi: “Itthibhāvo kiṁ kayirā, cittamhi susamāhite;

and knowledge is present as you rightly discern the Dhamma. Surely someone who might think: ‘I am woman’, or ‘I am man’,

Ñāṇamhi vattamānamhi, sammā dhammaṁ vipassato. Yassa nūna siyā evaṁ, Itthāhaṁ purisoti vā;

or ‘I am’ anything at all, is fit for Māra to address.” Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The nun Somā knows me!” miserable and sad, vanished right there.

Kiñci vā pana aññasmi, Taṁ māro vattumarahatī”ti. Atha kho māro pāpimā “jānāti maṁ somā bhikkhunī”ti dukkhī dummano tatthevantaradhāyīti.