4👑☸ Cattāri Ariya-saccaṃ 四聖諦
SN 4 Māra (The Evil One)
(25 suttas)
Vagga 1 Paṭhama: first chapter
● SN 4.1 Tapokamma: Mortification
It is good indeed that I am freed from that useless gruelling asceticism! It is good that, steady and mindful, I have attained enlightenment!”
● SN 4.2 Hatthirājavaṇṇa: In the Form of an Elephant King
“You’ve wandered through the long course, Creating beautiful and hideous shapes. Enough, Evil One, with that trick of yours:
You’re defeated, End-maker!”
● SN 4.3 Subha: Beautiful
“Those who are well restrained
In body, speech, and mind,
Do not come under Māra’s control
● SN 4.4 Paṭhamamārapāsa: Māra’s Snares (1st)
“Those who are well restrained
In body, speech, and mind,
Do not come under Māra’s control
● SN 4.5 Dutiyamārapāsa: Māra’s Snares (2nd)
“Bhikkhus, I am freed from all snares, both celestial and human. You too, bhikkhus, are freed from all snares, both celestial and human. Wander forth, O bhikkhus, for the welfare of the multitude, for the happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world, for the good, welfare, and happiness of devas and humans.
● SN 4.6 Sappa: A Serpent
“Though many creatures crawl about,
Many terrors, flies, serpents, The great sage gone to his empty hut
Stirs not a hair because of them.
● SN 4.7 Supati: Sleeping
“Within him craving no longer lurks,
Entangling and binding, to lead him anywhere;
With the destruction of all acquisitions
The Awakened One sleeps:
● SN 4.8 Nandati: Delighting
mara - 'Acquisitions truly are a man’s delight;
Without acquisitions one does not delight.”
buddha - “One who has sons sorrows over sons,
One with cattle sorrows over cattle.
Acquisitions truly are a man’s sorrow;
Without acquisitions one does not sorrow.”
● SN 4.9 Paṭhamaāyu: Life Span (1st)
“Short is the life span of human beings,
The good man should disdain it.
One should live like one with head aflame:
There is no avoiding Death’s arrival.”
● SN 4.10 Dutiyaāyu: Long Life (2nd)
“The days and nights go flying by,
Life comes to a stop.
The life span of mortals is depleted
Like the water in rivulets.”
Vagga 2 Dutiya: Second chapter
● SN 4.11 Pāsāṇa: Boulders
“Even if you make this Vulture Peak
Quake all over in its entirety,
The enlightened are not perturbed,
For they are are fully liberated.”
● SN 4.12 Kinnusīha: Lion
“The great heroes roar their lion’s roar
Confident in the assemblies—
The Tathāgatas endowed with the powers
Have crossed over attachment to the world.”
● SN 4.13 Sakalika: A Splinter
Now at that time his foot had been pierced by a stone sliver. Excruciating were the bodily feelings that developed within him—painful, fierce, sharp, wracking, repellent, disagreeable—but he endured them mindful, alert, & unperturbed. tena kho pana samayena bhagavato pādo sakalikāya khato hoti, bhusā sudaṃ bhagavato vedanā vattanti sārīrikā dukkhā tibbā kharā kaṭukā asātā amanāpā. tā sudaṃ bhagavā sato sampajāno adhivāseti avihaññamāno.
● SN 4.14 Patirūpa: Appropriate
“Compassionate for their welfare,
The Buddha instructs others.
The Tathāgata is fully released
From attraction and repulsion.”
● SN 4.15 Mānasa: A Mental Snare
“There is a snare moving in the sky,
Something mental which moves about,
By means of which I’ll catch you yet:
You won’t escape me, ascetic!”
● SN 4.16 Patta: The Alms Bowls
Then Māra the Evil One manifested himself in the form of an ox and approached those almsbowls. Then one bhikkhu said to another: “Bhikkhu, bhikkhu! That ox may break the almsbowls.”
● SN 4.17 Chaphassāyatana: The Six Fields of Contact
“Forms, sounds, tastes, odours,
Tactiles, and all mental objects:
This is the terrible bait of the world
With which the world is infatuated.
6, 481 “But when he has transcended this,
The mindful disciple of the Buddha
Shines radiantly like the sun,
Having surmounted Māra’s realm.”292
● SN 4.18 Piṇḍa: Alms Food
“Happily indeed we live,
We who own nothing at all.
We shall dwell feeding on rapture
Like the devas of Streaming Radiance.”
● SN 4.19 Kassaka: A Farmer
Where can you go to escape me?”
“Yours alone is the eye, Evil One. Yours are forms, yours is the sphere of consciousness & contact at the eye. Where no eye exists, no forms exist, no dimension of consciousness & contact at the eye exists: There, Evil One, you cannot go. Yours alone is the ear… the nose… the tongue… the body… Yours alone is the intellect, Evil One. Yours are ideas, yours is the dimension of consciousness & contact at the intellect. Where no intellect exists, no ideas exist, no dimension of consciousness & contact at the intellect exists: There, Evil One, you cannot go.”
● SN 4.20 Rajja: Rule
Then, when the Blessed One was alone in seclusion, a reflection arose in his mind thus: “Is it possible to exercise rulership righteously: without killing and without instigating others to kill, without confiscating and without instigating others to confiscate, without sorrowing and without causing sorrow?”
Vagga 3 Tatiya: Third chapter
● SN 4.21 Sambahula: Several
“How could a person incline to sensual pleasures
Who has seen the source whence suffering springs?
Having known acquisition as a tie in the world,
A person should train for its removal.”
● SN 4.22 Samiddhi: With Samiddhi
A second time, while the Venerable Samiddhi was alone in seclusion, a reflection arose in his mind … And a second time Māra the Evil One … … made a loud noise, frightful and terrifying, as though the earth were splitting open.
6Then the Venerable Samiddhi, having understood, “This is Māra the Evil One,” addressed him in verse:
7, 489 “I have gone forth out of faith
From the home to the homeless life.
My mindfulness and wisdom are mature,
And my mind well concentrated.
Conjure up whatever forms you wish,
But you will never make me tremble.”307
♦ “saddhāyāhaṃ pabbajito,
agārasmā anagāriyaṃ.
♦ sati paññā ca me buddhā,
cittañca susamāhitaṃ.
♦ kāmaṃ karassu rūpāni,
neva maṃ byādhayissasī”ti.
● SN 4.23 Godhika: With Godhika
fourth time … [121] A fifth time…A sixth time, while the Venerable Godhika was dwelling diligent, ardent, and resolute, he reached temporary liberation of mind, but he fell away from that temporary liberation of mind. A seventh time, while the Venerable Godhika was dwelling diligent, ardent, and resolute, he reached temporary liberation of mind.
● SN 4.24 Sattavassānubandha: Seven Years of Following
Satta-vassa: seven year pursuit: Māra the Evil One had been following the Blessed One for seven years, seeking to gain access to him but without success.
● SN 4.25 Māradhītu: Māra’s Daughters
(mara’s 3 daughters try to trick buddha)
(mara’s 3 daughters fail)
(daughters ask buddha why is is forest doing jhāna)
(daughters ask how to use jhāna to cross 6 floods)
(daughters report back to mara)