Selā (SA-2.218)

Thus have I heard, once, the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī at the Jeta Grove in the Anāthapiṇḍika Park.

At that time one morning the nun Selā took her robes and her begging bowl and entered Sāvatthī to beg for food. Having finished her meal, she cleaned her bowl, gathered her seat for meditation and went to the Andhavana forest to meditate. At that time King Māra thought: “The renunciant Gotama is staying at Sāvatthī at the Jeta Grove in the Anāthapiṇḍika Park. And there is the nun Selā who took her robes and her begging bowl and entered Sāvatthī to beg for food. Having finished her meal, she cleaned her bowl, gathered her seat and has gone to the Andhavana forest. I shall disturb her!” Having thought this he changed into a young man, approached her and spoke a verse:

“Who is it that created beings, /
by whom were they made?
Why are they called beings, /
from where do they arise?”

That time the nun Selā, having heard the verse thought: “Who is this? What a cheat! Is he a human or a non-human being?” She entered concentration and recognized he was King Māra. She answered with a verse:

“Māra, you have a wrong view of ‘beings’, /
saying and believing they actually exist as substantial entities.
Conventional, empty they are but compounded entities /
there are in fact no ‘beings.’
Like when causes and various conditions /
converge and yield the use of a ‘chariot’.

The same with aggregates (khandhas), elements (dhātus) and spheres (āyatanas): /
because of the convergence of such causes and conditions there are beings.
Because of karmic conditions they assemble /
because of karmic conditions they disperse.

I have cut off all craving, /
the darkness of ignorance is destroyed.
Having reached complete cessation. /
I peacefully dwell in a state of purity.
Therefore understand: /
Bad One, you are defeated.”

At that time King Māra thought: “This nun knows my mind well!” Depressed, dispirited, and ashamed he returned to his palace.

Translation by Marcus Bingenheimer, 2005–8 (minor revisions 2009). First version published in Buddhist Studies Review vol. 23.1 (2006). The translations used here were revised by the translator and published in his Studies in Āgama Literature—with Special Reference to the Shorter Chinese Saṁyuktāgama, Dharma Drum Buddhist College, 2010.

Translated from the Taishō text of the CBETA-Database (Version Feb. 2006). All sutta titles added by the translator.

This series of translations were part of the project “A Digital Comparative Edition of the Bieyi za ahan jing” conducted at the Chung-hwa Institute for Buddhist Studies (中華佛學研究所) and the Dharma Drum Buddhist College (法鼓佛教研修學院), funded by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (蔣經國國際學術交流基金會). The full project, including parallel Chinese, Pali, and Sanskrit texts, is available online here.

Used with kind permission of the translator.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.