Māra says life is eternal (SA-2.24)

Thus have I heard, once, the Buddha was staying north of Rājagaha in the Sītavana forest. At that time the Buddha told the monks: “All compounded things are impermanent. Relentlessly, they quickly pass away. We cannot rely on them as they are bound to decay. You should make haste and leave the realms of saṁsāric existence to follow the path of liberation.” At that time the Demon King Māra, having heard what was said, thought: “The renunciant Gotama is expounding such a Dhamma for his disciples in the Sītavana forest at Rājagaha. I should go there and disturb them.” Having thought thus, he transformed himself into a young man, went to the Buddha, stood to one side and spoke this verse:

“Night and day are eternal /
lives will forever come and go,
turning like a wheel on its axle /
spinning around endlessly.”

The Buddha knew King Māra had come to disturb them and spoke a verse:

“One’s life—its days and nights do end /
and life itself is filled with sorrows and troubles:
it is like, having fallen into a river, /
being quickly carried away without a trace.
This is why you, Bad One, /
should not disturb us.”

There Māra thought: “The Buddha knows my intentions.” And he became depressed and dispirited and felt deep regret. He made himself invisible and returned to his heavenly 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.