4.11. The Boulder (SN4.11)

On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rajagaha on Mount Vulture Peak. Now on that occasion the Blessed One was sitting out in the open in the thick darkness of the night while it was drizzling. Then Mara the Evil One, wishing to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in the Blessed One, shattered a number of huge boulders not far away from him.

Then the Blessed One, having understood, “This is Mara the Evil One,” addressed Mara the Evil One in verse:

“Even if you make this Vulture Peak
Quake all over in its entirety,
The enlightened are not perturbed,
For they are are fully liberated.”

Then Mara the Evil One, realizing, “The Blessed One knows me, the Fortunate One knows me,” sad and disappointed, disappeared right there.

© Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2000)

This excerpt from The Connected Discourses of the Buddha by Bhikkhu Bodhi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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