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SN 4.24PTS (1st ed) SN 1.1222 min read

Seven Years of Pursuit

Sattavassānubandhasutta

Māra has tried to distract the Buddha for seven years without success. He laments his failure with the similes of a crab whose limbs are smashed by a group of children, and a crow who tried to eat a stone.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 4.24Linked Discourses 4.24
  • 0.23. Tatiyavagga3. Māra

0.3SattavassānubandhasuttaSeven Years of Pursuit

1.1Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard.1.2ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā uruvelāyaṁ viharati najjā nerañjarāya tīre ajapālanigrodhe.At one time the Buddha was staying in Uruvelā at the goatherd’s banyan tree on the bank of the Nerañjarā River.1

1.3Tena kho pana samayena māro pāpimā sattavassāni bhagavantaṁ anubandho hoti otārāpekkho otāraṁ alabhamāno.Now at that time Māra the Wicked had been pursuing the Buddha for seven years hoping to find a vulnerability without success.2

1.4Atha kho māro pāpimā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:Then Māra the Wicked went up to the Buddha and addressed him in verse:

2.1“Sokāvatiṇṇo nu vanamhi jhāyasi,“Are you swamped by sorrow <j>that you meditate in the forest?32.2Vittaṁ nu jīno uda patthayāno;Have you lost a fortune, or do you long for one?2.3Āguṁ nu gāmasmimakāsi kiñci,Or perhaps you’ve committed <j>some crime in the village?2.4Kasmā janena na karosi sakkhiṁ;Why don’t you get too close to people?2.5Sakkhī na sampajjati kenaci te”ti.And why does no one get close to you?”

3.1“Sokassa mūlaṁ palikhāya sabbaṁ,“I’ve dug out the root of sorrow completely.43.2Anāgu jhāyāmi asocamāno;I practice absorption free of guilt or sorrow.3.3Chetvāna sabbaṁ bhavalobhajappaṁ,I’ve cut off all greed and muttered prayer for future lives.3.4Anāsavo jhāyāmi pamattabandhū”ti.Undefiled, I practice absorption, <j>O kinsman of the negligent!”

4.1“Yaṁ vadanti mama yidanti,“The things they call ‘mine’,54.2ye vadanti mamanti ca;and those who say ‘it’s mine’:4.3Ettha ce te mano atthi,if your mind remains there,4.4na me samaṇa mokkhasī”ti.you won’t escape me, ascetic!”

5.1“Yaṁ vadanti na taṁ mayhaṁ,“The things they speak of aren’t mine;65.2ye vadanti na te ahaṁ;I’m not someone who speaks like that.5.3Evaṁ pāpima jānāhi,So know this, Wicked One:75.4na me maggampi dakkhasī”ti.you won’t even see the path I take.”

6.1“Sace maggaṁ anubuddhaṁ,“If you’ve discovered the path86.2khemaṁ amatagāminaṁ;that’s safe, and leads to freedom from death,6.3Apehi gaccha tvameveko,go and walk that path alone—6.4kimaññamanusāsasī”ti.why teach it to anyone else?”

7.1“Amaccudheyyaṁ pucchanti,“Those crossing to the far shore97.2ye janā pāragāmino;ask what’s beyond the domain of Death.7.3Tesāhaṁ puṭṭho akkhāmi,When I’m asked, I explain to them7.4yaṁ saccaṁ taṁ nirūpadhin”ti.the truth without attachments.”

8.1“Seyyathāpi, bhante, gāmassa vā nigamassa vā avidūre pokkharaṇī.“Sir, suppose there was a lotus pond not far from a town or village,108.2Tatrassa kakkaṭako.and a crab lived there.8.3Atha kho, bhante, sambahulā kumārakā vā kumārikāyo vā tamhā gāmā vā nigamā vā nikkhamitvā yena sā pokkharaṇī tenupasaṅkameyyuṁ; upasaṅkamitvā taṁ kakkaṭakaṁ udakā uddharitvā thale patiṭṭhapeyyuṁ.Then several boys or girls would leave the town or village and go to the pond, where they’d pull out the crab and put it on solid ground.8.4Yaṁ yadeva hi so, bhante, kakkaṭako aḷaṁ abhininnāmeyya taṁ tadeva te kumārakā vā kumārikāyo vā kaṭṭhena vā kathalāya vā sañchindeyyuṁ sambhañjeyyuṁ sampalibhañjeyyuṁ.Whenever that crab extended a claw, those boys or girls would snap, crack, and break it off with a stick or a stone.118.5Evañhi so, bhante, kakkaṭako sabbehi aḷehi sañchinnehi sambhaggehi sampalibhaggehi abhabbo taṁ pokkharaṇiṁ otarituṁ.And when that crab’s claws had all been snapped, cracked, and broken off it wouldn’t be able to return down into that lotus pond.

8.6Evameva kho, bhante, yāni kānici visūkāyikāni visevitāni vipphanditāni, sabbāni tāni bhagavatā sañchinnāni sambhaggāni sampalibhaggāni.In the same way, sir, the Buddha has snapped, cracked, and broken off all my twists, ducks, and dodges.8.7Abhabbo dānāhaṁ, bhante, puna bhagavantaṁ upasaṅkamituṁ yadidaṁ otārāpekkho”ti.Now I’m not able to approach the Buddha again in hopes of finding a vulnerability.”

8.8Atha kho māro pāpimā bhagavato santike imā nibbejanīyā gāthāyo abhāsi:Then Māra the Wicked recited these verses of disappointment in the Buddha’s presence:

9.1“Medavaṇṇañca pāsāṇaṁ,“A crow once circled a stone9.2vāyaso anupariyagā;that looked like a lump of fat.9.3Apettha muduṁ vindema,‘Perhaps I’ll find something tender,’ it thought,9.4api assādanā siyā.‘perhaps there’s something tasty.’

10.1Aladdhā tattha assādaṁ,But finding nothing tasty,10.2vāyasetto apakkame;the crow left that place.10.3Kākova selamāsajja,Like the crow that pecked the stone,10.4nibbijjāpema gotamā”ti.I leave Gotama disappointed.”

Translator’s notes

  1. According to the commentarial reckoning, this was in the fifth week after Awakening.

    ↩ sn4.24:1.2

  2. This series of verses is a cleverly structured argument where Māra tries one method after another, always seeking to find something in the Buddha’s words or deeds that make him vulnerable.

    Siddhattha had practiced for six years and had now only just realized Awakening, so either the number seven has been rounded up, or else Māra began his work before Siddhattha left home.

    ↩ sn4.24:1.3

  3. Māra begins the contest of wits by insinuating that something must have gone wrong for the Buddha to end up where he is, trying to play on feelings of self-doubt.

    ↩ sn4.24:2.1

  4. The Buddha rejoins with a series of bold and incontrovertible claims, shutting down the idea that he is self-loathing.

    ↩ sn4.24:3.1

  5. Māra changes tack. Having failed to insinuate self-doubt, now he tries to use the Buddha’s very confidence against him. Surely he must be conceited to make such claims.

    ↩ sn4.24:4.1

  6. The Buddha rejects the charge of conceit, as he has merely spoken of the truth, not of what he is attached to.

    ↩ sn4.24:5.1

  7. The Buddha goes on the attack, asserting the limits of Māra’s knowledge.

    ↩ sn4.24:5.3

  8. Māra accepts, for rhetorical purposes, the Buddha’s claim that he has found a path Māra cannot see. Better, he argues, for the Buddha to walk it alone and not teach anyone.

    ↩ sn4.24:6.1

  9. The Buddha rejects this final parry, asserting that he will teach anyone who asks.

    ↩ sn4.24:7.1

  10. The same simile appears at MN 35:23.4.

    ↩ sn4.24:8.1

  11. The crab “extends” a claw as a meditator after absorption “extends” the mind to insight (MN 4:27.1). See too the simile at SN 35.240.

    ↩ sn4.24:8.4