True DhammaLibrary · Community
SN 5.1PTS (1st ed) SN 1.1281 min read

With Āḷavikā

Āḷavikāsutta

The nun Āḷavikā has entered the Dark Wood seeking seclusion when Māra comes to threaten her, claiming there is no escape and no point in seclusion. She recognizes him instantly and dismisses his taunts, asserting that she is beyond his control.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 5.1Linked Discourses 5.1
  • 0.21. Bhikkhunīvagga1. Nuns

0.3ĀḷavikāsuttaWith Āḷavikā

1.1Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard.11.2ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.

1.3Atha kho āḷavikā bhikkhunī pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā pattacīvaramādāya sāvatthiṁ piṇḍāya pāvisi.Then the nun Āḷavikā robed up in the morning and, taking her bowl and robe, entered Sāvatthī for alms.21.4Sāvatthiyaṁ piṇḍāya caritvā pacchābhattaṁ piṇḍapātapaṭikkantā yena andhavanaṁ tenupasaṅkami vivekatthinī.She wandered for alms in Sāvatthī. After the meal, on her return from almsround, she went to the Dark Forest seeking seclusion.3

1.5Atha kho māro pāpimā āḷavikāya bhikkhuniyā bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo vivekamhā cāvetukāmo yena āḷavikā bhikkhunī tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā āḷavikaṁ bhikkhuniṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:Then Māra the Wicked, wanting to make the nun Āḷavikā feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make her fall away from seclusion, went up to her and addressed her in verse:

2.1“Natthi nissaraṇaṁ loke,“There’s no escape in the world,2.2kiṁ vivekena kāhasi;so what will seclusion do for you?2.3Bhuñjassu kāmaratiyo,Enjoy erotic delights;2.4māhu pacchānutāpinī”ti.don’t regret it later.”

3.1Atha kho āḷavikāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi:Then the nun Āḷavikā thought,3.2“ko nu khvāyaṁ manusso vā amanusso vā gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti?“Who’s speaking this verse, a human or a non-human?”

3.3Atha kho āḷavikāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi:Then she thought,3.4“māro kho ayaṁ pāpimā mama bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo vivekamhā cāvetukāmo gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti.“This is Māra the Wicked, wanting to make me feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make me fall away from seclusion!”4

3.5Atha kho āḷavikā bhikkhunī “māro ayaṁ pāpimā” iti viditvā māraṁ pāpimantaṁ gāthāhi paccabhāsi:Then Āḷavikā, knowing that this was Māra the Wicked, replied to him in verse:

4.1“Atthi nissaraṇaṁ loke,“There is an escape in the world,4.2paññāya me suphussitaṁ;and I’ve personally experienced it with wisdom.4.3Pamattabandhu pāpima,O Wicked One, kinsman of the negligent,4.4na tvaṁ jānāsi taṁ padaṁ.you don’t know that state.

5.1Sattisūlūpamā kāmā,Sensual pleasures are like swords and spears;55.2khandhāsaṁ adhikuṭṭanā;the aggregates are their chopping block.65.3Yaṁ tvaṁ kāmaratiṁ brūsi,What you call erotic delight5.4arati mayha sā ahū”ti.is now no delight for me.”

6.1Atha kho māro pāpimā “jānāti maṁ āḷavikā bhikkhunī”ti dukkhī dummano tatthevantaradhāyīti.Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The nun Āḷavikā knows me!” miserable and sad, vanished right there.

Translator’s notes

  1. This chapter naturally follows the previous, as it features Māra challenging various bhikkhunīs. Some of these verses are also included in the Therīgāthā, without the prose narrative. The commentarial backgrounds for the nuns are available in many sources, including Malalasekera’s Dictionary of Pali proper Names, and I will not repeat them here.

    ↩ sn5.1:1.1

  2. Her name means “of Āḷavī”. This exchange (lacking Āḷavikā’s first verse) is echoed in Thig 3.7, where the author is named Selā. The commentary confirms that she is the same person, Selā of Āḷavī.

    ↩ sn5.1:1.3

  3. Normally one goes “for the day’s meditation” (divāvihārāya), whereas here, uniquely, the text has “seeking seclusion” (vivekatthinī). In line with this, the next sentence has Māra wanting her to “fall away from seclusion”, whereas normally it is “fall away from immersion”. Seclusion also occurs in Māra’s challenge.

    The Dark Forest (andhavana) was a thick grove south of Sāvatthī often visited by monks and nuns for meditation. The commentary says the name means “Blind Man’s Forest”, giving an improbable origin story. But compare Sanskrit andhakūpa, “dark well” or “blind well”, a well covered over with a lid or overgrowth; also the name of a hell.

    ↩ sn5.1:1.4

  4. She immediately recognizes him.

    ↩ sn5.1:3.4

  5. This image is often found independently, and along with other similes at MN 22:3.17 and AN 5.76:15.4. The verse as a whole in found thrice in Therīgāthā: the verses of Selā (Thig 3.7:2.1), Khemā (Thig 6.3:3.1), and Uppalavaṇṇā (Thig 11.1:11.1).

    ↩ sn5.1:5.1

  6. Khandāsaṁ resolves to khandā esaṁ.

    ↩ sn5.1:5.2