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SN 5.10PTS (1st ed) SN 1.1341 min read

With Vajirā

Vajirāsutta

Māra asks the nun Vajirā about who has created this being. Recognizing him, she points out that the word “being” is nothing more than a convention used to designate the aggregates, just as the word “cart” is used when the parts are assembled.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 5.10Linked Discourses 5.10
  • 0.21. Bhikkhunīvagga1. Nuns

0.3VajirāsuttaWith Vajirā

1.1Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.

1.2Atha kho vajirā bhikkhunī pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā pattacīvaramādāya sāvatthiṁ piṇḍāya pāvisi.Then the nun Vajirā robed up in the morning and, taking her bowl and robe, entered Sāvatthī for alms.11.3Sāvatthiyaṁ piṇḍāya caritvā pacchābhattaṁ piṇḍapātapaṭikkantā yena andhavanaṁ tenupasaṅkami divāvihārāya.She wandered for alms in Sāvatthī. After the meal, on her return from almsround, she went to the Dark Forest for the day’s meditation,1.4Andhavanaṁ ajjhogāhetvā aññatarasmiṁ rukkhamūle divāvihāraṁ nisīdi.plunged deep into it, and sat at the root of a tree to meditate.

1.5Atha kho māro pāpimā vajirāya bhikkhuniyā bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo yena vajirā bhikkhunī tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā vajiraṁ bhikkhuniṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:Then Māra the Wicked, wanting to make the nun Vajirā feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make her fall away from immersion, went up to her and addressed her in verse:

2.1“Kenāyaṁ pakato satto,“Who created this sentient being?22.2kuvaṁ sattassa kārako;Where is its maker?2.3Kuvaṁ satto samuppanno,Where has the being arisen?2.4kuvaṁ satto nirujjhatī”ti.And where does it cease?”

3.1Atha kho vajirāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi:Then the nun Vajirā 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 vajirāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi:Then she thought,3.4“māro kho ayaṁ pāpimā mama bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā 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 immersion!”

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

4.1“Kiṁ nu sattoti paccesi,“Why do you believe there’s such a thing as a <j>‘sentient being’?4.2māra diṭṭhigataṁ nu te;Māra, is this your theory?4.3Suddhasaṅkhārapuñjoyaṁ,This is just a pile of conditions,4.4nayidha sattupalabbhati.you won’t find a sentient being here.

5.1Yathā hi aṅgasambhārā,When the parts are assembled5.2hoti saddo ratho iti;we use the word ‘chariot’.5.3Evaṁ khandhesu santesu,So too, when the aggregates are present5.4hoti sattoti sammuti.‘sentient being’ is the convention we use.3

6.1Dukkhameva hi sambhoti,But it’s only suffering that comes to be,6.2dukkhaṁ tiṭṭhati veti ca;lasts a while, then expires.6.3Nāññatra dukkhā sambhoti,Naught but suffering comes to be,6.4nāññaṁ dukkhā nirujjhatī”ti.naught but suffering ceases.”

7.1Atha kho māro pāpimā “jānāti maṁ vajirā bhikkhunī”ti dukkhī dummano tatthevantaradhāyīti.Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The nun Vajirā knows me!” miserable and sad, vanished right there.

7.2Bhikkhunīvaggo paṭhamo.

8.0Tassuddānaṁ

8.1Āḷavikā ca somā ca,8.2Gotamī vijayā saha;8.3Uppalavaṇṇā ca cālā,8.4Upacālā sīsupacālā ca;8.5Selā vajirāya te dasāti.

8.6Bhikkhunīsaṁyuttaṁ samattaṁ.The Linked Discourses on Nuns are complete.

Translator’s notes

  1. Although these verses are much-quoted in Buddhist literature, Vajirā is only known from this Sutta.

    ↩ sn5.10:1.2

  2. The challenge is the same as the previous, with “sentient being” for “puppet”.

    ↩ sn5.10:2.1

  3. Vajirā directly opposes the Upaniṣadic view that the Self underlying the diversity of experience is no mere convention, but the true reality masked by appearances. Compare Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.5.15 and Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.15.1, where all beings are fixed in Divinity like spokes in the hub of a wheel. The Upaniṣads say that the Self or the mind is the charioteer and the body the chariot (Katha Upaniṣad 1.3.3–9, Maitrī Upaniṣad 2.6, Paiṅgala Upaniṣad 4.1).

    ↩ sn5.10:5.4