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SN 5.9PTS (1st ed) SN 1.1341 min read

With Selā

Selāsutta

Māra asks the nun Selā about who has created this “puppet”, i.e. the form that has been reincarnated. She replies that there is no creator, but it arises as a result of conditions, like the growing of a seed in a field.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 5.9Linked Discourses 5.9
  • 0.21. Bhikkhunīvagga1. Nuns

0.3SelāsuttaWith Selā

1.1Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.

1.2Atha kho selā bhikkhunī pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā …pe…Then the nun Selā robed up in the morning …11.3aññatarasmiṁ rukkhamūle divāvihāraṁ nisīdi.and sat at the root of a tree for the day’s meditation.

1.4Atha kho māro pāpimā selāya bhikkhuniyā bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo …pe…Then Māra the Wicked, wanting to make the nun Selā feel fear, terror, and goosebumps …1.5selaṁ bhikkhuniṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:addressed her in verse:

2.1“Kenidaṁ pakataṁ bimbaṁ,“Who created this puppet?22.2kvanu bimbassa kārako;Where is its maker?2.3Kvanu bimbaṁ samuppannaṁ,Where has the puppet arisen?2.4kvanu bimbaṁ nirujjhatī”ti.And where does it cease?”

3.1Atha kho selāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi:Then the nun Selā 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 selāya 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 selā bhikkhunī “māro ayaṁ pāpimā” iti viditvā māraṁ pāpimantaṁ gāthāhi paccabhāsi:Then Selā, knowing that this was Māra the Wicked, replied to him in verse:

4.1“Nayidaṁ attakataṁ bimbaṁ,“This puppet isn’t self-made,34.2nayidaṁ parakataṁ aghaṁ;nor is this gloom made by another.44.3Hetuṁ paṭicca sambhūtaṁ,It comes to be because of a cause,4.4hetubhaṅgā nirujjhati.and ceases when the cause breaks up.

5.1Yathā aññataraṁ bījaṁ,It’s like a seed that’s sown55.2khette vuttaṁ virūhati;in a field; it grows5.3Pathavīrasañcāgamma,relying on both the soil’s nutrients5.4sinehañca tadūbhayaṁ.as well as moisture.

6.1Evaṁ khandhā ca dhātuyo,In the same way the aggregates and elements6.2cha ca āyatanā ime;and these six sense fields6.3Hetuṁ paṭicca sambhūtā,come to be because of a cause,6.4hetubhaṅgā nirujjhare”ti.and cease when the cause breaks up.”

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

Translator’s notes

  1. As noted, the verses of Selā at Thig 3.7 are attributed to Āḷavikā at SN 5.1. The verses here have no Pali parallels, and it is unclear whether this is the same person.

    ↩ sn5.9:1.2

  2. “Puppet” is bimba; the similarity to English “bimbo” seems a coincidence.

    ↩ sn5.9:2.1

  3. This contradicts eg. Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.3.10, “for he is the maker”.

    ↩ sn5.9:4.1

  4. Neither of the two Chinese parallels at SA2 219 or SA 1203 contain any parallel to agha (“gloom”).

    ↩ sn5.9:4.2

  5. Selā uses the imagery of agriculture to illustrate the organic, changing nature of an individual, who survives supported by multiple conditions.

    ↩ sn5.9:5.1