SN 5.4 - Vijaya Sutta: Vijaya
Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi
Source: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn05/sn05.004.bodh.html
License: Free redistribution with attribution and complete notice
License URL: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn05/sn05.004.bodh.html#F_termsOfUse
Copyright: ©1997 Buddhist Publication Society.
License notice: You may copy, reformat, reprint, republish, and redistribute this work in any medium whatsoever, provided that: (1) you only make such copies, etc. available free of charge and, in the case of reprinting, only in quantities of no more than 50 copies; (2) you clearly indicate that any derivatives of this work (including translations) are derived from this source document; and (3) you include the full text of this license in any copies or derivatives of this work. Otherwise, all rights reserved. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions.
Attribution: ©1997 Buddhist Publication Society. You may copy, reformat, reprint, republish, and redistribute this work in any medium whatsoever, provided that: (1) you only make such copies, etc. available free of charge and, in the case of reprinting, only in quantities of no more than 50 copies; (2) you clearly indicate that any derivatives of this work (including translations) are derived from this source document; and (3) you include the full text of this license in any copies or derivatives of this work. Otherwise, all rights reserved. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. From Discourses of the Ancient Nuns (BL 143), translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1997). Copyright © 1997 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission. Last revised for Access to Insight on 13 June 2010. How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Vijaya Sutta: Vijaya" (SN 5.4), translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 13 June 2010, https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn05/sn05.004.bodh.html .
Changes: Presentation only: original HTML markup reflowed into plain text; wording, numbering and source repetitions retained. No repetitions expanded.
Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved; source ellipsis or repetition-omission statement retained. Canonical repetitions were not reconstructed.

Setting at Savatthi. Then, in the morning, the bhikkhuni Vijaya dressed... she sat down at the foot of a tree for the day's abiding.

Then Mara the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in the bhikkhuni Vijaya,
 desiring to make her fall away from concentration, approached her and addressed her in verse: [131]

 You are so young and beautiful, And I too am in the bloom of youth. Come, noble lady, let us rejoice With the music of a fivefold ensemble. 

Then it occurred to the bhikkhuni Vijaya: "Now who is this...? This is Mara the Evil One... desiring to make me fall away from concentration."

Then the bhikkhuni Vijaya, having understood, "This is Mara the Evil One," replied to him in verses:

 Forms and sounds, tastes and odors, Tactile objects that delight the mind: I offer them right back to you, For I, O Mara, do not need them. I am repelled and humiliated By this foul, putrid body, Subject to break up, fragile: I've uprooted sensual craving. As to those beings who fare amidst form, And those who abide in the formless, And those peaceful attainments too: Everywhere darkness has been destroyed. 

Then Mara the Evil One, realizing "The bhikkhuni Vijaya knows me," sad and disappointed, disappeared right there.