SN 4.25 - SN 4:25 Māra’s Daughters | Māradhītu Sutta
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
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Copyright: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017
License notice: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Attribution: From Handful of Leaves, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu; https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/SuttaPitaka_251113.epub. Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Publisher references (not part of the sutta): See also: AN 5:75; Ud 3:2; Sn 4:9; Thag 7:1
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Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved, including introductions, notes and verse structure. Thanissaro's collection-level note explicitly states that repetitions were cut: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/about.html. This is evidence about the translation method, not an assertion that every individual unit contains an omission; no repetitions reconstructed.

Māra’s Daughters
 Māradhītu Sutta (SN 4:25)

Then Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went to Māra the Evil One and, on arrival, addressed him in verse:

“Why are you depressed, Daddy?
For which man do you grieve?
We—having bound him
like a wilderness elephant
with a snare of passion—
will bring him to you.
Under your power he’ll be.”

Māra:

“An arahant, well-gone in the world,
isn’t easily brought in by passion.
He’s gone beyond Māra’s sway:
That’s why I’m so violently sad.”

Then Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, said to him, “We serve you at your feet, contemplative.”

But the Blessed One paid them no attention, as he was released in the unexcelled ending of acquisitions.

Then Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went off to one side and considered, “Various are the appetites of men. Why don’t we each assume the form of a hundred girls?”

So Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—having each assumed the form of a hundred girls, went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, said to him, “We serve you at your feet, contemplative.”

Again, the Blessed One paid them no attention, as he was released in the unexcelled ending of acquisitions.

So Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went off to one side and considered, “Many & varied are the appetites of men. Why don’t we each assume the form of a hundred women who have never given birth?”

So Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—having each assumed the form of a hundred women who had never given birth, went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, said to him, “We serve you at your feet, contemplative.” Again, the Blessed One paid them no attention, as he was released in the unexcelled ending of acquisitions.

Then Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went off to one side and considered, “Many & varied are the appetites of men. Why don’t we each assume the form of a hundred women who have borne one child … a hundred women who have borne two children … a hundred middle-aged women … a hundred older women?” So Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—having each assumed the form of a hundred older women, went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, said to him, “We serve you at your feet, contemplative.” Again, the Blessed One paid them no attention, as he was released in the unexcelled ending of acquisitions.

Then Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went off to one side and said, “Wow, it’s true what our father said:

‘An arahant, well-gone in the world,
isn’t easily brought in by passion.
He’s gone beyond Māra’s sway:
That’s why I’m so violently sad.’

“Any contemplative or brahman who hadn’t gone beyond passion, if we were to approach him with this approach: His heart would split or he would cough up hot blood or he would go mad, out of his mind. Just as a green reed cut down would dry out, wither, & fade, in the same way, he would dry out, wither, & fade.”

Then Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, stood to one side. As she was standing there, Māra’s daughter Craving addressed the Blessed One with verses:

“Practicing jhāna in the forest—
are you overcome with grief?
Have you lost,
or do you desire, wealth?
Have you done something
blameworthy in the village?
Is it because
you become intimate people,
but intimacy doesn’t prosper for you
with anyone at all?”

The Buddha:

“Having attained the goal—
peace of the heart—
having defeated the army
of forms endearing & alluring,
practicing jhāna alone,
I awakened to bliss.
That’s why I don’t become intimate
with people,
why intimacy doesn’t prosper with me
when made by anyone at all.”1

 Then Māra’s daughter Discontent addressed the Blessed One in verse: 

“How does a monk here often dwell,
who has crossed the five floods
and also the sixth?2
How, while cultivating jhāna,
does he keep perceptions of sensuality far away?”

The Buddha:

“Calmed in body,
well released in mind,
without fabrications,
mindful, homeless,
having known the Dhamma,
practicing jhāna without directed thought,
he’s not provoked,
doesn’t flow, isn’t slothful:
	Like this
a monk here often dwells,
who has crossed the five floods
and also the sixth.
Cultivating jhāna like this,
he keeps perceptions of sensuality
	far 	away.”

 Then Māra’s daughter Passion addressed the Blessed One in verse: 

“Cutting off craving,
practicing with a group:
Yes, many & faithful
they’ll fare.
O, how this homeless one,
having snatched them
from the King of Death,
will lead a great crowd away.”

The Buddha:

“The Tathāgatas, great heroes,
do lead
      with the true Dhamma.
For those who know,
leading by Dhamma,
what’s the jealousy?”

Then Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went to Māra the Evil One. He saw them coming from afar and, on seeing them, addressed them with verses:

“Fools!
Cleave a mountain
	with a lily-stalk.
Dig up a crag
	with your fingernails.
Chew on iron
	with your teeth.
Raising a rock
above your head,
	go over a cliff,
	into a pit.
Like striking your chest
on a stump—
you weary yourselves with Gotama.”

Blazing they came—
Craving, Discontent, & Passion—
but the Teacher blew them off,
like the wind, a fallen tuft of cotton.

Notes

1. This phrase—sakkhī na sampajjati kenaci te/me—appears to admit two meanings. 1) One’s attempts at intimacy with others don’t succeed. 2) Others’ attempts at intimacy with one don’t succeed. Māra’s daughter—following their father in SN 4:24, mean it in the first sense. The Buddha here means it in the second.

2. The six floods are the defilements associated with each of the six senses.