Dhammapada 24.8: 8. Māravatthu

24.8.p1

Niṭṭhaṅgatoti imaṃ dhammadesanaṃ satthā jetavane viharanto māraṃ ārabbha kathesi.

He that has reached perfection. This religious instruction was given by the Teacher while he was in residence at Jetavana with reference to Māra.

24.8.p2

Ekadivasañhi vikāle sambahulā therā jetavanavihāraṃ pavisitvā rāhulattherassa vasanaṭṭhānaṃ gantvā taṃ uṭṭhāpesuṃ. So aññattha vasanaṭṭhānaṃ apassanto tathāgatassa gandhakuṭiyā pamukhe nipajji. Tadā so āyasmā arahattaṃ patto avassikova hoti. Māro vasavattibhavane ṭhitoyeva taṃ āyasmantaṃ gandhakuṭipamukhe nipannaṃ disvā cintesi – ‘‘samaṇassa gotamassa rujanakaaṅgulī bahi nipanno, sayaṃ antogandhakuṭiyaṃ nipanno, aṅguliyā pīḷiyamānāya sayampi pīḷito bhavissatī’’ti. So mahantaṃ hatthirājavaṇṇaṃ abhinimminitvā āgamma soṇḍāya therassa matthakaṃ parikkhipitvā mahantena saddena koñcanādaṃ ravi. Satthā gandhakuṭiyaṃ nisinnova tassa mārabhāvaṃ ñatvā, ‘‘māra, tādisānaṃ satasahassenāpi mama puttassa bhayaṃ uppādetuṃ na sakkā. Putto hi me asantāsī vītataṇho mahāvīriyo mahāpañño’’ti vatvā imā gāthā abhāsi –

For one day several Elders entered the Jetavana monastery at an unseasonable hour, and going to the quarters of Elder Rāhula, woke him up. Rāhula, seeing no other place to sleep, went and lay down in front of the Tathāgata's Perfumed Chamber. This Venerable Elder, although he was but eight years old, had already attained Arahatship. As Māra Vasavattī, keeping his natural form, beheld this Venerable Elder lying in front of the Perfumed Chamber, he thought to himself, "The son of the monk Gotama lies without the Perfumed Chamber, as though his finger hurt him; the monk himself reclines within the Perfumed Chamber, and if the finger of his son be pinched, he himself will feel a pinching." So Māra took the form of a gigantic elephant-king, and drawing near the Elder, encircled the head of the Elder with his trunk, and with a loud voice trumpeted the Heron's Call. The Teacher, even as he reclined in the Perfumed Chamber, perceived that it was Māra, and said, "Māra, with a hundred thousand like yourself, it would be impossible for you to frighten my son. My son is unafraid, devoid of Craving, of mighty vigor, of great wisdom." So saying, he pronounced the following Stanzas,

24.8.351

‘‘Niṭṭhaṅgato asantāsī, vītataṇho anaṅgaṇo;
Acchindi bhavasallāni, antimoyaṃ samussayo.

351. He that has reached perfection, he that is unafraid, free from Craving, devoid of lust,
He that has cut out the arrows of being, such a man has reached his last state of existence.

24.8.352

‘‘Vītataṇho anādāno, niruttipadakovido;
Akkharānaṃ sannipātaṃ, jaññā pubbāparāni ca;
Sa ve antimasārīro,
Mahāpañño mahāpurisoti vuccatī’’ti.

352. He that is free from Craving, he that is without attachment,
He that is skilled to interpret words in the old dialect,
He that knows the order of the letters from first to last,
Such a man has received his last body, such a man is a great sage, a great man.

24.8.352_2

Tattha niṭṭhaṅgatoti imasmiṃ sāsane pabbajitānaṃ arahattaṃ niṭṭhaṃ nāma, taṃ gato pattoti attho. Asantāsīti abbhantare rāgasantāsādīnaṃ abhāvena asantasanako. Acchindi bhavasallānīti sabbānipi bhavagāmīni sallāni acchindi. Samussayoti ayaṃ etassa antimo deho.

24.8.352_3

Anādānoti khandhādīsu niggahaṇo. Niruttipadakovidoti niruttiyañca sesapadesu cāti catūsupi paṭisambhidāsu chekoti attho. Akkharānaṃ sannipātaṃ, jaññā pubbāparāni cāti akkharānaṃ sannipātasaṅkhātaṃ akkharapiṇḍañca jānāti, pubbakkharena aparakkharaṃ, aparakkharena pubbakkharañca jānāti. Pubbakkharena aparakkharaṃ jānāti nāma – ādimhi paññāyamāne majjhapariyosānesu apaññāyamānesupi ‘‘imesaṃ akkharānaṃ idaṃ majjhaṃ, idaṃ pariyosāna’’nti jānāti. Aparakkharena pubbakkharaṃ jānāti nāma – ante paññāyamāne ādimajjhesu apaññāyamānesu ‘‘imesaṃ akkharānaṃ idaṃ majjhaṃ, ayaṃ ādī’’ti jānāti. Majjhe paññāyamānepi ‘‘imesaṃ akkharānaṃ ayaṃ ādi, ayaṃ anto’’ti jānāti. Evaṃ mahāpañño. Sa ve antimasārīroti esa koṭiyaṃ ṭhitasarīro, mahantānaṃ atthadhammaniruttipaṭibhānānaṃ sīlakkhandhādīnañca pariggāhikāya paññāya samannāgatattā mahāpañño, ‘‘vimuttacittattā khvāhaṃ, sāriputta, mahāpurisoti vadāmī’’ti (saṃ. ni. 5.377) vacanato vimuttacittatāya ca mahāpurisoti vuccatīti attho.

24.8.352_4

Desanāvasāne bahū sotāpattiphalādīni pāpuṇiṃsu. Māropi pāpimā ‘‘jānāti maṃ samaṇo gotamo’’ti tatthevantaradhāyīti.

At the conclusion of the lesson many obtained the Fruit of Conversion and the Fruits of the Second and Third Paths. Māra the Evil One said to himself, “The monk Gotama knows me,” and then and there disappeared.

24.8.352_5

Māravatthu aṭṭhamaṃ.