Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c8.161

c8.161

"Then came"—thus Buddha afterwards relates the history of this temptation to his disciple Ânanda—"Mâra, the wicked one, unto me. Coming up to me, he placed himself at my side: standing at my side, Ânanda, Mâra, the wicked one, spake unto me, saying: 'Enter now into Nirvâna, Exalted One, enter Nirvâna, Perfect One: now is the time of Nirvâna arrived for the Exalted One.' As he thus spake, I replied, Ânanda, to Mâra, the wicked one, saying: 'I shall not enter Nirvâna, thou wicked one, until I shall have gained monks as my disciples, who are wise and instructed, intelligent hearers of the word, acquainted with the doctrine, experts in the Doctrine and the second Doctrine, versed in the ordinances, walking in the Law, to propagate, teach, promulgate, explain, formulate, be entertained. The Buddhist history of the temptation is to be found in the "Mahâparinibbâna Sutta," p. 30, seq., and is inserted in the context of the whole continuous narrative in the "Lalita Vistara," p. 489.