SN 4.19

Kassakasutta

Sāvatthinidānaṁ. Tena kho pana samayena bhagavā bhikkhūnaṁ nibbānapaṭisaṁyuttāya dhammiyā kathāya sandasseti samādapeti samuttejeti sampahaṁseti. Te ca bhikkhū aṭṭhiṁ katvā manasi katvā sabbacetasā samannāharitvā ohitasotā dhammaṁ suṇanti.

A Farmer

At Sāvatthī. Now at that time the Buddha was educating, encouraging, firing up, and inspiring the mendicants with a Dhamma talk about extinguishment. And those mendicants were paying attention, applying the mind, concentrating wholeheartedly, and actively listening.

Atha kho mārassa pāpimato etadahosi: “ayaṁ kho samaṇo gotamo bhikkhūnaṁ nibbānapaṭisaṁyuttāya dhammiyā kathāya …pe… yannūnāhaṁ yena samaṇo gotamo tenupasaṅkameyyaṁ vicakkhukammāyā”ti. Atha kho māro pāpimā kassakavaṇṇaṁ abhinimminitvā mahantaṁ naṅgalaṁ khandhe karitvā dīghapācanayaṭṭhiṁ gahetvā haṭahaṭakeso sāṇasāṭinivattho kaddamamakkhitehi pādehi yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “api, samaṇa, balībadde addasā”ti? “Kiṁ pana, pāpima, te balībaddehī”ti? “Mameva, samaṇa, cakkhu, mama rūpā, mama cakkhusamphassaviññāṇāyatanaṁ. Kuhiṁ me, samaṇa, gantvā mokkhasi? Mameva, samaṇa, sotaṁ, mama saddā …pe… mameva, samaṇa, ghānaṁ, mama gandhā; mameva, samaṇa, jivhā, mama rasā; mameva, samaṇa, kāyo, mama phoṭṭhabbā; mameva, samaṇa, mano, mama dhammā, mama manosamphassaviññāṇāyatanaṁ. Kuhiṁ me, samaṇa, gantvā mokkhasī”ti?

Then Māra thought, “The ascetic Gotama is giving a Dhamma talk about extinguishment … and the mendicants are listening well. Why don’t I go and pull the wool over their eyes?” Then Māra the Wicked manifested in the form of a farmer carrying a large plough on his shoulder. He held a long goad, his hair was messy, he was clad in sunn hemp, and his feet were muddy. He went up to the Buddha and said to him, “So, ascetic, did you happen to see any oxen?” “But what have you to do with oxen, Wicked One?” “Mine alone, ascetic, is the eye, mine are sights, mine is the field of eye contact consciousness. Where can you escape me, ascetic? Mine alone is the ear … nose … tongue … body … mind, mine are ideas, mine is the field of mind contact consciousness. Where can you escape me, ascetic?”

“Taveva, pāpima, cakkhu, tava rūpā, tava cakkhusamphassaviññāṇāyatanaṁ. Yattha ca kho, pāpima, natthi cakkhu, natthi rūpā, natthi cakkhusamphassaviññāṇāyatanaṁ, agati tava tattha, pāpima. Taveva, pāpima, sotaṁ, tava saddā, tava sotasamphassaviññāṇāyatanaṁ. Yattha ca kho, pāpima, natthi sotaṁ, natthi saddā, natthi sotasamphassaviññāṇāyatanaṁ, agati tava tattha, pāpima. Taveva, pāpima, ghānaṁ, tava gandhā, tava ghānasamphassaviññāṇāyatanaṁ. Yattha ca kho, pāpima, natthi ghānaṁ, natthi gandhā, natthi ghānasamphassaviññāṇāyatanaṁ, agati tava tattha, pāpima. Taveva, pāpima, jivhā, tava rasā, tava jivhāsamphassaviññāṇāyatanaṁ …pe… taveva, pāpima, kāyo, tava phoṭṭhabbā, tava kāyasamphassaviññāṇāyatanaṁ …pe… taveva, pāpima, mano, tava dhammā, tava manosamphassaviññāṇāyatanaṁ. Yattha ca kho, pāpima, natthi mano, natthi dhammā, natthi manosamphassaviññāṇāyatanaṁ, agati tava tattha, pāpimā”ti.

“Yours alone, Wicked One, is the eye, yours are sights, yours is the field of eye contact consciousness. Where there is no eye, no sights, no eye contact consciousness—you have no place there, Wicked One! Yours alone is the ear … nose … tongue … body … mind, yours are ideas, yours is the field of mind contact consciousness. Where there is no mind, no ideas, no mind contact consciousness—you have no place there, Wicked One!”

“Yaṁ vadanti mama yidanti, ye vadanti mamanti ca; Ettha ce te mano atthi, na me samaṇa mokkhasī”ti.

“The things they call ‘mine’, and those who say ‘it’s mine’: if your mind remains there, you won’t escape me, ascetic!”

“Yaṁ vadanti na taṁ mayhaṁ, ye vadanti na te ahaṁ; Evaṁ pāpima jānāhi, na me maggampi dakkhasī”ti.

“The things they speak of aren’t mine; I’m not someone who speaks like that. So know this, Wicked One: you won’t even see the path I take.”

Atha kho māro pāpimā …pe… tatthevantaradhāyīti.

Then Māra … vanished right there.