Saṁyutta Nikāya 4.17
Translators: sujato and bodhi
Linked Discourses 4.17
2. Dutiyavagga
2. Rule
Chaphassāyatanasutta
The Six Fields of Contact Six Bases for Contact
Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā vesāliyaṁ viharati mahāvane kūṭāgārasālāyaṁ.
At one time the Buddha was staying near Vesālī, at the Great Wood, in the hall with the peaked roof.
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Vesālī in the Great Wood in the Hall with the Peaked Roof.
Tena kho pana samayena bhagavā channaṁ phassāyatanānaṁ upādāya bhikkhūnaṁ dhammiyā kathāya sandasseti samādapeti samuttejeti sampahaṁseti.
Now at that time the Buddha was educating, encouraging, firing up, and inspiring the mendicants with a Dhamma talk on the topic of the six fields of contact.
Now on that occasion the Blessed One was instructing, exhorting, inspiring, and gladdening the bhikkhus with a Dhamma talk concerning the six bases for contact.
Te ca bhikkhū aṭṭhiṁ katvā manasi katvā sabbacetasā samannāharitvā ohitasotā dhammaṁ suṇanti.
And those mendicants were paying attention, applying the mind, concentrating wholeheartedly, and actively listening.
And those bhikkhus were listening to the Dhamma with eager ears, attending to it as a matter of vital concern, applying their whole minds to it.
Atha kho mārassa pāpimato etadahosi:
Then Māra thought,
Then it occurred to Māra the Evil One:
“ayaṁ kho samaṇo gotamo channaṁ phassāyatanānaṁ upādāya bhikkhūnaṁ dhammiyā kathāya sandasseti samādapeti samuttejeti sappahaṁseti.
“This ascetic Gotama is educating, encouraging, firing up, and inspiring the mendicants with a Dhamma talk on the topic of the six fields of contact.
“This ascetic Gotama is instructing, exhorting, inspiring, and gladdening the bhikkhus …
Te ca bhikkhū aṭṭhiṁ katvā manasi katvā sabbacetasā samannāharitvā ohitasotā dhammaṁ suṇanti.
And those mendicants are paying attention, applying the mind, concentrating wholeheartedly, and actively listening.
who are applying their whole minds to it.
Yannūnāhaṁ yena samaṇo gotamo tenupasaṅkameyyaṁ vicakkhukammāyā”ti.
Why don’t I go and pull the wool over their eyes?”
Let me approach the ascetic Gotama in order to confound them. ”
Atha kho māro pāpimā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavato avidūre mahantaṁ bhayabheravaṁ saddamakāsi, apissudaṁ pathavī maññe undrīyati. Atha kho aññataro bhikkhu aññataraṁ bhikkhuṁ etadavoca:
Then Māra the Wicked went up to the Buddha and made a terrifyingly loud noise close by him. It seemed as if the earth were shattering, so that one of the mendicants said to another,
Then Māra the Evil One approached the Blessed One and, not far from him, made a loud noise, frightful and terrifying, as though the earth were splitting open. Then one bhikkhu said to another:
“bhikkhu bhikkhu, esā pathavī maññe undrīyatī”ti.
“Mendicant, mendicant, it seems like the earth is shattering!”
“Bhikkhu, bhikkhu! It seems as though the earth is splitting open. ”
Evaṁ vutte, bhagavā taṁ bhikkhuṁ etadavoca:
When this was said, the Buddha said to that mendicant,
When this was said, the Blessed One said to that bhikkhu:
“nesā, bhikkhu, pathavī undrīyati.
“Mendicant, that’s not the earth shattering.
“The earth is not splitting open, bhikkhu.
Māro eso pāpimā tumhākaṁ vicakkhukammāya āgato”ti.
That’s Māra the Wicked come to pull the wool over your eyes!”
That is Māra the Evil One, who has come here in order to confound you. ”
Atha kho bhagavā “māro ayaṁ pāpimā” iti viditvā māraṁ pāpimantaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:
Then the Buddha, knowing that this was Māra the Wicked, addressed him in verse:
Then the Blessed One, having understood, “This is Māra the Evil One, ” addressed Māra the Evil One in verses:
“Rūpā saddā rasā gandhā,
“Sights, sounds, tastes, smells,
“Forms, sounds, tastes, odours,
phassā dhammā ca kevalā;
touches, and ideas, the lot of them—
Tactiles, and all mental objects:
Etaṁ lokāmisaṁ ghoraṁ,
this is the dreadful bait
This is the terrible bait of the world
ettha loko vimucchito.
that the world’s infatuated by.
With which the world is infatuated.
Etañca samatikkamma,
But a mindful disciple of the Buddha
“But when he has transcended this,
sato buddhassa sāvako;
has transcended all that.
The mindful disciple of the Buddha
Māradheyyaṁ atikkamma,
Having slipped free of Māra’s sway,
Having surmounted Māra’s realm,
ādiccova virocatī”ti.
they shine like the sun.”
Shines radiantly like the sun.”
Atha kho māro pāpimā …pe… tatthevantaradhāyīti.
Then Māra … vanished right there.
Then Māra the Evil One … disappeared right there.