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Appendix

Appendix

Verses Attributed To Sisters In The Bhikkhun-sayutta Of The Sayutta-nikya

1.
avik. 454

Thus
have I heard. The Exalted One was once staying at Svatth, in the Jeta Grove, the park of Anthapiika. Now avik the Bhikkhun dressed herself early and, taking bowl and robe, entered Svatth for food. And when she had gone about Svatth for it, had broken her fast and returned, she entered the Dark Wood, seeking solitude.

Then Mra the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear, wavering, and dread in her, desiring to make her desist from being alone, went up to her, and addressed her in a verse:

'Ne'er shalt thou find escape while in the world.

What profiteth thee then thy loneliness?

Take the good things of life while yet thou may'st,

Repentance else too late awaiteth thee.'

Then avik thought: 'Who now is this, human or non-human, that speaketh this verse? Sure 'tis Mra the Evil One speaketh it, desirous to arouse in me fear, wavering and dread, desirous to make me desist from my solitude.' And Bhikkhun avik, knowing that 'twas he, replied with a verse:

'There is escape while in the world, and I

Have well attained thereto by insight won.

Thou evil limb of loafing! 455 'tis not thine

To know that bourne, or how it may be reached.

Like spears and jav'lins are the joys of sense,

That pierce and rend the mortal frames of us.

These that thou callest "the good things of life,"

Good of that ilk to me is nothing worth.'

Then Mra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun avik knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.

2. Som. 456

..... 457
Now Som..... entered the Dark Wood for siesta, and, plunging into its depths, sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.

Then Mra the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear, wavering, and dread in her, desiring to make her desist from concentrated thought, went up to her, and addressed her in a verse:

'That vantage-ground the sages may attain is hard

To reach. With her two-finger consciousness

That is no woman competent to gain!'

Then Som thought..... 'Sure 'tis Mra!'.... and replied with verses:

'What should the woman's nature do to them 458

Whose hearts are firmly set, who ever move

With growing knowledge onward in the Path?

What can that signify to one in whom

Insight doth truly comprehend the Norm?

To one for whom the question doth arise:

Am I a woman in these matters, or

Am I a man, or what not am I, then?

To such an one is Mra fit to talk!'

Then Mra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun Som knows me,' vanished thence, sad and dejected.

3. Gotam. 459

.....
Now the Lean Gotamid..... entered the Dark Wood for siesta, and, plunging into its depths, sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta. Then Mra
..... went up to her, and addressed her in a verse:

'How now? Dost sit alone with tearful face

As mother stricken by the loss of child?

Thou who hast plunged into the woods alone,

Is it a man that thou hast come to seek?'

Then the Lean Gotamid thought..... 'Sure 'tis Mra!'..... and replied with verses:

'Ay, ever am I she whose child is lost! 460

And for the seeking, there are men at hand.

I do not grieve, I am not shedding tears,

And as for thee, good sir, I fear thee not.

Slain everywhere is love of worldly joys,

And the thick gloom of ignorance is rent in twain.

Defeating all the army of the power of death,

I here abide purged of the poison-drugs.' 461

Then Mra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun Gotam knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.

4. Vijay. 462

.....
Now Bhikkhun Vijay..... sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.

Then Mra..... addressed her in a verse: 463

'A maiden thou and beautiful-and I

So young a lad! Now where to fivefold art 464

Of sounds melodious we may list, O come,

Lady, and let us take our fill of joy!'

Then Bhikkhun Vijay thought..... 'Sure 'tis Mra!'..... and..... replied with verses:

'Sights, sounds and tastes and smells and things to touch,

Wherein the mind delights, I leave them all

To thee, Mra; for such no mind have I!

This body vile, this brittle, crumbling thing,

Doth touch me only with distress and shame.

Craving for joys of sense is rooted out.

They who have come to worlds of form, and they

Who dwell where form is not, and that perfect

Attainment which is peace 465 -from all,

From everywhere, the darkness is dispelled.'

Then Mra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun Vijay knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.

5. Uppalava.

.....
Now, Bhikkhun Uppalava..... entered the Dark Wood for siesta, and, plunging into its depths, halted at the root of a certain sla-tree in full blossom.

Then Mra..... addressed her in a verse:

'Thou that art come where over thee crownd with blossom

[Waveth] the sl-tree, Sister, and standest alone in the shade of it,

No one like thee could hither come rival to beauty as thine is!

Fearest thou not, O foolish maiden, the wiles of seducers?' 466

Then Bhikkhun Uppalava thought..... 'Sure 'tis Mra!'..... and..... replied with verses:

'Were there an hundred thousand seducers e'en such as thou art,

Ne'er would I tremble affrighted thereat, or turn a hair of me.

Mra, I fear not thee, all lonely though I be standing.

Here though I stand, I vanish, or enter into thy body.

See! 'twixt thine eyelashes hide, standing where thou canst not see me.

For all my mind is wholly self-controlled,

And the Four Paths to Potency are thoroughly learnt.

Yea, I am free from all the Bonds there be.

In sooth, good sir, no fear have I of thee!'

Then Mra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun Uppalava knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.

6. Cl. 467

.....
Now, Bhikkhun Cl..... sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.

Then Mra the Evil One went up to her, and spoke thus to her: 'Wherein, O Sister, dost thou find no pleasure?'

'In birth, 468 good sir, I find no pleasure.'

'Why findest thou no pleasure in birth? Once born, one enjoys the pleasures of a life of sense. Who hath put this into thy mind-"Find no pleasure in birth"-Sister?'

'Once born, we die. Once born, we see life's Ills-

The bonds, the torments, and the life cut off. 469

The Buddha hath revealed the Norm to us-

How we may get beyond the power of birth,

How we may put an end to every Ill.

'Tis He hath guided me into the True.

They who have come to worlds of Form, and they

Who in those worlds abide where Form is not,

An they know not how they may end it all,

Are goers, all of them, again to birth. 470

Then Mra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun Cl knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.

7. Upacl. 471

.....
Now, Bhikkhun Upacl..... sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.

Then Mra the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear..... to make her desist from concentrated thought, went up to her, and spoke thus to her:

'Where, Sister, dost thou wish to rise again?'

'Nowhere, good sir, I wish to rise again.'

'Now, think upon the Three-and-Thirty gods,

And on the gods who rule in realm of Shades,

On those who reign in Heaven of Bliss, and on

Those higher deities who live where life

Yet flows by way of sense and of desire-

Think, and thither aspire with longing heart,

The bliss of each in turn shall then be thine.'

Upacl.

Ay, think upon the Three-and-Thirty gods,

And on the gods who rule in realm of Shades,

On those who reign in Heaven of Bliss, and on

Those higher deities who live where life

Yet flows by way of sense and of desire!

They all are bound by bonds of sense-desire,

Hence come they evermore 'neath Mra's sway.

On fire is all the world, is wrapt in smoke. 472

Ablaze is all the world, the heav'ns do quake!

But that which quaketh not, influctuate, 473

Untrodden by the average worldling's feet,

Where Mra cometh not nor hath way-gate-

There doth my heart abide in blest retreat.' 474

Then Mra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun Upacl knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.

8. Ssupacl. 475

.....
Now, Bhikkhun Ssupacl..... sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.

Then Mra the Evil One went up to her, and spoke to her thus: 'Of whose shibboleth, Sister, dost thou approve? I approve of no one's shibboleth, good sir.'

'Why now and whereto art thou seen thus garbed

And shaven like a nun, yet dost not join

Ascetics of some sort and shibboleth?

What, futile and infatuate, is thy quest?'

'Tis they that are without, caught in the net

Of the vain shibboleths in which they trust-

Their's is the doctrine I cannot approve.

'Tis they that lack acquaintance with the Norm.

'Lo! in the princely Skiya clan is born

A Buddha peerless 'mong the sons of men,

Who all hath overcome, before whose face

Mra doth flee away, who everywhere

Unconquered stands, He that is wholly freed

And fetterless, the Seer who seeth all,

For whom all karma is destroyed, who in

The perishing of every germ that birth

Once more engenders, is at liberty.

This the Exalted One, my Master and my Lord:

His doctrine, His the word that I approve.'

Then Mra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun Ssupacl knows me!.....

9.
Sel. 476

.....
Now, Bhikkhun Sel..... sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.

Then Mra..... went up to her, and addressed her with a verse:

'Who was't that made this human puppet's form?

Where, tell me, is the human doll's artificer?

Whence hath the human puppet come to be?

Where, tell me, shall it cease and pass away?'

Then Bhikkhun Sel thought..... ' Sure 'tis Mra!'..... and
..... replied with verses:

'Neither self-made the puppet is, nor yet

By other is this evil fashiond.

By reason of a cause it came to be;

By rupture of a cause, it dies away.

Like to a given seed sown in the field,

Which, when it lighteth on the taste of earth

And moisture likewise-by these twain doth grow,

So the five aggregates, the elements,

And the six spheres of sense-even all these-

By reason of a cause they came to be;

By rupture of a cause they die away.'

Then Mra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun Sel knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.

10. Vajir.

.....
Now Bhikkhun Vajir..... sat down at the root of a certain tree for siesta.

Then Mra..... went up to her, and addressed her with a verse:

'Who hath this being 477 fashioned? Where is

The maker of this being? Whence hath it sprung?

Where doth this being cease and pass away?'

Then Bhikkhun Vajir thought..... 'Sure 'tis Mra!'..... and replied with a verse:

'"Being"? Why dost thou harp upon that word?

'Mong false opinions, Mra, art thou strayed.

This a mere bundle of formations is.

Therefrom no "being" mayest thou obtain.

For e'en as, when the factors are arranged,

The product by the word "chariot" is known,

So doth our usage covenant to say-

"A being"-when the aggregates are there.

'Tis simply Ill that riseth, simply Ill

That doth persist, and then fadeth away.

Nought beside Ill it is that doth become;

Nought else but Ill it is doth pass away.'

Then Mra, thinking, 'Bhikkhun Vajir knows me!' vanished thence, sad and dejected.

Here endeth the Bhikkhun Series.

The Yakkha-Sayutta, or Fairy Series in the same Nikya, gives the summons uttered by the indignant tree-fairy to the people of Rjagaha in Sukk's little poem (Ps. xxxiv.). The lines are exactly the same, except that 'wayfarer' is "panthag" instead of "addhag".

In the following Sutta presumably the same devoted spirit proclaims the praises both of Sukk and of a lay-disciple who supplied the eloquent Ther with food:

'O surely plenteous merit hath he wrought,

That layman wise, who Sukk's wants supplied-

Sukk's, who from all bonds is wholly free!' 478

454
\"Cf." Sel's Psalm, xxxv. She was the daughter of the King of av.

455 "Pamatto."

456 See Ps. xxxvi., comparing the vastly more interesting reply given here.

457 Where dotted lines occur, here and below, the reading is as for avik.

458 Not 'to us,' as in the Psalm.

459 "Cf." Ps. lxiii. In the case of elisions, read as for Som.

460 By 'ever'-"accanta", lit. exceedingly, endlessly-it is conceivable that she alludes, not to her own too common case, as a mother bereaved of a son, but either to endless past bereavements, or to the fact that, as Arahant, she had cut herself off from age-long possibilities of being often again in similar circumstances. "Cf.", "e.g.", Ps. xxxiii.

461 savas.

462 Vijay, to whom Ps lvii. is ascribed, is apparently a different person.

463 "Cf." Khem's Psalm (lii.)

464 Five sorts of musical instruments are supposed to be implied in this idiomatic phrase-"tata, vitata, tata-vitata, ghana, susira".

465 I
have ventured to bridge over the hiatus, in what Professor Windisch calls the 'loose construction' of this "gth", by the insertion of 'from all, from....' For what may have been the original, and is the more logical, ending, see Cl's verses below. As the "gth" in Pali stands here, it seems to mean: '"I "see" life steadily, and see it whole." Trouble me not with your foolish little solicitations to sensual joys.'

466 Where the text differs from that of Psalm lxiv. may be seen by the following:

"Therigth".
"Sayutta."

Supupphitagga upagamma padpa ek tuva tihasi rukkhamle

Supupphitagga upagamma bhikkhuni ek tuva tihasi slamle

Na cpi te dutiyo atthi; koci na tva ble bhyasi dhuttakna.

Na c'atthi te dutiy vaadhtu idhgat tdisik bhaveyyu.

Ble na tva bhyasi dhuttakna.

On choice of reading in the preceding line, see the Psalm in question, "n."

467 Pronounced "Chl". "Cf." Ps. lix., lx. The latter Psalm-Upacl's-incorporates most of what is here attributed to her sister.

468 "I.e.", in the fact or phenomenon of 'being born over and over again.'

469 Literally, meaning the punishments of criminals, but standing for the ills of life in general. "Cf." Ps. lxx., verse 345; lxxiii., verse 505.

470
\"Cf." last note to Vijay's verses above.

471 In the Psalms, her Psalm is put into the mouth of her sister, Ssupacl.

472 "Padhpito", in the corresponding Psalm "paridpito".

473

\"Sanyutta."
"Therigth".

Akampita acalita aputthujana-sevita Akampita atuliya aputhujjana-sevita

Agati yattha Mrassa tattha me nirato mano.
Buddho dhamma me desesi tattha me nirato mano.

474 Lit., Thereto is my heart (or mind) devoted.

475 In the Psalms she is made to utter her sister Cl's Psalm.

476 The "Psalm" ascribed to Sel (xxxv., p. 144) is, in this Appendix, put into the mouth of avik, which, in the Commentary, is Sel's patronymic.

477 "Satto", a concrete living entity, not the abstract idea.

478 "Cf." Ps. xlvi. 111.
mahabharata parva| mahabharata parva
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