Thig 7:2 Cālā — Māra confronts a nun who, approving of the Dhamma, approves of no one’s philosophy.
In SN 5:8, verses similar to these are attributed to the nun Sīsūpacālā.
Cālā:
Having established mindfulness,
a nun with developed faculties, (1) I
penetrated the peaceful state:
stilling-of-fabrications bliss. (2)
Māra:
“For whose sake
have you shaved your head?
You look like a contemplative
but don’t approve of a philosophy,
so why are you wandering here
confused?”
Cālā:
“Outside philosophers place
their confidence in views.
They don’t know the Dhamma. (3)
They’re not adept in the Dhamma.
But there is
the Awakened One,
born in the Sakyan clan,
a person without peer. (4)
He taught me the Dhamma
for the transcending of views:
stress,
the co-arising of stress,
the overcoming of stress,
& the noble eightfold path
leading to the stilling of stress. (5)
Having heard his words,
I dwell, delighting
in his bidding.
The three knowledges
are attained;
the Buddha’s bidding,
done.
Everywhere enjoyment
is defeated;
the mass of darkness,
burst.
So know, Evil One,
that you have been,
End-maker,
struck down.
Notes
1. This can mean that she has achieved restraint over her sense faculties, or that she has fully developed the faculties of conviction, persistence, mindfulness, concentration, and discernment. See. SN 48:10 and AN 4:37.
2. This stanza does not occur in SN 5:8.
3. In SN 5:8, this line reads, “I don’t approve of their teaching.”
4. This is the last line that this poem has in common with SN 5:8. The remainder of SN 5:8 reads:
all-conquering,
Māra’s subduer,
everywhere undefeated,
everywhere freed, independent;
endowed with an Eye
all-seeing, reaching the end of
all kamma—
with the ending of acquisitions,
released.
He, that Blessed One,
is my teacher.
It’s in his Dhamma
that I delight.
5. For an example of how the four noble truths—right view—lead to the transcending of views, see AN 10:95.
