1. Bhikkhunīvagga
1. Nuns
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Atha kho uppalavaṇṇā bhikkhunī pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā …pe…
Then the nun Uppalavaṇṇā robed up in the morning …
aññatarasmiṁ supupphitasālarukkhamūle aṭṭhāsi.
and stood at the root of a sal tree in full flower.
Atha kho māro pāpimā uppalavaṇṇāya bhikkhuniyā bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo yena uppalavaṇṇā bhikkhunī tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā uppalavaṇṇaṁ bhikkhuniṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:
Then Māra the Wicked, wanting to make the nun Uppalavaṇṇā feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make her fall away from immersion, went up to her and addressed her in verse:
“ko nu khvāyaṁ manusso vā amanusso vā gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti?
“Who’s speaking this verse, a human or a non-human?”
“māro kho ayaṁ pāpimā mama bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti.
“This is Māra the Wicked, wanting to make me feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make me fall away from immersion!”
Atha kho uppalavaṇṇā bhikkhunī “māro ayaṁ pāpimā” iti viditvā māraṁ pāpimantaṁ gāthāhi paccabhāsi:
Then Uppalavaṇṇā, knowing that this was Māra the Wicked, replied to him in verse:
Atha kho māro pāpimā “jānāti maṁ uppalavaṇṇā bhikkhunī”ti dukkhī dummano tatthevantaradhāyīti.
Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The nun Uppalavaṇṇā knows me!” miserable and sad, vanished right there.