SN 5.3 · Pali Canon (Tipiṭaka) – English & Pāli · Verses Across
Buddhism · Sutta Pitaka · Linked Discourses (Saṁyutta)
SN 5.3
With Kisāgotamī · Kisāgotamīsutta
EnglishEnglish
PāliPali
At Sāvatthī. Then the nun Kisāgotamī robed up in the morning and, taking her bowl and robe, entered Sāvatthī for alms. She wandered for alms in Sāvatthī. After the meal, on her return from almsround, she went to the Dark Forest for the day’s meditation, plunged deep into it, and sat at the root of a tree to meditate. Then Māra the Wicked, wanting to make the nun Kisāgotamī feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make her fall away from immersion, went up to her and addressed her in verse:
“Why do you sit alone and cry as if your children have died? You’ve come to the woods all alone— are you looking for a man?”
“Kiṁ nu tvaṁ mataputtāva, ekamāsi rudammukhī; Vanamajjhagatā ekā, purisaṁ nu gavesasī”ti.
Then the nun Kisāgotamī thought, “Who’s speaking this verse, a human or a non-human?” Then she thought, “This is Māra the Wicked, wanting to make me feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make me fall away from immersion!”
