~ As I Strove Beside the River Neranjara ~
As I strove to subdue myself beside the broad Neranjara river,
immersed unflinchingly within meditation...
so to gain the true surcease of bondage...
it was here, Namuci (Mara) came,
with words all garbed in pity, and spoke to me thusly:
‘O, you are thin and you are pale, and you are in death's presence too.
A thousand parts are pledged to death, but life still holds one part of you.
Live, sir! Life is the better way. You can gain merit if you live.
Come, live the holy life, pour libations upon the holy fires,
and thus a world of merit gain.
What can you accomplish by struggling now?
The path of struggling is too rough and too difficult and hard to bear.’
Now, Mara, as he spoke these words, drew near until he stood close by.
As Mara stood there, the Buddha replied to him thusly:
‘O Evil One, O Tempter, O cousin of the negligent,
you have come here, not for my benefit, but for your own ends.
Alas, I need merit not at all.
Let Mara talk of merit, then, to those that stand desiringly in need of it.
For I have Discipline (faith), and I have Concentration (energy),
and I have Wisdom (understanding) also.
So, while I thusly subdue myself, why do you speak to me of life?
There is a wind that blows,
that can dry up even the greatest rivers and streams.
So, while I thusly subdue myself,
why should it not dry up my blood as well?
‘And so, as the blood dries up, then bile and phlegm shall run dry too.
‘And so, as the wasting flesh becalms the mind,
I shall have more of mindfulness (discipline).
I shall have greater concentration (resolve).
I shall have deeper understanding (wisdom).
For living thusly, I have come to know the limits to which feeling goes.
My mind looks not to sense desires...
You see, here before you, a being's purity.’
As I strove to subdue myself beside the broad Neranjara river,
immersed unflinchingly within meditation...
so to gain the true surcease of bondage...
it was here, Namuci (Mara) came,
with words all garbed in pity, and spoke to me thusly:
‘O, you are thin and you are pale, and you are in death's presence too.
A thousand parts are pledged to death, but life still holds one part of you.
Live, sir! Life is the better way. You can gain merit if you live.
Come, live the holy life, pour libations upon the holy fires,
and thus a world of merit gain.
What can you accomplish by struggling now?
The path of struggling is too rough and too difficult and hard to bear.’
Now, Mara, as he spoke these words, drew near until he stood close by.
As Mara stood there, the Buddha replied to him thusly:
‘O Evil One, O Tempter, O cousin of the negligent,
you have come here, not for my benefit, but for your own ends.
Alas, I need merit not at all.
Let Mara talk of merit, then, to those that stand desiringly in need of it.
For I have Discipline (faith), and I have Concentration (energy),
and I have Wisdom (understanding) also.
So, while I thusly subdue myself, why do you speak to me of life?
There is a wind that blows,
that can dry up even the greatest rivers and streams.
So, while I thusly subdue myself,
why should it not dry up my blood as well?
‘And so, as the blood dries up, then bile and phlegm shall run dry too.
‘And so, as the wasting flesh becalms the mind,
I shall have more of mindfulness (discipline).
I shall have greater concentration (resolve).
I shall have deeper understanding (wisdom).
For living thusly, I have come to know the limits to which feeling goes.
My mind looks not to sense desires...
You see, here before you, a being's purity.’
‘Your first army is Sense-Desire;
Your second is called Boredom & Aversion;
Then, Hunger & Thirst compose the third;
And Craving is the fourth in rank;
The fifth is Sloth & Torpor;
While Fear & Cowardice lines up as sixth;
Doubt & Uncertainty is seventh;
The eighth is Malice & Detraction paired with Obstinacy;
The ninth is Profit & Gain, Honour & Renown,
beside ill-won Notoriety & Fame;
Exaltant Self-Praise & Contemptive Denigration of Others is the tenth.’
‘These are your armies, Namuci (Mara).
These are the Dark One's fighting legions.
These are the minions of the Tempter.’
‘None but the determined brave will conquer them...
and be granted the bliss of contentment by the victory.
I fly the banner that denies all retreat, and all surrender.
Shame on a life of impurity here, I say.
Better I should die in battle now,
than to choose to live on in defiled defeat.’
‘There are ascetics and brahmans that have surrendered here,
and, thusly overcome, they are seen no more.
They do not know the Path that the true pilgrim travels by.’
‘So, seeing Mara's minions now arrayed all around...
with elephants, I journey forth to overcome...
that I may not be driven from the Path.’
‘Your serried legions,
which the world, with all its gods, cannot defeat...
I, now, shall overcome with Discipline (mindfulness),
I, now, shall overcome with Concentration (resolve),
I, now, shall overcome with Wisdom (understanding)...
Just as, with a great stone, a raw clay pot is surely broken.’
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