SA-2 218（二一八）

Thus have I heard:

Once, the Buddha was at Anāthapiṇḍada's Park in the Jeta Grove near Śrāvastī. At that time, the bhikṣuṇī Śilā, in the morning, put on her robe, took her bowl, entered the city to beg for food, finished eating, washed her bowl, put away her sitting mat, and went to the forest of the blind. At that time, Māra the Evil One thought, "The Śramaṇa Gautama is at Anāthapiṇḍada's Park in the Jeta Grove near Śrāvastī. There is a bhikṣuṇī named Śilā who, in the morning, put on her robe, took her bowl, entered the city to beg for food, finished eating, washed her bowl, put away her sitting mat, and went to the forest of the blind. I shall disturb her." Having thought this, he transformed himself into a young brahmin and went to her, speaking a verse:

Who creates sentient beings? By whom are sentient beings created?
What is called a sentient being? Where do sentient beings go?

When the bhikṣuṇī Śilā heard this verse, she thought, "Who is this? How deceitful! Is it a human or a non-human?" She entered concentration to observe and knew it was Māra the Evil One. She replied in verse:

The evil Māra gives rise to wrong views, thinking there are
sentient beings. Empty things gather together, but there are no sentient
beings. Just as a chariot is used through the combination of
many conditions, so too are the aggregates, sense bases, and sense
fields. They exist through the combination of conditions. Because of karmic
conditions, they gather. Because of karmic conditions, they disperse. Cutting off
all craving, extinguishing the darkness of ignorance, attaining the state of
cessation, abiding in the undefiled - therefore know that Pāpīyān has
fallen into defeat.

At that time, Māra the Evil One thought, "This bhikṣuṇī knows my mind well." He was distressed, remorseful, ashamed, and returned to his palace.