SA 1201（一二〇一） 莲华

Thus have I heard:

At one time the Buddha was staying at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in the Jeta Grove near Śrāvastī.

At that time, there was a bhikṣuṇī named Utpala, who was staying in the community of bhikṣuṇīs at the Jetavana Anāthapiṇḍada-ārāma in Śrāvastī. In the morning, she put on her robes and took her alms bowl to enter Śrāvastī to beg for food. After eating, she returned to the monastery, put away her robes and bowl, washed her feet, took her sitting mat, put it on her shoulder, entered the Ānanda Grove, sat under a tree, and entered the right concentration during the day.

At that time, Māra Pāpīyān had this thought: "Now the Śramaṇa Gautama is staying at Anāthapiṇḍada's Park in the Jeta Grove near Śrāvastī. The bhikṣuṇī Utpala is staying in the community of bhikṣuṇīs at the Jetavana Anāthapiṇḍada-ārāma in Śrāvastī. In the morning, she put on her robes and took her alms bowl to enter Śrāvastī to beg for food. After eating, she returned to the monastery, put away her robes and bowl, washed her feet, took her sitting mat, put it on her shoulder, entered the Ānanda Grove, sat under a tree, and entered the right concentration during the day. I should go now to create obstacles for her." He then transformed himself into a young man of handsome appearance and went to the bhikṣuṇī Utpala, and spoke a verse, saying:

The tree of fine flowers is firm and solid, relying on the shade of
that tree, alone and without a match, are you not afraid of evil people?

At that time, the bhikṣuṇī Utpala had this thought: "Who is this person? Do they want to frighten me? Are they a human or a non-human? Are they a cunning person?" Thinking like this, she immediately realized: "It must be the evil Māra Pāpīyān who wants to disturb me." She then spoke a verse, saying:

Even if there are hundreds of thousands of cunning people, like
you evil Māras, who come to me, they cannot move a
hair on my body. I am not afraid of you, evil Māra.

Māra again spoke a verse, saying:

I now enter your belly and dwell within your inner storehouse
or dwell between your two eyebrows, but you cannot see me.

At that time, the bhikṣuṇī Upacālā also spoke a verse, saying:

My mind has great power, well cultivating supernatural powers, greatly
bound and already liberated, not fearing your evil Māra. I
have already vomited the three defilements, the root of fear
dwelling on the ground of fearlessness, not fearing the demon
army. In all love and joy, free from all darkness
and obscurity, already realizing tranquility, peacefully dwelling in the exhaustion
of all taints. Knowing you, evil Māra, you will naturally
be destroyed and leave.

At that time, Māra Pāpīyān thought, "The bhikṣuṇī Upacālā already knows my mind." He was inwardly sorrowful and immediately disappeared.