1At Sāvatthī. Then, in the morning, the bhikkhuni Sela dressed … she sat down at the foot of a tree for the day's abiding. [n.357] There is no way to determine whether this bhikkhunī is identical with āḷavikā; see n. 331. The verses do not appear in Thī.

Then Māra the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in the bhikkhuni Sela, desiring to make her fall away from concentration, approached her and addressed her in verse:

2v.548 By whom has this puppet been created?
Where is the maker of the puppet?
Where has the puppet arisen?
Where does the puppet cease?" [n.358] Spk: Both puppet (bimba) here, and misery (agha) at v. 549b, refer to individual existence (attabhava), in the latter case because individual existence is a foundation for suffering. The philosophers of the Buddha’s time were divided on the question whether suffering is created by oneself (attakata) or by another (parakata). The former was the position of the eternalists, who held there is a permanent self which transmigrates from life to life reaping the fruits of its own deeds. The latter was the position of the annihilationists, who held that a being is annihilated at death and nothing survives, so that one's share of suffering and happiness is due entirely to external conditions. See the debates recorded at SN12.17, 18, 24, 25.

3Then it occurred to the bhikkhuni Sela: "Now who is this … ? This is Māra the Evil One … desiring to make me fall away from concentration."

Then the bhikkhuni Sela, having understood, "This is Māra the Evil One," replied to him in verses:

4v.549 "This puppet is not made by itself,
Nor is this misery made by another.
It has come to be dependent on a cause;
With the cause's breakup it will cease.

5v.550 "As when a seed is sown in a field
It grows depending on a pair of factors:
It requires both the soil's nutrients
And a steady supply of moisture:

6v.551 "Just so the aggregates and elements,
And these six bases of sensory contact,
Have come to be dependent on a cause;
With the cause's breakup they will cease." [n.359] One key to the interpretation of Sela's reply is AN I 223–24, where it is said that kamma is the field, consciousness the seed, and craving the moisture, for the production of future renewed existence. The cause (hetu), then, is the kammically formative consciousness accompanied by ignorance and craving. When that dissolves through the elimination of ignorance and craving there is no production of aggregates, elements, and sense bases in a future life. The imagery of seeds and vegetation recurs at SN22.54, which also helps to illuminate these verses.

7Then Māra the Evil One, realizing, "The bhikkhuni Sela knows me," sad and disappointed, disappeared right there.

1Sāvatthinidānaṁ. Atha kho selā bhikkhunī pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā … pe … aññatarasmiṁ rukkhamūle divāvihāraṁ nisīdi.

Atha kho māro pāpimā selāya bhikkhuniyā bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo … pe … selaṁ bhikkhuniṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

2"Kenidaṁ pakataṁ bimbaṁ,
kvanu bimbassa kārako;
Kvanu bimbaṁ samuppannaṁ,
kvanu bimbaṁ nirujjhatī"ti.

3Atha kho selāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi: "ko nu khvāyaṁ manusso vā amanusso vā gāthaṁ bhāsatī"ti? Atha kho selāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi: "māro kho ayaṁ pāpimā mama bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo gāthaṁ bhāsatī"ti.

Atha kho selā bhikkhunī "māro ayaṁ pāpimā" iti viditvā māraṁ pāpimantaṁ gāthāhi paccabhāsi:

4"Nayidaṁ attakataṁ bimbaṁ,
nayidaṁ parakataṁ aghaṁ;
Hetuṁ paṭicca sambhūtaṁ,
hetubhaṅgā nirujjhati.

5Yathā aññataraṁ bījaṁ,
khette vuttaṁ virūhati;
Pathavīrasañcāgamma,
sinehañca tadūbhayaṁ.

6Evaṁ khandhā ca dhātuyo,
cha ca āyatanā ime;
Hetuṁ paṭicca sambhūtā,
hetubhaṅgā nirujjhare"ti.

7Atha kho māro pāpimā "jānāti maṁ selā bhikkhunī"ti dukkhī dummano tatthevantaradhāyīti.