SN 4:8 · Delight (Nandana Sutta)
In this discourse, Māra and Buddha are speaking different languages. By “acquisitions” Māra means one’s family and physical possessions. The Buddha uses the same word to mean a sense of possession for anything—physical or mental—at all.
* * *
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then Māra the Evil One went to the Blessed One and recited this verse in his presence:
“Those with children
delight
because of their children.
Those with cattle
delight
because of their cows.
A person’s delight
comes from acquisitions,
since a person with no acquisitions
doesn’t delight.”
The Buddha:
“Those with children
grieve
because of their children.
Those with cattle
grieve
because of their cows.
A person’s grief
comes from acquisitions,
since a person with no acquisitions
doesn’t grieve.”
Then Māra the Evil One—sad & dejected at realizing, “The Blessed One knows me; the One Well-Gone knows me”—vanished right there.
See also: MN 87; SN 1:20; AN 5:49; Ud 2:7; Ud 8:8; Sn 1:2
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 licence, for free distribution only. Source: dhammatalks.org (Metta Forest Monastery).
