A Mental Snare

Linked Discourses 4.15

2. Rule

A Mental Snare

So I have heard.

At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.

Then Māra the Wicked went up to the Buddha and addressed him in verse:

“There’s a mental snare

wandering in midair.

I’ll bind you with it—

you won’t escape me, ascetic!”

“Sights, sounds, tastes, smells,

and touches so delightful:

desire for these is gone from me.

You’re beaten, terminator!”

Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The Buddha knows me! The Holy One knows me!” miserable and sad, vanished right there.