[Note: The reader who shared this inspiring sutta recommends the translation by Susan Murcott in The First Buddhist Women : Translations and Commentaries on the Therigatha. You can check out a copy from the Internet Archive and read it on page 149. These verses are a discussion between Ven. Cālā and Māra.]
“As a nun with developed faculties,
having established mindfulness,
I penetrated that peaceful state,
the blissful stilling of conditions.”“In whose name did you shave your head?
You look like an ascetic,
but you don’t believe in any creed.
Why do you live as if lost?”“Followers of other creeds
rely on their views.
They don’t understand the Dhamma,
for they’re no experts in the Dhamma.But there is one born in the Sakyan clan,
the unrivaled Buddha;
he taught me the Dhamma
for going beyond views.Suffering, suffering’s origin,
suffering’s transcendence,
and the noble eightfold path
that leads to the stilling of suffering.After hearing his words,
I happily did his bidding.
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.Relishing is destroyed in every respect,
and the mass of darkness is shattered.
So know this, Wicked One:
you’re beaten, terminator!”
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