Pāli Dictionary

Vajirā2

Person

Une nonne qui, interrogée par Māra sur l’origine et la nature d’un être, répondit qu’il n’existe rien de tel en dehors de ses éléments constitutifs conditionnés, le comparant à un char ; ses vers sont largement cités bien que sa propre histoire soit par ailleurs inconnue.

The Saṃyuttanikāya (S.i.134 f) relates that one day, when she was taking her siesta in Andhavana at Sāvatthi, Māra questioned her as to the origin of “a being” (satta), its creator, its origin, its destiny. Vajirā answers that there is no such thing as “a being,” apart from certain conditioned factors, like a chariot, which exists only because of its parts. Māra retires discomfited.

Vajirā’s verses are often quoted (e.g. Kvu. 240, 626; Mil. p.28; Vism.ii.593) both in the Canon and in later works, but they are not included in the Therīgāthā, nor do we know anything else about her.

SN 5.10

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