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Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 4.9

Lifespan (1st)

Paṭhamaāyusutta

Setting
Near Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove
Speakers
The Buddha, addressing the mendicants, then Māra the Wicked
Form
A teaching on mortality, contradicted by Māra, and reaffirmed in stronger terms
Length
~1.5 minutes to read
Northern parallel
A rough counterpart may exist in the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama (T99), though this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — the first of a pair that gives this vagga its name

Why this discourse

This discourse opens the pair that names the vagga: the Buddha tells the mendicants plainly that human life is short — a hundred years or a little more at most — and that they must therefore do what is skillful now. Māra directly contradicts this, urging the opposite: life is long, a true person wouldn't scorn it, live easily like a suckling babe, for death has not yet come. The Buddha's reply does not merely repeat his teaching but intensifies its urgency, urging life lived as though one's own head were on fire.

Reading guide

A teaching Māra contradicts point for point

Unlike discourses where Māra claims the Buddha remains bound or mocks his conduct, here Māra directly denies the content of a teaching just given to the mendicants — not attacking the Buddha personally but arguing against the substance of what he has taught.

Complacency dressed as reassurance

Māra's advice sounds, on its surface, comforting rather than threatening: relax, life is long, death hasn't come for you yet — a subtler tactic than intimidation, offering false security instead of fear.

Living like a suckling babe: an image of total unawareness

The specific image Māra offers — a nursing infant, utterly unconcerned with mortality — names a state of complete unreflectiveness as something to aspire to, inverting the usual direction of spiritual advice toward greater awareness.

A reply that escalates rather than merely restates

The Buddha does not simply repeat his teaching to the mendicants in response to Māra; his reply intensifies it, moving from ‘a true person scorns it’ to the vivid urgency of living ‘as though their head was on fire’, a stronger image than anything in the original teaching to the mendicants.

A refrain shared with SN 2.19 and SN 2.27's imagery

‘Death comes for everyone’ closing this verse echoes the urgency this collection has voiced before, in different words, at earlier discourses on impermanence, confirming that Māra's complacent counter-teaching is being measured against an established standard, not a position invented for this discourse alone.

Key terms

āyu — “lifespan” — the subject of this discourse and its sequel, giving the vagga they close its name.
appamāyuka — “short-lived” — the Buddha's characterization of human life, directly contradicted by Māra.
dahara kumāraka — “a suckling babe” — Māra's image of unreflective ease, offered as something to imitate.
ādittasīsa — “head on fire” — the Buddha's intensified image for how life should be lived, given in his rebuttal.
sappānaṁ maccu āgacchati — “death comes for everyone” — the verse's closing claim, matching this collection's established urgency about impermanence elsewhere.

The text

The discourse in full: the Buddha's teaching to the mendicants, Māra's contradiction, and the intensified reply. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this:

§2“Mendicants, the lifespan of humans is short. You must go to the next life. So you should do what is skillful, you should practice the spiritual life. No-one born is immortal. A long life is a hundred years or a little more.”

§3Then Māra the Wicked went up to the Buddha and addressed him in verse:

§4“The life of humans is long! A true person wouldn’t scorn it. Live like a suckling babe, for Death has not come for you.”

§5“The life of humans is short, and a true person scorns it. They should live as though their head was on fire, for Death comes for everyone.”

§6Then Māra … vanished right there.

· · ·

Self-check quiz

Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 10
What does the Buddha teach the mendicants about human life?
Correct: A. A plain statement of mortality, met by Māra's direct contradiction.
Question 2 of 10
How does Māra respond to this teaching?
Correct: A. Arguing against the substance of the teaching rather than attacking the Buddha personally.
Question 3 of 10
What tactic does Māra's advice represent, compared to earlier discourses in this vagga?
Correct: A. A subtler tactic offering false security instead of fear.
Question 4 of 10
What image does Māra offer as something to imitate?
Correct: A. Complete unreflectiveness presented as an aspiration, inverting the usual direction of spiritual advice.
Question 5 of 10
How does the Buddha's reply relate to his original teaching?
Correct: A. A stronger image than anything in the teaching originally given to the mendicants.
Question 6 of 10
What does the verse's closing line claim?
Correct: A. Echoing this collection's established urgency about impermanence at earlier discourses.
Question 7 of 10
What does this discourse's title indicate about its relationship to SN 4.10?
Correct: A. Both discourses share the theme of lifespan and name the vagga they close.
Question 8 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. The same location as several other discourses in this vagga.
Question 9 of 10
What maximum lifespan does the Buddha's teaching name?
Correct: A. A specific figure grounding the general claim about life's shortness.
Question 10 of 10
How does this discourse compare in structure to SN 4.4 and SN 4.5?
Correct: A. Following the same pattern of public teaching interrupted by Māra's challenge.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

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