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Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 5.6

With Cālā

Cālāsutta

Setting
At Sāvatthī, at the root of a tree, for the day's meditation
Speakers
The nun Cālā and Māra the Wicked
Form
A direct prose question, a firm answer, and a reasoned defense in verse
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
★★★☆☆ — opens a family trio of sisters continued at SN 5.7 and SN 5.8

Why this discourse

This discourse opens with something unusual for this saṃyutta: not a riddle-verse or seductive overture, but a plain prose question — nun, what don't you approve of? — and an equally plain answer: rebirth. Māra presses her on this, assuming rebirth means enjoying sensual pleasure, and Cālā's verse reply explains her position with doctrinal precision: death follows birth, birth brings suffering, and even the most refined realms of existence — luminous form and the formless — still lead back to future lives for those who don't understand cessation.

Reading guide

A conversation opening in prose, not verse

Unlike this saṃyutta's more common pattern of an unprompted challenging verse, this discourse begins with a direct question and answer exchanged in plain prose — ‘what don't you approve of?’, ‘rebirth, sir’ — verse arriving only once Cālā is pressed to explain her position further.

Māra's assumption: rebirth means pleasure

Māra's follow-up treats Cālā's rejection of rebirth as puzzling on its own terms — being born means getting to enjoy sensual pleasures, so why refuse it? — a framing that takes for granted the very premise her answer is built to reject.

A precise chain of consequence, not a general aversion

Cālā's verse doesn't simply state a dislike of rebirth; it traces a specific causal chain — birth leads to death, and to killing, caging, and misery along the way — naming rebirth's actual downstream consequences rather than asserting an unexplained preference.

Credit given directly to the Buddha's own teaching

Unlike several other discourses in this saṃyutta where the nun's realization is presented as her own direct attainment without external reference, Cālā explicitly names the Buddha as the source: ‘he settled me in the truth’, crediting the teaching itself for her position rather than framing it as purely self-derived.

A closing warning about refined realms, shared with SN 5.4

The verse's final stanza, naming beings ‘in the realm of luminous form’ and others ‘stuck in the formless’ who don't understand cessation and so return to future lives, repeats almost the same language already used at SN 5.4 — confirming this specific warning about subtle attainment recurs deliberately across this collection.

Key terms

Cālā — “Cālā” — the nun this discourse follows, traditionally identified as one of three sisters (with Upacālā and Sīsupacālā) each confronted by Māra across this saṃyutta's next three discourses.
jāti — “rebirth” — what Cālā states outright she does not approve of, the discourse's central subject.
bandhaṁ vadhaṁ pariklesaṁ — “killing, caging, misery” — specific downstream consequences of rebirth named in Cālā's causal chain.
sacce nivesayi — “he settled me in the truth” — Cālā's explicit credit to the Buddha's teaching for her own position.
nirodha — “cessation” — what beings in refined realms are said not to understand, causing their return to future lives.

The text

The discourse in full: the prose exchange and Cālā's reasoned defense in verse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At Sāvatthī. Then the nun Cālā robed up in the morning … and sat at the root of a tree for the day’s meditation. Then Māra the Wicked went up to Cālā and said to her, “Nun, what don’t you approve of?” “I don’t approve of rebirth, sir.”

§2“Why don’t you approve of rebirth? When you’re born, you get to enjoy sensual pleasures. Who put this idea in your head: ‘Nun, don’t approve of rebirth’?”

§3“Death comes to those who are born, when you’re born you undergo sufferings—killing, caging, misery—that’s why you shouldn’t approve of rebirth. The Buddha taught me the Dhamma for transcending rebirth, for giving up all suffering; he settled me in the truth.

§4There are beings in the realm of luminous form, and others stuck in the formless. Not understanding cessation, they return in future lives.”

§5Then Māra the Wicked, thinking, “The nun Cālā knows me!” miserable and sad, 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
How does this discourse open, unlike this saṃyutta's more common pattern?
Correct: A. Verse arriving only once Cālā is pressed to explain her position further.
Question 2 of 10
What does Cālā say she doesn't approve of?
Correct: A. A plain, direct answer to Māra's opening question.
Question 3 of 10
What assumption does Māra's follow-up question make?
Correct: A. Taking for granted the very premise Cālā's answer is built to reject.
Question 4 of 10
How does Cālā's verse explain her rejection of rebirth?
Correct: A. Naming actual downstream consequences rather than asserting an unexplained preference.
Question 5 of 10
Who does Cālā explicitly credit for her position?
Correct: A. Unlike several other discourses in this saṃyutta, explicit credit given to the Buddha's teaching.
Question 6 of 10
What does the verse's final stanza warn about?
Correct: A. A warning about even refined meditative attainments still leading to future lives if misunderstood.
Question 7 of 10
Where else in this saṃyutta does very similar language appear?
Correct: A. Confirming this specific warning recurs deliberately across the collection.
Question 8 of 10
What relationship does this discourse's speaker have to SN 5.7 and SN 5.8's speakers, according to tradition?
Correct: A. A traditional identification, not stated directly within these discourses themselves.
Question 9 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. The same general setting shared with several other discourses in this saṃyutta.
Question 10 of 10
How does Māra's closing thought in this discourse read?
Correct: A. Following this saṃyutta's pattern of crediting the specific nun by name.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

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