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# SN 4:13 · The Stone Sliver (Sakalika Sutta)
- URL: https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-4-13/
- Published: 2026-06-01T01:01:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-13T16:58:00.000Z
- Description: Saṁyutta Nikāya · SN 4:13. Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.
- Author: Ninth Heaven Literature & Arts Association (NHLAA)
- Tags: Buddhism, Sutta Piṭaka, Text, Indian, The Buddha, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Saṁyutta Nikāya, Verse, Pali, Early Buddhist, Library, #Import 2026-07-06 03:31

*See the introductory note to [SN 1:38](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-1-38/).*

\* \* \*

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Rājagaha in the Maddakucchi Deer Reserve. Now at that time his foot had been pierced by a stone sliver. Excruciating were the bodily feelings that developed within him—painful, fierce, sharp, wracking, repellent, disagreeable—but he endured them mindful, alert, & unperturbed. Having had his outer robe folded in four and laid out, he lay down on his right side in the lion’s posture—with one foot placed on top of the other—mindful & alert.

Then Māra the Evil One went to the Blessed One and recited this verse in his presence:

“Are you lying there in a stupor,

or drunk on poetry?

Are your goals so very few?

All alone in a secluded lodging,

what is this dreamer, this sleepy-face?”

The Buddha:

“I lie here,

not in a stupor,

nor drunk on poetry.

My goal attained,

I am sorrow-free.

All alone in a secluded lodging,

I lie down with sympathy

for all beings.

Even those pierced in the chest

with an arrow,

their hearts rapidly,

rapidly

beating:

even they with their arrows

are able to sleep.

So why shouldn’t I,

with my arrow removed?

I’m not awake with worry,

nor afraid to sleep.

Days & nights

don’t oppress me.

I see no threat of decline

in any world at all.

That’s why I sleep

with sympathy

for all beings.”

Then Māra the Evil One—sad & dejected at realizing, “The Blessed One knows me; the One Well-Gone knows me”—vanished right there.

See also: [SN 1:38](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-1-38/); [SN 5:1–10](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-5-1/); [SN 36:6](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/sn-36-6/); [AN 5:129](https://www.journal.ninthheaven.co/civilisation/trad-buddhism/an-5-129/)

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*Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) licence, for free distribution only. Source: [dhammatalks.org](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN4%5F13.html?ref=journal.ninthheaven.co) (Metta Forest Monastery).*