Mára approaches the Buddha under the Ajapálanigrodha in Uruvelá, and engages him in conversation. He asks the Buddha to go about among men and make friends and be happy, satisfied with having discovered the path of immortality for himself without feeling it necessary to teach others. But the Buddha refuses his request, and Mára confesses that he has no longer any power over him; he is like a crab whose claws have been broken one by one. The sutta adds that Mára had been awaiting an opportunity to find a flaw in the Buddha for seven years. The Commentary adds six before the Enlightenment and one after. He retires discomfited and sits not far away from the Buddha, brooding, scratching the earth with a stick. S.i.122ff.