Why Didn't the Buddha Destroy Māra Pāpīyas?

Question: Why doesn't the Buddha destroy Māra Pāpīyas?

Answer: Pāpīyas is also a sentient being, possessing buddha-nature, and in the future he too will become a Buddha. The Buddha's mind is empty and compassionate, and He never goes against the minds of sentient beings. When Māra urged the Buddha to enter nirvāṇa, the Buddha, having brought His disciples to maturity, resolved to enter nirvāṇa, fulfilling Māra's wish. Although the Buddha could have remained in the world for a minor kalpa, He entered nirvāṇa after only eighty years. The Buddha's compassion toward Pāpīyas does not mean that the Dharma-protecting deities and disciples do not restrain Pāpīyas's evil deeds. The Buddha permits bodhisattvas, arhats, and Dharma-protecting deities to discipline and restrain Pāpīyas, to prevent him from destroying the Dharma and the teaching and misleading sentient beings. We must keep our eyes sharp, not be deceived by Pāpīyas, and not fall into his traps.

If Pāpīyas expounds the Buddha-dharma, he is adept at grasping the minds of sentient beings. Since sentient beings delight in the five desires and the six sense objects, he covertly tolerates and accommodates greed and desire, guiding sentient beings toward greed and desire, and does so seamlessly, making it seem very reasonable. Only bodhisattvas of long cultivation can see through Pāpīyas's schemes. When Pāpīyas expounds the Dharma, he also covertly accommodates sentient beings' afflictions, cleverly indulging their afflicted minds, not wishing for sentient beings to subdue or eliminate their afflictions. Because of this cleverness, most sentient beings cannot recognize it. Moreover, since Pāpīyas does not go against sentient beings' greed, he makes them feel joyful, attracting many sentient beings to submit to him.