Reading guide
Breakdown described without euphemism
‘Deranged, out of my mind... nude, my hair flying, I wandered here and there’ states her condition in blunt terms — not grief as an inner feeling alone, but a complete breakdown in appearance and conduct.
Three years, in specific, degrading places
‘I lived on rubbish heaps, in cemeteries and highways... stricken by hunger and thirst’ names the actual places of her three years' wandering, a physical geography of destitution rather than a general description of suffering.
Sanity regained before any teaching is given
‘Regaining my mind, I paid homage and sat down’ places her recovery before the Dhamma is even taught to her — simply seeing the Buddha at Mithilā is what restores her, prior to and separate from receiving instruction.
Insight into grief's own origin, not just its end
‘I've fully understood the basis from which grief comes to be’ closes the poem with a specific claim: not only that her sorrow ended, but that she understood the cause it arose from — a fitting close for a book that opens on grief itself.
Key terms
The text
§1Struck down with grief for my son, deranged, out of my mind, nude, my hair flying, I wandered here and there.
§2I lived on rubbish heaps, in cemeteries and highways. For three years I wandered, stricken by hunger and thirst.
§3Then I saw the Holy One back at the city of Mithilā. Tamer of the untamed, the Awakened One fears nothing from any quarter.
§4Regaining my mind, I paid homage and sat down. Out of compassion Gotama taught me the Dhamma.
§5After hearing his teaching, I went forth to homelessness. Applying myself to the Teacher’s words, I realized the state of grace.
§6All sorrows are cut off, given up, they end here. I’ve fully understood the basis from which grief comes to be.
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