A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s5.93

v2.c19.s5.93

She raises her hands to scare the bird away. The elder boy sees this, and, thinking that his mother is beckoning him to come to her, he goes into the water, and is carried away by the current. Meanwhile the hawk has made off with the younger child.¹ Full of grief the woman continues her journey to Sāvatthi. Arriving there she hears that her parents' house has been wrecked by a whirlwind and that her parents have perished. They are just being burnt on the pyre. Then the unhappy woman breaks into mourning and lamentation, tears her garments from her body, and strays about for days naked and mad. At last one day she comes across Buddha who is just preaching. And the Master lets his feeling of friendliness flow out over her, and says: "Sister, come again to your senses. Sister, let your understanding return to you!" As soon as she hears the words of the Master, shame overcomes her. A man throws her a garment, and she covers herself. A certain verse of Buddha's effects her complete conversion, and she later becomes one of the most respected nuns in the community.²