A KORA OF KORAS

At the next house she heard,
“Yes, I lost my husband only this year.”
At the next house the woman said,
“Our maidservant died only last week.”
Again and again, Kisagotami received similar answers,
for in every household there had been death.
Kisagotami had thought she was the only person
who had lost a loved one.
Now she realized that death comes to all beings
and the dead are more plentiful than the living.
Finally, she accepted the death of her own child.
Later that evening, she cremated her baby by the river.
The next day she returned to the Buddha. He asked her,
“Have you brought the mustard seed?”
“No,” she replied and told him what had happened.
The Buddha then spoke to her on the transient and temporary
nature of all things.
Her mind became clear and her heart came to rest.
After she heard his Teaching,
Kisagotami decided to become a “practitioner of the Way.”