Dhammapada Verse 287 - Kisagotami Vatthu

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Source: Adapted from the original translation by Daw Mya Tin, M.A.

Dhammapada Verse 287 - Kisagotami Vatthu
Tam puttapasusammattam

byasattamanasam naram

suttam gamam mahoghova

maccu adaya gacchati.

Verse 287: The man who dotes on his children and his herds of cattle, whose mind longs for and is attached to sensual pleasures, is carried away by Death even as a sleeping village is swept away by a great flood.

The Story of Kisagotami(1)

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (287) of this book, with reference to Kisagotami, the daughter of a rich man from Savatthi.

Kisagotami came to the Buddha as she was stricken with grief due to the death of her only son. To her the Buddha said, "Kisagotami, you think you are the only one who has lost a son. Death comes to all beings; before their desires are satiated Death takes them away."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Verse 287: The man who dotes on his children and his herds of cattle, whose mind longs for and is attached to sensual pleasures, is carried away by Death even as a sleeping village is swept away by a great flood.

At the end of the discourse Kisagotami attained Sotapatti Fruition.

(1) This story has been given in Verse 114

Credits
Translated by Daw Mya Tin, M.A.

Edited by Editorial Committee, Burma Tipitaka Association Rangoon, Burma, 1986

Courtesy of Nibbana.com

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