Who Knows Reality Is Great
The Story of Nun Patacara
Chapter 8: The Thousands • Verse 14
The Story of Nun Patacara
Chapter 8: The Thousands • Verse 14
Better it is to live one day seeing the rise and fall of things than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the rise and fall of things.
While residing at the Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha spoke this verse with reference to Patacara.
Patacara was the beautiful daughter of a rich man of Savatthi, strictly guarded by her parents. One day she eloped with a young male servant of the household and went to live in a village as a poor man's wife.
When she became pregnant and her time drew near, she asked her husband to let her return to her parents in Savatthi, but he discouraged her. So one day, while he was away, she set out on her own.
Her husband followed and caught up with her, begging her to come back, but she refused. Her time came on the road, and she gave birth to a son among some bushes. After that, she returned home with her husband.
When she was pregnant again and her time drew near, she took her son and once more set out for her parents' home, and once more her husband followed. Her labour was coming on fast, and it was raining hard.
While her husband was clearing a patch of ground to make a shelter, he was bitten by a poisonous snake and died instantly. Waiting for him to return, Patacara gave birth to her second son, and in the morning she found her husband's body.
Blaming herself for his death, she went on toward her parents' home. After the night's heavy rain, the Aciravati River was in flood, and she could not cross carrying both children.
She left her elder son on the near bank, carried the newborn across, and laid him on the far bank. Then she started back for the elder boy.
While she was in midstream, a hawk swooped down on the newborn, taking him for a piece of meat. She shouted to scare it off, but in vain; the hawk carried the baby away.
Hearing his mother shouting from the middle of the river, the elder boy thought she was calling him, stepped into the water, and was swept away by the current.
Patacara wept and lamented that one son had been taken by a hawk, the other by the current, and her husband killed by a snake. Then she met a man from Savatthi and tearfully asked about her parents.
He told her that in a violent storm the night before, her parents' house had collapsed, and her parents and three brothers had all died and been cremated on a single pyre.
At this news Patacara went mad. Not even noticing that her clothes had fallen away and she was half-naked, she wandered the streets crying out, 'Woe is me!'
While the Buddha was teaching at the Jetavana Monastery, he saw Patacara in the distance and willed that she should come to the assembly. The crowd tried to keep the madwoman out, but the Buddha told them not to stop her.
When she was close enough to hear, the Buddha told her to be mindful and to calm herself. Coming to her senses, she realized she was unclothed and sat down in shame. Someone gave her a cloth, and she wrapped herself in it.
She told the Buddha how she had lost her sons, her husband, her brothers, and her parents. She later became a nun and attained liberation.
The Story of Nun Patacara
Chapter 8: The Thousands • Verse 14
Better it is to live one day seeing the rise and fall of things than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the rise and fall of things.
While residing at the Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha spoke this verse with reference to Patacara.
Patacara was the beautiful daughter of a rich man of Savatthi, strictly guarded by her parents. One day she eloped with a young male servant of the household and went to live in a village as a poor man's wife.
When she became pregnant and her time drew near, she asked her husband to let her return to her parents in Savatthi, but he discouraged her. So one day, while he was away, she set out on her own.
Her husband followed and caught up with her, begging her to come back, but she refused. Her time came on the road, and she gave birth to a son among some bushes. After that, she returned home with her husband.
When she was pregnant again and her time drew near, she took her son and once more set out for her parents' home, and once more her husband followed. Her labour was coming on fast, and it was raining hard.
While her husband was clearing a patch of ground to make a shelter, he was bitten by a poisonous snake and died instantly. Waiting for him to return, Patacara gave birth to her second son, and in the morning she found her husband's body.
Blaming herself for his death, she went on toward her parents' home. After the night's heavy rain, the Aciravati River was in flood, and she could not cross carrying both children.
She left her elder son on the near bank, carried the newborn across, and laid him on the far bank. Then she started back for the elder boy.
While she was in midstream, a hawk swooped down on the newborn, taking him for a piece of meat. She shouted to scare it off, but in vain; the hawk carried the baby away.
Hearing his mother shouting from the middle of the river, the elder boy thought she was calling him, stepped into the water, and was swept away by the current.
Patacara wept and lamented that one son had been taken by a hawk, the other by the current, and her husband killed by a snake. Then she met a man from Savatthi and tearfully asked about her parents.
He told her that in a violent storm the night before, her parents' house had collapsed, and her parents and three brothers had all died and been cremated on a single pyre.
At this news Patacara went mad. Not even noticing that her clothes had fallen away and she was half-naked, she wandered the streets crying out, 'Woe is me!'
While the Buddha was teaching at the Jetavana Monastery, he saw Patacara in the distance and willed that she should come to the assembly. The crowd tried to keep the madwoman out, but the Buddha told them not to stop her.
When she was close enough to hear, the Buddha told her to be mindful and to calm herself. Coming to her senses, she realized she was unclothed and sat down in shame. Someone gave her a cloth, and she wrapped herself in it.
She told the Buddha how she had lost her sons, her husband, her brothers, and her parents. She later became a nun and attained liberation.