Verse 287

Dhammapada Verse 287

The Story of Kisagotami

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:

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.