Pv 25Queen Ubbari

– STORIES OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS

– THE UBBARĪ CHAPTER

2.13

BJT 372Once there was King Brahmadatta, the lord of the cavaliers of the land of Pañcāla. Then, after the passing of days and nights, the king passed away.

BJT 373His wife Ubbarī went to his cremation ground and lamented. Not seeing Brahmadatta, she cried out: "O Brahmadatta!"

BJT 374And a hermit who was there, a wise sage endowed with virtue, came forward. And there, he asked those who had gathered at that place:

BJT 375"Whose is this funeral pyre, that it radiates so many different fragrances? Whose wife is this woman, lamenting a husband who has departed far from this place?

BJT 376Not seeing Brahmadatta, she cries out: 'O Brahmadatta!'" And those who had gathered there explained the matter, saying:

BJT 377"Venerable sir, it belongs to Brahmadatta. Good sir, it belongs to Brahmadatta. This funeral pyre is his, and so it radiates so many different fragrances.

BJT 378This woman is his wife, and so she laments a husband who has departed far from this place. Not seeing Brahmadatta, she cries out: 'O Brahmadatta!'"

BJT 379"Eighty-six thousand persons bearing the name Brahmadatta have been cremated on this funeral pyre. For which among them do you grieve?"

BJT 380"Sir, the one who was a king, the son of Cūḷanī, the lord of the cavaliers of the land of Pañcāla — for him I grieve, the husband who granted my every wish."

BJT 381"All of them were kings, all bore the name Brahmadatta. All were sons of Cūḷanī, lords of the cavaliers of the land of Pañcāla.

BJT 382You were the chief queen of all of them in succession. Why then do you set aside those who came before and grieve only for the last one?"

BJT 383"Good sir, are you saying that I have been a woman many times in the round of rebirth? Have I truly been a woman for such a long time?"

BJT 384"You have been a woman, you have been a man, you have also come to dwell in the womb of animals. So it is — yet no limit to those past lives can be discerned."

BJT 385"Truly, even as I was being burned like a flame fed with melted butter, I am able to extinguish all my sorrow as though pouring water upon it.

BJT 386Indeed, the arrow of grief that was lodged in my heart has been drawn out. While I was afflicted with sorrow, you have dispelled my grief over my husband.

BJT 387I, with the arrow removed, have attained a state of coolness and calm. Having heard you, O great sage, I do not grieve, I do not lament."

BJT 388After listening to those words of his, the well-spoken words of the ascetic, she took up the bowl and robe, and went forth into the homeless life.

BJT 389And she, having gone forth from home into homelessness, cultivated the mind of loving-kindness in order to reach the Brahma world.

BJT 390Wandering from village to village, to towns and cities, she passed away in a village called Uruvelā.

BJT 391Having developed the mind of loving-kindness in order to reach the Brahma world, having abandoned the mind of a woman, she went to the Brahma world.

The Story of the Hungry Ghost of Ubbarī is the thirteenth.

The Ubbarī Chapter is the second.

SUMMARY OF THIS CHAPTER

The wan one, the mother, and the husband, Nandā, Maṭṭakuṇḍalī, Ghaṭa (Kaṇha), two great wealthy ones, the tailor (Aṅkura), the midday rest (Uttara's Mother), the thread, the stairway (Lake Kaṇṇamuṇḍa), Ubbarī.