ud8.8:0.1Heartfelt Sayings 8.8
ud8.8:0.2With Visākhā
ud8.8:1.1So I have heard.
ud8.8:1.2At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in the stilt longhouse of Migāra’s mother in the Eastern Monastery.
ud8.8:1.3Now at that time the dear and beloved granddaughter of Visākhā, Migāra’s mother, had just passed away.
ud8.8:1.4Then, in the middle of the day, Visākhā with wet clothes and hair went to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down.
ud8.8:1.5The Buddha said to her,
ud8.8:2.1“So, Visākhā, where are you coming from in the middle of the day with wet clothes and hair?”
ud8.8:2.2“Sir, my beloved granddaughter has just passed away.
ud8.8:2.3That’s why I came here in the middle of the day with wet clothes and hair.”
ud8.8:2.4“Visākhā, would you like as many children and grandchildren as there are people in the whole of Sāvatthī?”
ud8.8:2.5“I would, sir.”
ud8.8:3.1“But Visākhā, how many people pass away each day in Sāvatthī?”
ud8.8:3.2“Every day, sir, there are ten people passing away in Sāvatthī.
ud8.8:3.3Or else there are nine,
ud8.8:3.4eight,
ud8.8:3.5seven,
ud8.8:3.6six,
ud8.8:3.7five,
ud8.8:3.8four,
ud8.8:3.9three,
ud8.8:3.10two,
ud8.8:3.11or at least one person who passes away every day in Sāvatthī.
ud8.8:3.12Sāvatthī is never without someone passing away.”
ud8.8:4.1“What do you think, Visākhā? Would there ever be a time when your clothes and hair were not wet?”
ud8.8:4.2“No, sir.
ud8.8:4.3Enough, sir, with so many children and grandchildren.”
ud8.8:5.1“Those who have a hundred loved ones, Visākhā, have a hundred sufferings.
ud8.8:5.2Those who have ninety loved ones,
ud8.8:5.3or eighty,
ud8.8:5.4seventy,
ud8.8:5.5sixty,
ud8.8:5.6fifty,
ud8.8:5.7forty,
ud8.8:5.8thirty,
ud8.8:5.9twenty,
ud8.8:5.10ten,
ud8.8:5.11nine,
ud8.8:5.12eight,
ud8.8:5.13seven,
ud8.8:5.14six,
ud8.8:5.15five,
ud8.8:5.16four,
ud8.8:5.17three,
ud8.8:5.18two,
ud8.8:5.19or one loved one have one suffering.
ud8.8:5.20Those who have no loved ones have no suffering. They are free of sorrow, stains, and anguish I say.”
ud8.8:6.1Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:
ud8.8:7.1“All the sorrows and lamentations
ud8.8:7.2and the countless forms of suffering in the world
ud8.8:7.3occur because of those that we love;
ud8.8:7.4without loved ones they do not occur.
ud8.8:8.1That’s why those who have no loved ones at all in the world
ud8.8:8.2are happy and free of grief.
ud8.8:8.3So aspiring to the sorrowless and stainless,
ud8.8:8.4have no loved ones in the world at all.”