Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.
Overwhelmed with grief for my son — naked, demented, my hair dishevelled my mind deranged — I went about here & there, living along the side of the road, in cemeteries & heaps of trash, for three full years, afflicted with hunger & thirst. Then I saw the One Well-gone, gone to the city of Mithila: tamer of those untamed, Self-Awakened, with nothing to fear from anything, anywhere. Regaining my mind, paying him homage, I sat myself down. He, Gotama, from sympathy taught me the Dhamma. Hearing his Dhamma, I went forth into homelessness. Applying myself to the Teacher's words, I realized the state of auspicious bliss. All griefs have been cut off, abandoned, brought to this end, for I've comprehended the grounds from which griefs come into play.