Isidasi 

During the time of the Buddha, there was a beautiful young girl who was born in a wealthy family. As she turned sixteen, she was arranged to marry a handsome young man who also come from a well-to-do family. Isidasi was a submissive wife who attended to all the needs of her husband and his family. After a short period of their married life, her husband became tired of her and insisted that Isidasi was to be sent back to her parents. Isidasi was very upset upon returning to her parents’ home.

A second marriage was arranged for her. Her second husband came form a middleclass family. During the marriage, Isidasi performed all the rightful duties of a wife. However, a few months later, her second husband became unhappy with her and decided to send her back to her family. Her parents were very disappointed that Isidasi had two unsuccessful marriages. Out of desperation, Isidasi was given to be married to a young homeless man. The young married couple lived in her parents’ home. After a short time, her third husband became miserable and left her family, preferring to return to his wondering life as a beggar.

Isidasi was devastated with her fate. She wanted to kill herself. As she was standing on the top of the roof ready to jump, she looked down and saw a Bhikkhuni walking by. She quickly came down to pay her respect. She was attracted by the calm and serenity of the Bhikkhuni. Isidasi then decided that she also wanted to become a nun. With the permission of her parents, the Bhikkhuni took Isidasi to meet the Buddha. After becoming a nun, she practised diligently and soon attained to her enlightenment.

One day, while sitting by the river, she reflected on her past Kamma. She understood that in one of her previous births, she was a handsome wealthy goldsmith. He had many affairs and cheated on a number of young women. As a result, he was reborn in hell. Subsequently, he was reborn as a donkey, a monkey and as some other animals. Later, she was reborn as a slave girl in the human world and had much sufferings. Finally, she was reborn as Isidasi. Although Isidasi was born in comfort and had good parents, she experienced three unsatisfactory marriages. This was in spite of her great devotion towards her three husbands. This could be explained as the outcome of her bad deeds in her previous births.

Our good or bad Kamma follows us and will bring us desirable or undesirable results accordingly. It is important that we should stay away from doing evil deeds so as not to suffer in the future.