Ud 2:9 · Visākhā (Visākhā Sutta)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī at the Eastern Monastery, the palace of Migāra’s mother.1 And on that occasion, Visākhā, Migāra’s mother, had some dealings with King Pasenadi Kosala that he did not settle as she had wished. So in the middle of the day she went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As she was sitting there the Blessed One said to her, “Well now, Visākhā, where are you coming from in the middle of the day?”
“Just now, lord, I had some dealings with King Pasenadi Kosala that he did not settle as I had wished.”
Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:
All subjection to others
is painful.
All independence
is bliss.
What is held in common
brings suffering,
for duties are hard
to overcome.
Note
1. According to the Commentary, Visākhā was actually Migāra’s daughter, but because she introduced him to the Dhamma, she gained the epithet of being his mother.
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 licence, for free distribution only. Source: dhammatalks.org (Metta Forest Monastery).
