[Verse 1]
I gave my heart, I did my best,
I served with care and gave no less.
Yet those I married turned away,
And love could never choose to stay.
One husband left, then two and three,
No home could offer security.
Through tears I searched within my heart,
And knew a different path must start.
[Chorus]
Old karma may return,
But today we still can choose.
Do not drown in yesterday,
Create new causes through the Dhamma way.
Every action bears its fruit,
Let wisdom be your deepest root.
When understanding lights the way,
Suffering can lead to freedom's day.
[Verse 2]
Once I was a wealthy goldsmith proud,
Lost in youth among the crowd.
I broke another person's trust,
And later suffered as I must.
Through painful lives and forms I passed,
Until the seeds of karma reached their last.
Then born again as human kind,
I faced the fruits I left behind.
[Chorus]
Old karma may return,
But today we still can choose.
Do not drown in yesterday,
Create new causes through the Dhamma way.
[Verse 3]
Seven days after I left the home,
Three higher knowledges had come.
I saw the lives that came before,
And understood the karmic law.
I did not blame the world or fate,
Nor let despair decide my state.
The Dhamma became my guiding light,
Leading me beyond the cycle's night.
[Verse 4]
The past is gone, the present stays,
Each breath can shape our future days.
Renunciation opens the door,
When craving binds the heart no more.
With virtue, wisdom, truth, and care,
The mind can rise above despair.
Step by step the path is clear,
And freedom grows when fear disappears.
[Final Chorus]
Old karma is not a prison wall,
The Dhamma gives strength to rise after every fall.
Whatever pain the past may bring,
Wisdom gives the heart new wings.
Isidāsī's voice remains today:
Create wholesome causes on your way.
Let suffering become the start
Of freedom growing in the heart.
Isidāsī Therī: A Story of Karma, Repeated Suffering, and Liberation Through Renunciation
The Cattālīsatinipāta of the Therīgāthā tells the story of Isidāsī Therī, a virtuous and diligent woman who was repeatedly rejected by her husbands despite faithfully fulfilling her responsibilities. Her suffering eventually led her to renunciation, where she attained the Three Knowledges and understood the karmic causes connected with her past experiences.
In Tipitaka Volume 26, Sutta Piṭaka Volume 18, Khuddaka Nikāya, Therīgāthā, the Cattālīsatinipāta presents a dialogue between Isidāsī Therī and Bodhī Therī. Bodhī asks why Isidāsī chose the life of renunciation while she was still young and regarded as admirable.
A Life of Good Conduct Yet Repeated Rejection
Isidāsī explains that she was the only beloved daughter of a wealthy and virtuous merchant in Ujjeni. When she came of age, she married into another wealthy family in Sāketa.
She treated her husband's parents with respect, welcomed relatives and servants, prepared food, cared for her husband, worked diligently, and lived without arrogance. Yet her husband insisted that he did not want to live with her, even though she had neither harmed nor insulted him.
After returning to her parents, she married a second man of more modest means. That marriage also ended in rejection. Her father then arranged for her to marry a wandering mendicant, but he remained with her for only half a month before asking to return to his former life.
After these repeated experiences, Isidāsī concluded that death or renunciation was preferable to continuing in the same cycle of suffering.
Renunciation as a Way Beyond the Cycle
A turning point came when the nun Jinadattā, described as learned and disciplined, came to the household for alms. Isidāsī offered her food and asked permission to ordain.
Although her father initially asked her to remain at home and practice virtue there, Isidāsī pleaded to be allowed to enter the monastic life. She expressed her determination to bring the karmic consequences of her past actions to an end.
Her father eventually permitted her to ordain. The text states that after only seven days, she attained the Three Knowledges and was able to recollect seven previous lives.
Karma and Responsibility for Action
A major part of Isidāsī's account concerns one of her former lives. She recalls having been a wealthy goldsmith who, intoxicated by youth, committed sexual misconduct with another man's wife.
The text describes a series of painful rebirths and experiences that it presents as karmic consequences of that action. Eventually she was reborn as a human being and experienced repeated difficulties in relationships.
In another life, she had caused a husband to abandon his virtuous wife. The story connects this conduct with her own later experience of being repeatedly rejected by husbands.
The central lesson is not simply blame. Rather, karma is presented as a framework for understanding the relationship between actions and their consequences.
Not Fatalism, but an Invitation to Change
The story should not be understood merely as a doctrine of resignation to fate. Its most important movement is from understanding the past toward transforming the present.
Isidāsī does not remain trapped in the question of why suffering has happened to her. Once she understands the causes connected with her past, she chooses renunciation, practices the Dhamma, and attains the Three Knowledges.
The story therefore contains two complementary lessons: take responsibility for the causes of suffering, and create new causes that lead toward liberation.
Suffering Becomes a Turning Point
What initially appears to be failure in family life becomes the turning point of Isidāsī's spiritual journey.
Being rejected by three husbands does not ultimately define her worth. Instead, the repeated suffering causes her to question the cycle of worldly existence and seek a path beyond it.
She discovers that renunciation is not simply an escape from an unsuccessful relationship. It is a deliberate movement away from attachment and toward liberation.
The Three Knowledges
After ordination, Isidāsī attains the Three Knowledges and gains direct insight into her past. She understands the connection between former actions and later experiences.
The conclusion of her story declares that the evil karma associated with the past has reached its end. The story therefore portrays liberation as the completion of the process of overcoming the defilements, rather than merely escaping from difficult circumstances.
A Lesson for Modern Life
The story of Isidāsī Therī remains meaningful for people facing rejection, broken relationships, disappointment, and circumstances beyond their control.
Its message can be summarized simply: do not measure your worth entirely by whether other people accept you.
Isidāsī fulfilled her responsibilities and behaved well, yet her marriages repeatedly failed. When the circumstances could no longer be changed, she turned toward transforming herself.
In this sense, karma should not become an excuse for passive resignation. Instead, it can be understood as a reminder to act carefully in the present and continually create wholesome causes.
The story of Isidāsī Therī therefore offers a profound message: the past may help explain some suffering, but the present remains the field in which we can choose our actions—and wisdom can transform suffering into a doorway to liberation.
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