Why Kisa Gotami met the Buddha:
Kisa Gotami's only son died. Overcome by grief, she refused to accept his death and went from house to house asking for medicine to cure him. A kind man directed her to the Buddha, Sakyamuni, saying he could help. She went to the Buddha and begged him for medicine to revive her dead child.
How the Buddha changed her life:
The Buddha sent her to fetch a handful of mustard-seed from a house that had never known death. As she went door to door, she found that every family had lost someone dear. She could not collect the seed.
This experience made Kisa Gotami realise that death is universal — it comes to all. Sitting alone watching the city lights flicker and die, she understood she had been selfish in her grief. She accepted that "death is common to all," and that surrendering selfishness leads to immortality.
The Buddha's sermon further taught her that weeping cannot bring back the dead; only drawing out the arrow of grief brings peace. Thus she was transformed from a grief-stricken, irrational mother into an enlightened, composed person.
Source: The Story of Kisa Gotami and the Sermon, Chapter 8
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