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The yaksini, mother of demons
Whose name is Abductor
Who was known to devour in this world countless
Newly born children and those still carried in arms,
The smallest of her sons, Priyankara
The Buddha took him and hid him under his bowl.
The mother went away in all directions searching for him,
Hastening panic-stricken, she came towards the Buddha.
The Buddha asked her "Do you love your son?"
Others also love their children.
If you are able to be good and kill no longer
I will let you see your son."
Then she submitted to the teaching and received the precepts
She conceived of the goodness and killed no more.
With her sons she took refuge in the Buddha
As streams and rivers go to the sea
She brought males and females in great numbers
Of male and female demons in masses
And their male and female descendants
so numerous as to fill the deserts and valleys
It is thus that in the Jetavana
He converted the Mother of Demons.
*Cited in Taisho as: T.IV, 193. This verse was translated into Chinese by
the monk, Baoyun, in the first half of the fifth century. My translation
is based on Noel Peri's version in "Hariti la mere-de-demons," 29-30.