When she was 16 her parents feared for her virtue and removed her to luxurious quarters at the very top of their palace. They surrounded her rooms with Guards so that no man could approach her. Despite such precautions she fell in love with one of her Palace manservants and began a wondrous but unsuspected romance. .
Unknown to her, but as was the custom within high castes, her Father had already arranged a marriage for her with a man of equal social and financial status. Patacara was horrified to discover this and realised that there was no other choice for her but to secretly run away from her parents home with the man she loved. This they did and the pair of them set up home a long way from Savathi, within a little country village, living quietly so that their parents could not discover where they were.
Her new husband worked at tilling the soil and gathering wood. As an ordinary housewife Patacara had to perform the menial household duties she had never learnt, or had to do, before.
After a while she became pregnant and, when the time of her delivery drew close, she asked her husband to take her back to her parents home so that she could give birth to their child in more comfortable surroundings.
This he was reluctant to do, fearing perhaps that they would persuade her to stay there and that her love for him may wane. Patacara pleaded with him many times but to no avail. Wishing the very best environment for her coming child she decided to go secretly to her parents home for the birth and one day, when her husband was out working, she set off upon the long journey.
When her husband returned home and found her gone he guessed what had happened and chased after her, finding her weary and footsore. Again she begged him to let her go back but he refused. Suddenly she felt pains and, making her way to a clump of bushes, lay down in agony.
In a short time she gave birth to a son and, realising there was no longer any point in going to her parents, returned to her village house with her husband.
After some time had passed she again became pregnant and once more asked her husband to permit her to return to her parents house. Again, as before, he refused.
When the time for the birth became due she again secretly set out for her parents house, this time carrying her first child as well.
However, and unknown to her, her husband remembering the last time and fearing the worst, had decided to follow her and, when he overtook her, asked her to go back immediately. Once more she refused and carried on walking towards Savathi and her parents house.
As they went on a fearful and unseasonal storm arose. As its power increased, the birth pains grew stronger and stronger within her. Asking her husband to find her a place out of the rain she sat down whilst he ran about searching for some dry place where she could lie and give birth more comfortably. Not finding any suitable place, and as he still had his woodsmans axe with him, he decided to build a little shelter.
Espying a good crop of trees atop an Ant hill he climbed up on it and, in the increasingly heavy rainfall, began to chop wood furiously.
The storm and his frantic chopping however must have disturbed the animals living within the Ant hill, for no sooner had he started chopping wood than a poisonous snake darted out from a hole within it and bit him.
Instantly his body felt like it was burning in flames, his flesh turned purple and, with a loud scream, he fell down dead. Because of the fierce storm Patacara was unable to hear his scream.
Patacara, by now in extreme pain herself, awaited his return in vain and eventually,alone and unaided, she gave birth to a second son. Her first child, terrified by the ferocity and noises of the storm, started to scream loudly and grew very frightened so she cuddled both of them tightly close to her and, crouching down low , shielded both from the rain and wind. She remained in this position all night long.
As dawn came and thinking her husband had left in disgust at her conduct, she set off again for her parents house but soon discovered her husbands body. Crying and wailing in sorrow at her loss she thought "This has all happened because of me".
Continuing her journey towards Savathi she came to the river Aciravati which, because of the previous nights storm, had become swollen with water and was now swift flowing. Knowing she had to cross this river and being too weak to carry both of the children across at the same time, she decided to put the elder one down on the bank and take the newly born one across first. This she did and after making a little bed of branches for the infant, began to re-cross the river to fetch her eldest child. All the time she she did this she kept looking back at her new born to make sure he was alright.
Barely had she reached midstream when an Eagle spotted her wriggling baby and, thinking it was a small animal, began to swoop down.
Seeing this Patacara waved her hands wildly and cried out loudly three times hoping to frighten it away. It was no use however and, with great speed,the Eagle swooped down and took the newly born baby in its claws, soaring high up into the skies Patacara continued yelling and screaming, shouting and crying in horror at what the Eagle had done.
Hearing all this noise and seeing his mother out in the middle of the river, her elder child thought she was calling him so he got up and ran towards her. In his haste he slipped and felling into the river was swiftly swept away, disappearing beneath its wild swirling waters.
Patacara looking up into the sky at one baby and down into the river at the other, suddenly, and in horror, the full import of what had happened dawned upon her.
Distraught she screamed loudly and wildly in despair and lamented yet again. In one day she had lost her husband, her eldest son and her newly born baby.
Now, with little else left in life, she set out once more for her parents home in Savathi. After a while she met a man coming from her home town and, getting into conversation with him, asked if he knew her family.
When he heard her family name the man at first was reluctant to speak of them but eventually he told her that, in the same terrible storm in which she had lost her husband, her parents house had been blown down and that all its occupants, including her mother, father and brother, had been killed.
As she heard this her face went pale, it was the last straw and in an instant she went completely mad. Tearing off her clothes she ran screaming into the wilds, forgetting who she was and where she came from.
From that moment on she became a wild wanderer, lamenting and babbling incoherently through the countryside and its villages. Each time she passed by people's homes they would come out to mock her and threw rubbish and dirt over her naked and dirty body, yelling at her to go away from them.
At that time Shakyamuni Buddha was living at the Jetavana monastery teaching the Dharma amidst all his disciples.
Patacara's wanderings brought her to the Jetavana and the Buddha noticed her coming nearer. In his Wisdom, he saw that all her troubles and sufferings had brought her close to the edge of a profound spiritual development. For a hundred thousand cycles of existence she had been fulfilling the requisites of a promise to attain Enlightenment which she had expressed to a prior Buddha named Padumuttara. He had predicted that she would become a wise and famous teacher of Nuns.
As Patacara approached the Jetavana monastery some Monks spotted her naked body and realised that she was coming to try and see the Buddha. They cried out "Keep her away from here, She is a crazy women !".
The Buddha however said instead "Monks ! do not hinder her, let her come".
Patacara approached and bowed before the Buddha. As she looked at him he spoke to her saying , "Sister, regain your mindfulness!".
In an instant she remembered who she was and what had happened to her. Realising she was naked she crouched upon the ground in shame. A monk threw her a robe and she gathered it quickly around her. Patacara then prostrated five time before the Buddha and said "Venerable Sir, be my refuge, be my support". and then told him how she had lost all her loved ones. The Buddha listened and said 'Patacara be troubled no more. You have come to one who is able to be your refuge and your support. What you have told me is true but,just as today, so also through the round of existences you have wept over the loss of other sons and daughters, others dear to you. You have shed tears more abundant than the four Oceans'.Instantly her grief lessened.
He continued "Patacara, to one who is on the way to the world beyond, no sons or other kin can ever be a shelter or refuge. How could you expect them to be so in this present life. He that is wise should clarify his conduct and make clear the path to Nirvana."
At the end of this teaching Patacara became 'One who has entered the Stream' (beyond sufferings) and the various taints within her, even though as numerous as the particles of dust upon the earth, were all burnt away.
After this encounter she went forth in the Order of Nuns and, it is said, later became a skilled Arahant.