[564] "These women, their bodies broken all over,
ill-born, lift up their arms and wail —
besmeared, daubed with blood and pus,
like cows cut up at the place of slaughter.
They are ever buried in the earth,
and blazing masses [of fire] roll over them.
Fear indeed comes upon me, charioteer, at this sight.
I ask you, Mātali, charioteer of the devas:
what evil, pray, did these women do,
who are ever buried in the earth
while blazing masses [of fire] roll over them?"
[Siam Raṭṭha page-footnote: ¹ Ma. (Burmese ed.): sandhānagatā; Sī. (Sinhalese ed.), Yu. (European ed.): santhānagatā. ² Ma.: purakkhatassa — and so likewise hereafter.]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.