Ānanda and the Sorceress’s Daughter

A young woman offers water to Ānanda, a disciple of the Buddha, and discovers a love she cannot put aside. When a disputant persuades her that destiny binds them together, she begs her sorceress mother to summon him. The mother’s magic draws the reluctant monk into a struggle that neither compassion nor desire can resolve easily.

Okamoto Kanoko’s nine-scene drama brings intimate anguish and spectacular theater together: blood-smeared lotus petals, divine guardians, a battle staged as dance, and threads of salvation reaching across worlds. Its central question is how romantic love might become a means of awakening rather than merely an obstacle to it.

First serialized in 1928, Ānanda and the Sorceress’s Daughter combines Buddhist reflection with arguments about the body, sincerity and the limits of possessive love. This complete English translation includes every scene, the author’s commentary on the celestial dance, and her postscript explaining the differences between her artistic reconstruction and the scriptural story. Notes clarify Buddhist names, theatrical references and source readings.