When the Taira clan was finally defeated by the Minamoto army in the Battle of Dannoura, she threw herself into the sea holding Emperor Antoku, her maternal grandson, in her arms, telling him that there was a paradise under the sea ("Heike Monogatari" (The Tale of Heike)).
壇ノ浦の戦いで一門が源氏軍に最終的な敗北を喫した際、外孫に当たる安徳天皇を抱き、「浪の下にも都の候ぞ」（『平家物語』）と言い聞かせ、海中に身を投じて自殺した。