Mahapajapati Gotami was the younger sister of Queen Maya and, after Maya died shortly after childbirth, raised the infant Siddhartha Gautama as her own son. Following the Buddha's enlightenment, she approached him and asked to be ordained, becoming the first woman to seek admission to the monastic community he had founded. Tradition records the Buddha as initially refusing, and as relenting only after his attendant Ananda intervened on her behalf and after she and a group of women had walked a great distance and shaved their heads to press the request. She became the founding leader of the Bhikkhuni order, the first ordained community of Buddhist nuns, and verses attributed to her appear among the Therigatha, the canonical collection of poems by early Buddhist nuns.
Facts
Life
Lifespan or Floruit Lifespan or Floruit Office HeldRecognized as the founding leader of the Bhikkhuni order, the first ordained community of Buddhist nuns. 3 Position Profile
Key TextThe Therigatha, the canonical collection of poems by early Buddhist nuns, carries verses attributed to her. 3 Attestation
Veneration TodayActively venerated in a living tradition 3 Traditions Revering This Figure Scholarship
How Its Legacy Is ContestedTraditional accounts have the Buddha imposing eight special conditions, the garudhammas, subordinating nuns to monks as the price of her ordination request; the authenticity and dating of these rules is disputed among modern scholars, some arguing they were added to the canon later. 3 History
Historical NoteAfter the death of Queen Maya, raised the infant Siddhartha Gautama as her own son, and later became the first woman to request ordination as a Buddhist nun, founding leader of the Bhikkhuni order once the Buddha permitted it. 3 Origins
Place of OriginKapilavastu, in the Sakya realm (present day border of Nepal and India). 3 Era of CompositionContemporary with the Buddha, traditionally placed in the sixth or fifth century BCE. 3 Connections
Associated With
His aunt and foster mother after Queen Maya's death, and the first woman he ordained, becoming founding leader of the Bhikkhuni order under his teaching.
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Belongs to Tradition
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Originated In
India, Regions Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Revered In
Sources
1. Mahapajapati Gotami, Structured Record (Wikidata Q613944)
Wikidata
2. Wikidata: Mahapajapati Gotami
- Wikidata Q613944, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Wikidata Q613944, P140 claim (w-bbfill-div-character-0926)
- Wikidata Q613944, P569 claim (w-bbfill-div-character-0926)
- Wikidata Q613944, P570 claim (w-bbfill-div-character-0926)
View the Source3. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005Originated In: India, Stored origin-place property on this entity, cited to this source: Kapilavastu, in the Sakya realm (present day border of Nepal and India).View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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