Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī
Buddhist · mortal · mythic · mortal
THE FIRST NUN, AND THE ORDER EXISTS BECAUSE SHE WOULD NOT STOP ASKING. The sources say the request was persistent and that the order was established 'with additional rules', which the record states without softening either half.
Relations
- sibling: Māyā
- spouse: Śuddhodana
- raised: Siddhārtha Gautama
- supported by: Ānanda
Sources
- Reference treatment of the life of the Buddha and the family of Gautama Buddha: Suddhodana was a powerful leader of the Shakya tribe and Maya was his wife; Maya died shortly after Siddhartha was born and her sister Mahapajapati Gotami was elevated to chief consort; at the age of 16 he was married to his cousin Yasodhara, who was also 16; it took Yasodhara a long time to conceive a child, a boy named Rahula born on the day Siddhartha left the palace; Yasodhara was also a sister of Devadatta, who became a disciple of the Buddha and then, by some accounts, a dangerous rival; Rahula became a novice monk at the age of seven and spent the rest of his life with his father; at the persistent request of his stepmother Mahapajapati Gotami and with the advocacy of his attendant Ananda, the Buddha eventually established an order of nuns.