Gotama left his family at the age of twenty nine and attained enlightenment when he was thirty five. Then he started his practice as a spiritual teacher and continued his work for forty five years till his demise at the age of eighty. At first the Buddha inducted a group of five monks to doctrine in Ishipatana (Eightfold Path) and later people of all classes including women found their way to the Buddhist sangha. The number of women gradually increased in Buddhism and they played a very important part in spreading the Dhamma. In Indian society women are wrongly held to be inferior to men but the Buddha opposed the view. He was of the opinion that women occupied a very important place in society and is loved by the members of her family.
When the Buddha started his sangha the monks used to live in caves and forests. It was when king Bimbisara presented him with Venuvana that he allowed the monks to live there. Though the Buddha was a person of democratic ideas the entry of women to the sangha was not entirely smooth. In those days women were considered to be a threat for a life of spirituality. However, the Svetambara Order of Jainism had allowed women to enter the sangha.
The Buddha believed that women had an important place in society. She occupies a respectable position as a mother and compete with men in many fields. According to the Buddha a lay woman has certain characteristics and they are devotion, morality, wisdom, learning, and liberality. It is the duty of lay women to develop her inherent qualities.
Siddhartha’s (Buddha’s birth name) father Suddhodana died five years after his enlightenment. In those days Sakyas and Koliyas were quarrelling over the water of the river Rohini. The Buddha went there to solve the crisis and after it was solved he was resting at the Nigrodharama at Kapilavastu. At that time Mahapajapati Gotami (maternal aunt and step-mother to Buddha) went there with the request to form an Bhikkhuni Sâsana (Order for the Buddhist Nuns). She prayed three times but the Buddha turned down her request. Mahapajapati Gotami was so saddened that she left the place weeping. After that the Buddha left Kapilavastu for Vesali. There Mahapajapati Gotami led a number of women to the Buddha on foot, covering a long distance. This time they got the sympathy of Ananda (one of the principal disciples and an attendant of the Buddha) who was very much moved after seeing their plight. Now Ananda himself requested the Buddha to grant the women their prayer and finally he obliged him.
Among the women who entered the sangha we may first mention the name of Mahapajapati Goptami. After being ordained she engaged herself in meditational exercises under the guidance of the Buddha and soon attained arhathood. Once Mahapajapati made an excellent robe for the Buddha and presented it to him. But the Buddha did not accept the gift but instructed her to donate it to the Sangha. Hearing this order Mahapajapati was sad but the Buddha explained to her that it was for her greater good and at the same time it would serve as an example for everyone who would make similar gifts in future. The Buddha had great love and respect for Mahapajapati and when she was at her deathbed, he amended the rule and he himself went to preach to her.
Yasodhara was another woman saint. She was the Buddha’s wife and Rahula’s mother. She was born on the same day as the Bodhisattva. When she was married to the Buddha she was sixteen years old and was the leader of the forty thousand women that the Buddha received from the Sakyans at the time of his marriage. After attaining Bodhi the Buddha returned to Kapilavastu and preached his Dhamma to his relatives. Suddhodana invited him to take meal in his palace and when the Buddha reached there all the court ladies went to pay their homage to him except Yasodhara who believed that if she had any virtue in her he would come to her. When the Buddha came to her with two disciples she touched his feet and placed her head on them. The Buddha was informed that after he had left home Yasodhara had started living a very simple and plain life, relinquishing all luxuries. As a Bhikkhuni, Yasodhara played a very important role in spreading Buddhism. She is considered to be very important in the list of the Bhikkhunis who possessed supernatural powers.
As a newly born infant, Ambapali was found in the mango garden of Mahanama, a rich man of Vesali. He gave the baby to his wife and both of them started to rear her as their own daughter. The girl became very beautiful as she grew up and kings and princes wanted to marry her. As a result, a rivalry started among the suitors and Mahanama could not make up his mind regarding the matter. He convened a meeting of the Lichchhavis and confided everything to them. The members assembled in the meeting were struck by Ambapali’s beauty and it was decided that she would become the Nagarvadhu. Ambapali accepted the decision but under certain conditions. One day she met Lord Buddha and listened to his discourses. Having heard it she was so satisfied that she invited the Lord to her house with his disciples. When the Buddha and his disciples went there Ambapali served them to her entire satisfaction and finally presented her mango garden to the Buddha and the sangha. In a later period of her life she renounced family life and became a Bhikkhuni. She also attained arhathood.
Apart from those mentioned above there were also many women saints who made great contributions in the spread of Buddhism. They were Khema, Patachara, Bhadda Kundalakesa, Isidasi, Kisas Gotami, Sumedha etc.
The lay women or upasikas also played an important part in the cause of Buddhism. Among them the name of Visakha is the most important. She was the daughter of Dhananjaya, and Sumanadevi. Visakha was married to Punnavaddhana, son of the banker Migara. Visakha was a great devotee of the Buddha from her childhood but Migara was the follower of the Niganthas. Later due to Visakha’s influence Migara also became a devotee of the Buddha. Everyday Visakha offered meal to five hundred monks. Every afternoon she visited the Buddha and heard his discourses. The Buddha gave her eight boons and they were: as long as she lived she would give robes to the monks of the Order for the rainy season, food for monks coming into Savatthi, food for those going out, food for the sick, food for those who wait on the sick, medicine for the sick, a constant supply of rice gruel for anyone needing it and bathing robes for the Bhikkhunis. Visakha sold all her ornaments and collected nine crores of karshapanas. With this money she constructed a monastery named Migaramatapasada in the Pubbarama of Savatthi.
Like Visakha many other lay women also contributed to the advancement of Buddhism. Mentionables include Mallika, Khujjuttara, Kali, Samavati, Bhadda, Migasala, etc.
Today, when the role of the Women is an issue of worldwide interest, it is opportune that we should pause to look at it from Buddhist perspective.
Buddhist does not restrict either the educational opportunities of women or their religious freedom. The Buddha unhesitatingly accepted that-women are capable of realizing the Truth, just as Men are. This is why, he permitted the admission of women in the Sangha. Once a women proved her capabilities of managing the affairs in the Sangha. The Buddha recognised their abilities and talents and gave them responsible positions.
Even the “Theri-gatha” contains numerous stanzas, that clearly express the feelings of joy experienced by saintly bhikkhunis at their ability to enter the order and realize the truth
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