Mahapajapati Gotami
Topic: Buddhism, Jainism and Heterodox Traditions · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"
Meaning
Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī was the Buddha's foster mother and his mother's sister. She brought him up after his mother died. She was the first woman to become a bhikkhunī (Buddhist nun). At first only men could join the sangha, and women were admitted later through the mediation of Ānanda, one of the Buddha's dearest disciples. Her entry opened the way for many women to become teachers of dhamma and theris (respected women who had attained liberation).
Example
In the c. sixth–fifth century BCE, after Ānanda pleaded on behalf of the women, Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī was admitted to the sangha. She became the first bhikkhunī and began the order of Buddhist nuns.
Don't confuse with
- Maya: Maya was the Buddha's birth mother, linked in tradition to his birth at Lumbini. Mahāpajāpatī was the foster mother who raised him and later became a nun.