Mahapajapati Gotami

Mahapajapati Gotami was the Buddha’s maternal aunt and foster mother, and the first woman ordained in the Buddhist monastic community according to Buddhist tradition.

Buddhist monasticism: The communal religious life of Buddhist monks and nuns, governed by disciplinary rules and shared practices. Mahapajapati’s ordination marks the beginning of the nuns’ community within this broader tradition.
Maya (Buddha's mother): The Buddha’s birth mother, who died shortly after his birth in Buddhist tradition. Mahapajapati was Maya’s sister and took responsibility for raising the Buddha.
Bhikkhuni order: A Buddhist monastic community of fully ordained nuns. Mahapajapati’s ordination is traditionally treated as its founding moment.
Cullavagga: A section of the Pali Vinaya containing rules and narratives about Buddhist monastic communities. Its account of Mahapajapati’s ordination is a key source for the traditional narrative.
Gautama Buddha: The spiritual teacher traditionally regarded as the founder of Buddhism. The ordination narrative centers on her repeated requests to the Buddha.
Suddhodana: The Buddha’s father and a ruler of the Shakya people in Buddhist tradition. After Maya’s death, Mahapajapati became part of the household that raised his son.
Therigatha: A Pali collection of poems attributed to early Buddhist nuns. Its voices preserve the literary legacy of women in the early monastic community.
Mulasarvastivada Vinaya: A Buddhist monastic code preserved in Sanskrit and Tibetan traditions. Its parallel accounts allow comparison with the Pali narrative of women’s admission.
Ananda: A close disciple of the Buddha remembered for his recitation of the discourses at the First Buddhist Council. He supported Mahapajapati’s request by asking whether women could attain liberation.
Yasodhara: The Buddha’s wife before his renunciation, and the mother of his son Rahula in Buddhist tradition. She is among the women associated with the early Buddhist community of nuns.

Linked from 9 pages