Jiabs 24-2

Peter SKILLING
JIABS
Journal of the International
Association of Buddhist Studies
Volume 24 Number 2 2001
Buddhist Nuns
E ~ i i agrii: Images of Nuns in (Miila-)Sarviistiviidin Literature ...... 135
Ivette M. VARGAS-O'BRIAN
The Life of dGe slong ma dPal mo: The Experience of a Leper,
Founder of a Fasting Ritual, a Transmitter of Buddhist
Teachings on Suffering and Renunciation in Tibetan Religious
History................................................ ............................................... 157
Kim GUTS CHOW
What Makes a Nun? Apprenticeship and Ritual Passage in Zanskar,
North India................................................. ....................................... 187
Sarah LEVINE
The Finances of a Twentieth Century Buddhist Mission:
Building Support for the Theraviida Nuns' Order of Nepal............ 217
Peter SKILLING
Nuns, Laywomen, Donors, Goddesses
Female Roles in Early Indian Buddhism ......................................... 241
AnnHEIRMAN
Chinese Nuns and their Ordination in Fifth Century China ........... 275
Notes on the Contributors................................................................. 305
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EDITORIAL BOARD
SCHERRER-SCHAUB CristL.'1aA.
TILLEMANS Tom J.F.
Editors-in-Chief
BUSWELL Robert
COLLINS Steven
Cox Collet
G6MEZ Luis O.
HARRISON Paul
VON HlNOBER Oskar
JACKSON Roger
JAINl PacImanabh S.
KATSURA Shoryu
KuoLi-ying
LOPEz,Jr. Donald S.
MAcDONALD Alexander
RUEGG D. Seyfort
SHARF Robert
STEINKELLNER Ernst
ZORCHER Erik
ESA AGRt1: IMAGESOF NUNS
IN (MULA-)SARVASTIV.ADIN LITERATURE
PETER SKILLING
Buddhist literature evolved over centuries across a widespread area. The Buddhist
texts that we know today are social products, constituted by negotiation, com-
promise, and adaptation. Should we expect them to present a single position on
nuns or female spirituality? Should we close our eyes to the positive, and see only
the negative, or vice versa, according to our proclivities? Or should we accept
that both nuns and monks may be portrayed either positively or negatively, and
see what different texts have to say? In this article I look at (MUla-)Sarvastiva-
din avadiinas from the perspective of a literary anthropologist, revealing embedded
values and displaying narratory artefacts related to nunship. I discover positive
images connected with teaching and transmitting the Dharma. The very fact of
being transmitted and circulated - through manuscripts, sermons, or print media,
in Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, or modem translation - indicates that these texts
have been - and still can be - living entities, things of the present, with the
power to invoke images, motivate religious practice - and provoke debate.
We are now in a better position than before to study the lives of Buddhist
nuns trom literary sources. The well-known Verses a/the Elder Nuns, or
Ther"igiithii, is available in several translations, including the meticulously
annotated translation by K.R. NORMAN
l
. The commentary, the Therigiithii-
atthakathii - a skillful weave of bardic, philological, hermeneutic, and
narrative genres --:- is accessible in a new edition of the Piili and in an
excellent translation, both by William PRU1Tf2. The fifth chapter of the
1 Elders'Verses, Vol. n, The Pall Text Society, Oxford (1971, 1992, 1995). Caroline
RHYs DAVIDS' psalms of the Sisters (1909) has been superseded by Elders'Verses and by
PRurrr (see following note).
2 Therigiithii-atthakathii (Paramatthadipani VI) by Achariya Dhammapiila, The Pall
Text Society, Oxford, 1998; The Commentary on the Verses of the TheTis (Therigiithii-
atthakathii Paramatthadipani VI) byAcariya Dhammapiila, The Pall Text Society, Oxford,
1998.
Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies
136 PETER SKILLING
,
Etadagga-vagga of the Anguttara-nikaya and its commentary, long avail-
able in roman-script editions, is now supplemented by the publication of
the sub-commentary3 .. The chapter deals with thirteen outstanding nuns.
Although the Pali of the . commentary itself has not been translated,
one may consult U TIN Oo's English translation of the "Life Stories of
BhikkhunI Elders" from MINoVN SAYADAW'S encyclopredic Mahabud-
dhava'!lsa, a work composed in Burmese on the basis of PaIi sources4,
and the composite selections in NYANAPONIKA Thera and Hellmuth
HECKER'S Great Disciples of the Buddha
5
Another source for narratives
about nuns is the Saddharmaratnavaliya, a Sinhalese rendition of the
Dhammapada-atthakatha6. The short but important Bhikkhunzsa'!lyutta
of the Sa'!lyuttanikaya is available in both a new edition of the PaIi by
G.A. SOMARATNE and a new translation by Bhikkhu BODm7. Mohan
WIJAYARATNA has published a study of nuns based on PaIi texts, with an
appendix giving the Pili Bhikkhunz Patimokkha in roman letters
8
WIJA-
YARATNA also devoted an appendix to nuns in his Buddhist Monastic
Life
9
The Pall Text Society's new edition with English translation enface
of the Theravadin Patimokkha includes the Bhikkhuni Patimokkha
10
, and
3 Primoz PECENKO (ed.), Anguttaranikiiya{ika Volume II, Catuttlui Siiratthamaiijusii,
Ekanipiita(ikii II-XIV, The Pall Text Society, Oxford, 1997, pp. 279-97.
4 The Most Venerable MrNGW SAYAJJAW Bhaddanta Vicittasarabhiv3l11sa, The Great
Chronicle of Buddhas: The State Buddha Siisana Council's Version, Vol. 6, Part 2, (edited
by U Ko LAy [Zeyar Mating], translated by U TIN 00 [Myaung]), Rangoon, 1998. For the
lives of the nuns in Thai see Banjob BANNARUCI, Phiksuni: Phutthasavika khrang phut-
thakan, Chulalongkom University Press, Bangkok, 2539 [1996].
5 NYANAPONlKA Thera & Hellmuth HECKER, Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their
Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy, Edited with an Introduction by Bhikkhu BODID, Wisdom
Publications, Boston, 1997, Chap. 7.
6 See Ranjini OBEYESEKERE, Portraits of Buddhist Women: Stories from the Saddhar-
maratniivaliya, State University of New York Press, Albany, 2001.
7 G.A. SOMARATNE (ed.), The SaTflyuttanikiiya of the Suttapi{aka, Volume I, The Sagii-
thavagga, The Pali Text Society, Oxford, 1998, pp. 281-97; Bhikkhu BODID (tr.), The
Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the SaTflyutta Nikiiya, Wisdom
Publications, Boston, 2000, Vol. I, pp. 221-30.
8 Les moniales bouddhistes: naissance et developpement du monachisme feminin, Les
editions du Cerf, Paris, 1991.
9 Mohan WUAYARATNA, Buddhist monastic life according to the texts of the Theraviida
tradition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990, pp. 158-163.
10 William PRurrr (ed.), K.R. NORMAN (tr.), The Piitimokkha, The Pall Text.Society,
Oxford, 2001.
IMAGES OF NUNS IN (MOLA-)SARVASTNADIN LITERATURE 137
the Society has also published a study of certain aspects of the nun's
rules
ll
.
But much remains to be done. The Pilii Therf-apadiina, an important
text in which forty senior nuns relate in verse the deeds of their past lives
and the joy of their present freedom, has not yet been translated into
any European language, or published in a reliable European edition
12
.
The account of the thirteen nuns in the commentary and Etadagga-vagga,
mentioned above, remains to be studied and translated in full from the Pili.
Outside of Pali, other useful materials are available. The "Buddhist
Sanskrit" Vinaya of the Lokottaravadin-Mahasfurighikas is avail-
able in an edition by ROTH and an annotated French translation by NOLOT,
while the related but not identical Mahasfurighika Vinaya (avail-
able only in Fa-hsien's Chinese translation, done between CE 416 and
418) has been translated into English by HlRAKAWA
13
. Shih Pao-ch'ang's
classical compilation of biographies of sixty-five Chinese nuns, compiled
in 516, has been translated by Katherine Anne TSAI14. Articles on aspects
11 BhikkhunIluo-Hstieh SHIH, Controversies over Buddhist Nuns, The Pali Text
Society, Oxford, 2000.
12 For Apadiina see Sally MELLICK CUlLER, "The Plili Apadana Collection", Journal
of the Pali Text Society XX (1994), pp. 1-42. MELLICK CUlLER is preparing an edition and
translation of the Therz-apadiina to be published by the Pali Text Society, Oxford. For
the apadiina of Mabapajapau GotamI see for now Jonathan S. WALTERS, "GotamI's story",
in Donald S. LOPEZ Jr. (ed.), Buddhism in Practice, Princeton Readings in Religions,
Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1995, pp. 113-38.
13 Gustav ROTH (ed.), Manual of Discipline for Buddhist Nuns,
K.P. Jayaswal Research Institute Patna, 1970 (Tibetan Sanskrit Works Series No. XII);
Edith NOLOT (tr.), Regles de discipline des nonnes bouddhistes: Ie de
!'ecole Mahiisii7J1ghika-Lokottaraviidin, College de France, Paris, 1991; AkiTa HlRAKAWA
(tr.), Monastic Disciplinefor the Buddhist Nuns: An English Translation of the Chinese Text
of the Mahiisii7J1ghika Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute, Patna,
1982 (Tibetan Sanskrit Works Series No. XXI).
14 Lives of the Nuns: Biographies of Chinese Buddhist Nuns from the Fourth to Sixth
Centuries, A translation of the Pi-ch'iu-ni chuan compiled by Shih Pao-ch'ang, Univer-
sity of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1994. For a translation into Thai see Chartsumarn KABIL-
SINGH, Chiwaprawat khong phra phiksuni chin, Bangkok, 2535 [1992]. One of the biogra-
phies was translated earlier by Arthur F. WRIGHT, "Biography of the Nun An-ling-shou",
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 15, nos. 1, 2 (June 1952), pp. 193-196; repro in Robert
M. SOMERS (ed.), Arthur F. WRIGHT, Studies in Chinese Buddhism, Yale University Press,
New Haven & London, 1990, pp. 69-72. See also Susan WHllFIELD'S reconstruction of the
life of Miaofu, 880-961, as "The Nun's Tale", in Life along the Silk Road, John Murray,
London, 1999.
138 PETER SKILLING
of the nuns' rules - Vinaya, Karmaviikya - according to
different sources and traditions appear regularly15.
With the exception of the Chinese Lives of the Nuns, the works men-
tioned above belong to the Theravadin and (Lokottaravadin-)Mahasfup.-
ghika traditions. What about the literature of the (Mi1la-)Sarvastivadins,
another of the great Indian schools?16 Does it not have anything to tell
us about nuns? Certainly its Vinaya includes sections devoted to nuns
- the and their commentaries.
It may be that these texts are formally dependent on the corresponding
literatures of the but that is the case with the corresponding sec-
tions of the Vinayas of the other schools, and does not mean that such texts
are not worthy of our attention. As legal texts, daily guidelines for the
order of nuns, they can only be rich in information
1
? Yet for the most part
they have been ignored
18

15 Recent contributions include Ute HDsKEN, "Nonnen in der When buddhistischen
Ordensgemeinschaft", in Ulrike ROESLER (ed.), Aspekte des Weiblichen in derindischen
Kultur, Swisttal-Odendorf, 2000 (Indica et Tibetica 39), pp. 25-46; "The Legend of the
Establishment of the Buddhist Order of Nuns", Journal of the Pali Text Society XXVI
(2000), pp. 43-69 - with a useful bibliography, pp. 66-69. For an English translation of
the "foundation story" from the Lokottaravadin Vinaya see John S. STRONG, The Experi-
ence of Buddhism: Sources and Interpretations, Wadsworth Publishing Company, Bel-
mont, California, 1995, pp. 52-56. Hobogirin and the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism both
have entries on nuns: Hobogirin, Dictionnaire encycloptfdique du bouddhisme d'apres
les sources chinoises et japonaises, fascicule I, Tokyo, 1929-30, pp. 73-74 ("Biknni");
G.P. MALALASEKERA (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, Vol. III, fascicle 1, pp. 43-47
("BhikkhunI"). For later periods in China and Japan see Ding-hwa E. HSIEH. "Images of
Women in Ch'an Buddhist Literature of the Sung Period", in Peter N. GREGORY & Daniel
A. GETZ, Jr., (ed.), Buddhism in the Sung, Kuroda Institute/University of Hawai'i Press.
Honolulu, 1999 (Kuroda Institute Studies in East Asian Buddhism 13), pp. 148-87, and
Miriam LEVERING, "Miao-tao and Her Teacher Ta-hui", ibid., pp. 188-219; C. KLEINE,
"Portraits of Pious Women in East Asian Buddhist Hagiography: A Study of Accounts
of Women who Attained Birth in Amida's Pure Land", Bulletin de ['Ecole frant;aise
d'Extreme-Orient 85 (1998), pp. 325 foIl.
16 For a compelling theory on the meaning of the name "Millasarvastivadin" see Fumio
ENOMOTO, '''Millasarvastivadin' and 'Sarvastivadin''', in Christine CHOJNACKI, Jens-Uwe
HARTMANN and Volker M. TSCHANNERL (ed.), Vividharatnakara/JCjaka, Festgabefiir Adel-
heid Mette, Swisttal-Odendorf, 2000 (Indica et Tibetica 37), pp. 239-50.
17 I do not wish to suggest even for a moment that only these sections contain infor-
mation on nuns. On the contrary, nuns figure in many of the basic monk's rules, and nuns
range freely through the entire Vinaya.
18 Exceptions include Ernst WALDSCHMIDT, Bruchstiicke des der
Sarvastivadins mit einer Darstellung der Uberlieferung des in den
IMAGES OF NUNS IN (MULA-)SARVASTIVA"DIN LITERATURE 139
The (Ml1la-)Sarvastivadin Vinaya is a vast, sprawling, unmanageable
compilation that has not been edited let alone indexed. But there is no need
to despair, since material on nuns is readily accessible (and has long been
so) in two digests of avadanas of the (Ml1la-)Sarvastivadin school, the
Avadanasataka and Kannasataka. The first was translated into French
by FEER in 1891 and edited in Sanskrit by SPEYER between 1906 and
1909
19
; the second was studied and summarized by FEER in 1901
2
. But
they have not received much attention, perhaps in part because they have
been treated as fables, as moral tales devoid of historicity.
Avadanasataka and Karmasataka
The Avadanasataka is a collection of one hundred avadanas in ten
chapters of ten avadanas each. The Sanskrit manuscripts used by FEER
for his translation and by SPEYER for his edition came from Nepal. The
Avadanasataka was translated into Chinese during the Wu dynasty (CE
223-53) by an important translator of the early period, the Indo-Scythian
layman Chih Ch'ien
21
, and into Tibetan by Jinamitra and Devacandra in
verschiedenen Schulen, Kleinere Sanskrit-Texte Heft ill [Leipzig, 1926], repr. in Mono-
graphien ZUT indischen Archaologie Kunst und Philologie, Band 2, Franz Steiner Verlag,
Wiesbaden, 1979; IAMPA TSEDROEN, A Brief Survey of the Vznaya: Its origin,
transmission and arrangement from the Tibetan point of view with comparisons to the
Theraviida and Dharmagupta traditions, Dharma edition, Hamburg, 1992 (Foundation for
Tibetan Buddhist Studies: Vinaya Research 1); KARMA LEKSHE TsoMo, Sisters in Solitude:
Two Traditions of Buddhist Monastic Ethics for Women: A Comparative Analysis of the Chi-
nese Dharmagupta and the Tibetan Millasarviistiviida Sutras, State
University of New York Press, Albany, 1996.
19 Leon FEER, Cent ligendes bouddhiques, [Annales du Musee Guimet
XVIII, Paris, 1891] repro APA-Oriental Press, Amsterdam, 1979; I.S. SPEYER (ed.),
Avadiina,ataka: A Century of Edifying Tales belonging to the Hfnayiina, St. Petersbourg,
1906-09 (Bibliotheca Buddhica ill); also P.L. V AIDYA (ed.), Avadiina-sataka, Darbhanga,
1958 (Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, No. 19). FEER'S translation was made from manuscripts.
For the Tibetan see Avadiinasataka, Peking Kanjur (Otani Reprint) 1012, Vol. 40, mdo U.
20 L[eon] Feer, "Le Journal Asiatique, neuvieme serie tome XVII
(1901), pp. 53-100, 257-315, 410-86.
21 Lewis R. LANCASTER in collaboration with Sung-bae PARK, The Korean Buddhist
Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1979, Cat.
No. 981. For Chih Ch'ien see Etienne LAMOITE, La Concentration de la Marche Herol-
que (Silrarrzgamasamiidhisiltra), Brussels, 1975, pp. 74-79; Silrarrzgamasamiidhisiltra: The
Concentration of Heroic Progress, An early Mahayana Buddhist Scripture translated and
140 .
PETER SKILLING
about CE 800. The Karmasataka is a collection of "one hundred" (127
according to FEER'S count) tales of deeds. The only extant version is a
Tibetan translation by MUlakosa and gNags JiUinakumara repOlted to date
to the reign of Khri Ide gtsug brtan (first half of the 8th century)22. The
Sanskrit does not survive - so far as I know not even any fragments
have been found - and there is no Chinese translation
23
.
Accounts of the suppression of monastic Buddhism in Tibet by King
Glali dar rna, who took the throne in about 836 and was assassinated in
842, relate that the Karmasataka was one of the texts that was saved.
The 14th-century historian Bu ston reports that dPal gyi rdo rje, after
assassinating Glali dar rna, fled to Eastern Tibet (Khams) taking with him
the Abhidharmasamuccaya, the Vinaya Prabhiivatf, and the Karmasa-
taka
24
The 15th-century scholar 'Gos lotsaba states that at the time of the
persecution three monks of the retreat centre of dPal Chu bo ri fled to
Western Tibet, "taking with them essential Vinaya and Abhidharma texts
[such as] the Karmasataka, etc "25. If we accept these accounts at face
value we can conclude that the Karmasataka was revered from the early
period of Buddhism in Tibet. If we question their historicity - they are
given only in sources compiled centuries after the event - we can conclude
that by the 14th century the Karmasataka was considered an important
annotated by Etienne LAMOTIE, English translation by Sara BOIN-WEBB, Curzon Press in
association with the Buddhist Society, Richmond, Surrey, 1998, pp. 66-72.
22 References in this article are to FEER'S summary (FEER 1901), a modem printed
edition (of the first part only), Las brgya tham pa, mTsho snon mi rigs dpe skrun khan,
Xining, 1995 (referred to as Las brgya tham pa 1995), and, for the story of Soma (see
below), the Derge Kanjur 340, mdo sde a, 28b7-31a3 (referred to as Karmasataka, with
reference to folio number, side, and line). In the Peking Kanjur (Otani Reprint) the Karma-
sataka is Cat. No. 1007, in mdo section, VoL suo
23 To be fair, I should mention that there is a Mongolian version, which I presume to
be entirely dependent on the Tibetan.
24 For references see Peter SKILLING, "From bKa' bstan bcos to bKa' 'gyur and bsTan
'gyur", in Helmut EIMER (ed.), Transmission of the Tibetan Canon: Papers Presented at a
Panel of the 7th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Graz 1995,
Vienna, 1997 (= VoL III of Ernst STElNKELLNER [Gen. ed.], Proceedings of the 7th Semi-
nar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Graz 1995: Beitrage zur Kultur-
und Geistesgeschichte Asiens, Nr. 22, Osterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften,
Philosophisch-Historische Klasse Denkschriften, 257. Band), p. 89.
25 For references see SKILLING, "From bKa' bstan bcos to bKa' , gyur and bsTan' gyur",
p.95.
IMAGES OF NUNS IN (MOLA-)SARVA.STIV.ADIN UTERATURE 141
text. In either case the narrative may not be an historical fact (and I will
not enter into the question of whether or not such a creature exists) but
may nonetheless be true, in that it expresses the cultural values of its age.
The same may be said for the narratives of the Karmasataka itself.
The Karmasataka and Avadiinasataka are highly processed biograph-
ical texts
26
They share many of the same tales (including some of those
of the nuns) and use many of the same formulas, and there is no reason
to believe that the Karmasataka is any younger than the Avadiinasataka.
For purposes of this study I take them to be broadly contemporary, and
to belong to the beginning of the Christian Era
27
. In any case, the Chi-
nese Avadiinasataka, dating as it does to the second quarter of the third
century, appears to be the oldest datable collection of Buddhist biogra-
phies. Thus the text certainly merits our attention.
One feature distinguishes the stories of the two Sataka collections from
the Pili Therigiithii and the Theri Apadiina. In the latter two the Thetis
speak for themselves in verse. The Sataka collections do not include any
of the verses, and the ladies have no voices and very little existence
beyond the stereotyped phraseology of highly processed narrative.
(Supriya speaks a verse on diina from the time of birth. Otherwise, verses
occur in the stories of K ~ e m a and Viriipa, while the stock avadiina verse
na pralJayanti karmiilJi, kalpakotisatair api ... occurs at the appropriate
place in all the stories.)
In the Karmasataka the stories of the nuns are scattered throughout
the work. In contrast, in the Avadiinasataka the ten accounts of nuns are
grouped together in the eighth decade. As PEER remarks, "Tous les heros
de la huitieme decade sont des femmes qui parviennent a l' etat d' Arhat" .
PEER notes that with one exception (no. 8) the heroines are young women
who are all, with one exception (no. 5), "filles de bonne maison". That
26 In contrast, the Divyiivadiina is a loose collection or anthology. Even its contents are
not fixed.
27 Like most of the dates proposed for early Indian Buddhist literature, this date is pre-
carious. The tales themselves might belong to the Asokan and early post-ASokan periods,
some being certainly post-Asokan. The collections could have come into being by the
Christian Era. LAMOITE places the avadiinas in the context of the Sanskritization of liter-
ature in the second century CE: Etienne LAMOITE, Histoire du bouddhisme indien des
origines a ['ere Saka, Louvain, 1958, pp. 653-54.
142 PETER SKILLING
is, there are three daughters of kings, two daughters of merchants (sre,ythf),
and one daughter each of a brahman, a rich Sakyan, and of the famous
AnathapiI).<;lada. The young exception is a dancer, and the one who is not
young is a decrepit slave
28

FEER notes that all but one of the young ladies of good family share a
common trait: an invincible opposition to marriage. Does this suggest
that women were driven to the nunneries by unhappy marriages? Not so
- in most case they are averse to marriage from the start, and are attracted
to the spiritual life in its own right.
I do not propose that the stories be taken literally, as "historical
biographies" or "true life stories". To do so we would have to believe
that Suprabha (No.1) was born with a shining jewel attached to her
throat, that SUkia (No.3) was born covered with a pure white cloth,
and that Mukta (No.7) was born with a string of pearls wrapped about
her head
29
(These marvellous qualities are satisfactorily explained in
due course: they were the results of acts of generosity in previous
lives. Suprabha had offered jewels to the stiipa of the past Buddha
Vipasyin; Sukla had offered kathina robes to the past Buddha Kasyapa
and his following; Mukta had tossed a precious string of pearls onto
the head of the Buddha Kasyapa.) The value of the accounts is that they
embed contemporary social attitudes, that they express social identi-
ties, and that they reflect what was acceptable and possible for renun-
ciant women.
Nuns and the transmission of scripture
Traditional accounts of the transmission of the Buddha's Dharma have
little to say about the role of nuns, or of women. Were the scriptures
transmitted entirely by monks and males in Indian Buddhism, or did nuns
or females play any role? The question is not addressed in these terms in
28 See PEER 1891, p. 259.
29 The examples are from Avadanasataka. The story of Suklli is included in the medi-
aeval Japanese anthology, Konjaku Monogatari: see Yoshiko K. DYKSTRA (tr.), The Kon-
jaku Tales, Indian Section, Intercultural Research Institute, Kansai University of Foreign
Studies, Osaka, I 177-80.
IMAGES OF NUNS IN (MULA-)SARVASTIVADIN LITERATURE 143
any traditional sources that I know of, and we must therefore collect
evidence scattered in inscriptions and early texts. I have presented and
discussed some of the evidence in earlier articles
30
In this paper I would
like to examine the evidence of the avadilnas of the Avadilnasataka and
Karmasataka.
According to tradition the Buddha praised individual disciples as fore-
most in particular abilities or qualities. In the Pali canon the locus clas-
sicus for this is the Etadagga-vagga of the "Book of Ones" of the Angut-
taranikilya, which lists forty-three monks, thirteen nuns, ten laymen, and
ten laywomen
3
!. The corresponding section of the (MUla-)Sarvastivada
Ekottarikilgama - which surely existed - has not been preserved in the
original or in translation, but references to foremost disciples are scattered
throughout their literature. Of the ten nuns in the Avadilnasataka, four are
described as foremost (e,yil agril) in their stories:
Supriya in having performed merit (11.2, krtapUlJyana/fl);
Soma in having heard much and in retaining what she has heard
(22.4, bahusrutana/fl srutadharilJa/fl);
KacangaIa in analysis of Siitranta (43.8, siitrantavibhagakartrllJa/fl);
K ~ e m a in great wisdom and great eloquence (50.9, mahaprajiiana/fl
mahapratibhanana/fl) .
The last three excel in abilities related to learning and teaching. The
same three nuns are known in the Theravadin tradition, but only one of
them is described as foremost in the Etadagga-vagga
32
This is Khema,
equivalent to the K ~ e m a of the Avadilnasataka, who in the Etadagga-
va,gga is declared foremost in having great wisdom (mahilpafifiilnarrt) ,
just as in the Avadilnasataka. The other two nuns are not listed in the
30 Peter SKILLING, "A Note on the History of the Bhikkhurn-saiJ.gha (II): The order of
nuns after the Parinirvfu).a", w.F.E. Review XXXA/XXXI.l (Oct.-Dec. 2536/1993-January-
March 2537/1994), pp. 29-49; "A Note on the History of the BhikkhunI-saIi.gha (I):
Nuns at the time of the Buddha", w.F.E. Review XXXI.2-3 (April-Sept., BE 2537 = 1994),
pp. 47-55; "Nonnen, Laienanhiingerinnen, Spenderinnen, Giittinnen: Weibliche Rollen irn
friihen indischen Buddhismus", in UIrike ROESLER (ed.), Aspekte des Weiblichen in der
indischen Kuitur, Swisttal-Odendorf, 2000 (Indica et Tibetica 39), pp. 47-102, especially
IT.
31 Anguttaranikiiya I 23-26. The two laymen Tapassu-Bhallika are counted as one.
32 I leave out of consideration here Supriya. In Piili there is an upasikii Suppiya, fore-
most of those who wait upon the sick: see MALALASEKERA, DPPN IT 1224-26.
144 PETER SKILLING
Etadagga-vagga, and the qualities in which they excel are not ascribed to
nuns. (Two other Etadagga nuns possess skills related to the transmission
of the Dharma: Patacara, foremost in mastering the Vinaya [vinayadha-
ranarrz], and Dhammadinna, foremost in preaching [dhammakathikiinarrz]).
The Avadana of Soma
The (Milla-)Sarvastivadins dedicated an interesting aVCfdana to Soma,
one of the nuns declared foremost in their texts but not in the Etadagga-
vagga or elsewhere in Piili. The avadana relates how Soma memorized
the entire Pratimok,ya on a single hearing from the Buddha himself, caus-
ing him to declare her "foremost of the nuns who retain what they have
heard". The story is told in the Karmasataka (No. 91), Avadanasataka
(No. 74), and Ratna-avadana-mala (No. 19), which agree on the sub-
stance of the tale but differ on many details
33
For the most part they use
the same formulas, formulas with close parallels in (Milla-)Sarvastivadin
literature such as the Vinaya from Gilgit. I give here a summary of the
Karmasataka version.
Soma was the daughter of a brahman of SravastI
34
. She had a healthy and
pampered childhood. She quickly mastered the art of writing, and learned
all of the brahmanical treatises from her father at home
35
Later she heard
that SramaI?-a Gautama was staying in SravastI and, with her parents' per-
mission, went to see him in Prince leta's Grove. Seeing the Buddha, the
Blessed One, his body beautifully adorned with the thirty-two features of a
Great Man, like a lamp set in a golden vessel, like a sacrificial post studded
with different kinds of jewels - the Buddha, the Blessed One with a mind
radiant, stainless, and perfectly pure - she was emaptured. The joy expe-
rienced by one who cultivates a mind of cahn (Samathacitta) for as long as
33 Karmasataka, Derge Kanjur 340, mda sde a, 28b7-31a3 (summary in Zhe chen 'gyur
med Padma rnam rgyal, mDa las bYUli ba'i gtam rgyud sna tshags, Krun go'i bod kyi
ses rig dpe skrun khan, Beijing, 1992, pp. 416-18); Feer (1901) 442-43; Avadanasataka
No. 74, FEER pp. 275-79; SPEYER II 19-23; Peking Kanjur (Otani Reprint) 1012, Vol. 40,
mda u 202a5-205a4. The reference to Ratna-avadana-mtila (not seen) is from FEER (1891)
xxvi. (I am grateful to Matthieu RICARD, Kathmandu, for the copy of the Derge.)
34 Avadanasataka describes him (with a stock passage) as a wealthy brahman, a mas-
ter of the three Vedas and ancillary literature, who taught the mantras to five hundred
young brahmans. The Karmasataka gives him the name Zla ba bde ba =
35 According to Avadanascltaka she was intelligent, bright, and clever, and learned
whatever mantras her father taught his brahman students the instant she heard them.
twelve years cannot match the joy experienced when a person first sees a
Buddha, a joy that arises by cause of his or her accumulated roots of merit.
Emaptured, she approached the Blessed One, paid homage with her head at his
feet, and sat in front of him in order to listen to the Dharma. The Blessed One
understood her state of mind, intelligence, and character, and taught the Dharma
tailored to suit her character. The girl Soma, in that very seat, realized the fruit
of stream-entry, shattering with the diamond-mace of wisdom (jiWnavajra) the
mountain of the personality-view with its twenty soaring peaks (viT(lsatisikha-
rasamudgataT(l Having seen the truth she rose from her seat,
arranged her robe over one shoulder, raised her hands palms together toward
the Blessed One, and spoke to him: "0 Sir, 0 Blessed One, if I am fit for the
status of a nun who goes forth and fully ordains in the well-expounded Dharma-
Vinaya, I wish to lead the exalted life (brahmacarya) under the Blessed One."
The Blessed One entrusted her to Mahaprajapau GautamI, who performed
the going forth and full ordination rites and gave her instruction. By dint of
energy, practice, and perseverence Soma cast off all defilements and real-
ized the state of a worthy one (arhatva).
At one time, when the Blessed One had said to the monks, "Let the nuns per-
form the monastic rites in assembly separately", because MahaprajapatI Gau-
tamI was unable to recite the she went to the place where
the Blessed One was; arriving, she paid homage with her head at his feet and
sat to one side. Seated to one side Mahaprajapau GautamI said to the Blessed
One: "The Blessed One has declared, 'Let the monks perform the monas-
tic rites in assembly separately; let the nuns perform the monastic rites in
assembly separately'. The Blessed One has expounded the
to the monks but has not expounded it to the nuns. I request the Blessed
One to teach the Pratimoksasutra. I wish to learn it from the Blessed One."
The Buddhas, the Blessed Ones do not teach the Dharma phrase by phrase
36

36 Karmasataka fol. 30a3: sans rgyas bcom Idan 'das rnams ni tshig re re nas zlos sin
chos gsuns mi srid de, de'i skabs med do. Avadiinasataka II 21.14 has: "The Blessed One
answered '0 nuns: The Tathagatas, the Worthy Ones, the truly and fully Awakened Ones
do not teach the Dharma phrase by phrase'" (na hi bhi4W:1yas tathiigatii arhantaf:t samyak-
sambuddhiif:t padaSo dharmam uddisanti). The only other known usage of padaso dharmal'[l
+ verb is in a Priitim04a rule: Sarvastivadapatayantikii no. 6, yaf:t punar bhikeur anu-
pasal'[lpannena pudgalena siirdhal'[l padaso dharmal'[l viicayet piitayantikii (Georg VON
SIMSON, Priitimokeasiltra der Sarviistiviidins, Teil II, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht in Got-
tingen, 2000 (Sanskrittexte aus den Turfanfunden XI), p. 205, tr. p. "Wenn ein Monch mit
einer nichtordinierten Person zusamrnen die Lehre Wort ror Wort rezitiert, dann ist es ein
Patayantika-Vergehen". The rule is no. 6 in the Tibetan MUlasarvastivadin Priitim04a, yan
dge slon gan, gan zag bsfien par ma rdzogs par pa dan tshig gis chos 'don na [hun byed
do (Satis Chandra VIDYABHUSANA, So-sor-thar-pa (Khrims) or a code of Buddhist monas-
tic laws, repr. R.N. Bhattacharya, Calcutta, 2000, p. 77). In the Theravadin Piitimokkha the
rule is no. 4, yo pana bhikkhu anupasampannal'[l padaso dhammal'[l viiceyya, piicittiyal'[l,
146- PETER SKlLLING
The Blessed One then spoke to Mahaprajapan Gaut8mi:, "Well, GautamI, if
you are able to remember it after a single recitation, I will expound iC
m
. Then,
at that time, the nun Soma was seated there in that assembly. She arranged
her robe over one shoulder, raised her hands with palms pr.essed together
toward the Blessed One, and spoke to him: "I request the Blessed One to
expound the Pratimolqasutra. I will remember it after a single recitation. "38
Then the Blessed One expounded the Pratimolqasutra to the nuns. When
he had recited it a single time; the nun Soma learned it, and then went on
to learn the Three Pitakas. Whatever verses there were, she learned them all,
and so the Blessed One proclaimed her to be foremost of those who could
remember what they heard
39

The nun Soma is not unknown in Theravadin tradition. In her famous
Bhikkhuni-sarrzyutta verses, Soma rejects Mara's insinuation that a woman
cannot attain the awakened state. Her verses are given in the Therigiithii,
and her past life is told in .the commentaries
40
But as noted above she
is not among the thirteen nuns singled out for their outstanding achieve-
ments in the Etadagga-vagga
41
The story of the transmission of the
"If any bhikkhu should make someone who is not ordained recite the Dhamma word by
word, there is an offence entailing expiation": William PRUTIT (ed.), K.R. NORMAN (tr.),
The Piitimokkha, The Pali Text Society, Oxford, 2001, pp. 46-47. Although the transla-
tions as "word by word" or "line by line" seem adequate, the precise meaning and sig-
nificance of the rule elude me, and the Theravadm vibhanga (Vinaya IV 14-15) is obscure.
Cf. also AvadiinaSataka II 19.8 padaso vyiikara7;lal; or (from SPEYER'S n. 2) Divyiivadiina
619.24 padaso vaiyiikara7;lal;.
37 Karmasataka 30a4 kye gau ta mi gal te Ian cig smras pas 'dzin nus na ni bstan par
bya'o; Avadiinasataka II 21 ult yadi kiicid uccahate salq-d uktal'{l dhiirayitum
evam aham uddiseyam.
38 Karmasataka 30a5 Ian cig bka' stsal pas, bdag gis gzun bar 'tsallo; Avadiinasataka
II 22.3 ahal'{l salq-d uktal'{l dhiirayiD'e.
39 Avadiinasataka stops with the and does not mention the Three
Pi!akas or "verses" (tshig su bya ba).
40 William PRUTIT, Therigiithii-a{!hakathii, pp. 64-65; ibid., The Commentary on the
Verses of the Theris, pp. 87-90; G.P. MALALASEKERA, Dictionary of Pali Proper Names,
[1937] repro Oriental Reprint, New Delhi, 1983, II 1310.
41 Aliguttara-nikiiya I 25. In the Pili version the Buddha praises thirteen nuns. In the
Chinese Ekottariigama he extols fifty-one nuns (for references see Peter SKll.LING, "A
Note on the History of the Bhikkhuni-sangha (II): The order of nuns after the ParinirviiQ.a",
W.F.B. Review XXXA/XXXI.1 (Oct.-Dec. 2536/1993-Ianuary-March 2537/1994). In the
corresponding section of the Chinese translation of an Ekottariigama of unknown school,
a Soma is declared to show great compassion for people who do not want to choose the
way indicated by the Dharma, which seems a bit obscure: see Bhikkhu PAsAnIKA (tr.),
"Ekottaragama", Buddhist Studies Review 4.1 (1987), p. 50.
IMAGES OF NUNS IN (MOLA-)SARVASTIVA.DIN LITERATURE 147
to the nuns, by the Buddha or anyone alse, is not, as far as I
know, related in Theravadin literature. The in the Chinese
translation of the Sarvastivadin Vinaya, however, regards teaching the
to to be a duty of sufficient signifi-
cance that a monk is authorized to break the rains-retreat for up to seven
nights in order to travel to teach the two divisions of the to
a
Nuns and the transmission of the Dharma
Soma is not the only nun to have taken part in the transmission of the
Dharma, although she may have had the best memory, and ,have played
a key role in the transfer of the to the sisters. Another nun who
transmitted the teaching is KasI-SundaiL In a past life, KasI-Sundan built
a vihara perfect in every way and donated it to Kasyapa Buddha and the
She offered all requisites to the monks requested
permission from her parents, and went forth. Having studied the Tripitaka,
she became a coherent and eloquent teacher of the Dharma
43

Kacangaia, as seen above, was foremost in analysis of the siitras
44

Her story is told in the Karmasataka (No. 33), Avadanasataka (No. 73),
Tsa-pao-tsang-ching (No. 6)45, and Ratnamalavadana (No. 17). The Thera-
vadin Etadagga-vagga does not count Kajangala among the foremost
nuns, but elsewhere in the Aftguttara-nikaya she is praised as intelligent
42 Shayne CLARKE, "The Existence of the Supposedly Non-existent
sramalJerf: A New Perspective on Parajika Penance", Buddhist Studies (Bukkyo Kenkyil)
XXIX (March, 2000), pp. 163-64.
43 Las brgya tham pa (1995), p. 76.1 de rab tu byun nas sde snad gsum bslabs te rig
pa dan gral ba'i spabs pa dan ldan pa'i chas smra bar gyur ta. For the stock compound
rig pa dan gral ba'i spabs pa dan ldan pa = yuktamuktapratibhana see Jens Braarvig,
"DhiiralJf and Pratibhiina: Memory and Eloquence of the Bodhisattvas", in VoL 8.1 (1985)
of this esteemed journal, pp. 17-29.
44 Las brgya tham pa (1995) 304.6 (FEER p. 262), na'i nan thas kyi mda rnam par
'byed pa rnams kyi mchag; Avadanasataka II 43.8 me mama
sravikalJa'!l siltrantavibhagakartrflJa'!l yaduta kacangala The Avadana spells the
name Kacailgalii, the texts Kajailgalii (with variants). Las brgya tham pa (1995) has
Ka tsan ka lao
45 Charles WILLEMEN (tl.), The Storehouse of Sundry Valuables, Numata Center for
Buddhist Translation and Research, Berkeley, 1994 (BDK English Tripi(aka 10-1), pp. 20-
21. The text dates to Yen-hsing 2 = CE 472.
148. PETER SKILLING
and wise by the Buddha for the exposition she gives to the lay-followers
of Kajailgala. When the lay-followers relate her talk to the Buddha, the
Blessed One states that "if you, householders, came to me and asked
about this matter, I would explain it just as it has been explained by the
-nun Kajailgala. Just that is its meaning: remember it thus"46. This, from
a Buddha, is high praise indeed. The phrasing is stock, and at least one
other nun - the eloquent Dharniadinna - is praised in similar fashion,
as are a number of monks
47
. In the (Miila-)Sarvastivadin version the Bud-
dha praises Dharmadinna to her face: "Excellent (siidhu), Dharmadinna,
excellent! Had the lay-follower Saga questioned me about the very same
points in the very same phrases and the very same words, I would have
explained the very same points in the very same phrases and the very
same words, just as [you have] explained"48.
Human nature being what it is, we should not expect all learned nuns
to be model members of the sarrzgha. The (MUla-)Sarvastivadin Vznayav-
ibhanga describes SthUliinanda, a nun known for her greed and inappro-
priate behaviour, as "one who has heard much [teaching] (bahuSrutii), one
who has mastered the Tripitaka (*traipitikii), a coherent and eloquent
teacher"49. She relates the life of the Bodhisattva from his descent from
the T u ~ i t a Heaven up to his defeat of Mara, in detail and in full, just as
46 Anguttaranikaya V 58.21 satihu sadhu gahapatayo. par;uf.ita gahapatayo kaja/igala
bhikkhuni, mahapafifia gahapatayo kajangala bhikkhuni. sace pi tumhe gahapatayo mafTI
upasankamitva etam atthal'{l puccheyyatha, aham pi c' etafTI evam eva vyakareyyaT[!, yatha
tal'{l kajangaliiya bhikkhuniya vyakatal'fl. eso c' eva tassa attho, evafi ca nal'{l dhareyyatha.
This sutta is the only one listed by MALALASEKERA under Kajangala (DPPN I 482).
AKANuMA (p. 333) does not list any Chinese counterpart.
47 For Dhamrnadinna see Majjhimanikiiya I 304.32.
48 Sarnathadeva, Abhidharmakosa-upiiyika-{i1ca, Peking Tanjur (Otani Reprint) 5595,
Vol. 118, mnon pa'i bstan bcos tu, 12a7 bcom Idan 'das kyis dge slon ma chos sbyin la
'di skad ces bka' stsalto. chos sbyin legs so legs so. na la yan dge bsfien sa ga don 'di fiid
dan, tshig 'di fiid dan, yi ge 'di fiid kyi dri ba 'dri na na yOli don 'di fiid dan, tshig 'di fiid
dan, yige 'di fiid kyis bstan pa Min du lun bstan par bya'o. There are significant differ-
ences between the three available versions: the (Miila-)Sarvastivadin Dharmadinnasutra
preserved in full citation in Sarnathadeva' s anthology, the Chinese translation in the
Madhyamagama, and the Pili counterpart, the Culavedalla-sutta (Majjhimanikaya 44).
49 Vinayavibhanga, Peking Kanjur 1032, Vol. 43, 'dul ba fie, 213b4 sbom dga' mo de
man du thos pa, sde snod gsum dan Idan pa, rig pa dan grol ba'i spobs pa can; F. Anton
VON SCHIEFNER, Tibetan Tales derived from Indian Sources, tr. from the German into Eng-
lish by W.R.S. RALSTON, repro Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi, 1988, p. 243.
IMAGES OF NUNS IN (MULA-)SARVASTIvADIN LITERATURE 149
taught in the No matter that she does this for
money, to an actor who wants to make a play on the life of the Buddha
and who has already been turned away by the monks: the point is she
can do it.
Aspiring to be foremost
To attain the position of a foreinost disciple, female or male, monas-
tic or lay, is not a casual affair. It involves, first and foremost, an aspi-
ration in the presence of a previous Buddha, followed by a few ::eons of
dedicated practice. The initial aspiration arises when the individual sees
a Buddha proclaim one of his disciples to be foremost in a certain qual-
ity. The individual then aspires, "Just as so-and-so has been proclaimed,
may I in future be proclaimed". In the context of our study, the impor-
tant point is that nuns foremost in teaching abilities were held to have been
proclaimed foremost in teaching abilities not only under Buddha Sakya-
muni, but also under past Buddhas such as Kasyapa. That is to say, it is
a normal state of affairs. The aspiration of Soma is described as follows
51
:
The monks asked the Buddha to explain Soma's past deeds, including why
she was able to remember everything she heard and was proclaimed fore-
most of those who remember what they have heard.
The Blessed One replied, "This has happened by power of aspiration (pra-
lJidhtina)". The monks asked, "Sir, what aspiration did she make?"
The Blessed One replied, "0 monks, fonnerly, in times gone by, in this
very same Auspicious LEon (bhadrakaZpa), when the human life-span was
20,000 years, there arose in the world the Blessed One Kasyapa - a truly
and fully Awakened One, perfect in knowledge and conduct, Well-farer,
knower of the world, unsurpassed charioteer of people to be trained, teacher
of gods and humankind, Awakened One - and in his teaching (the future
Soma) went forth. The truly and fully Awakened One Kasyapa proclaimed
the preceptress under whom she had gone forth to be foremost of those who
remember what they have heard. At the point of death (the future Soma)
made the following vow (pralJidhtina): "Here I have lived the exalted life
50 Vinayavibhmiga, 213b4-214a1, des de la ... mnon par byun ba'i mdo las rgya cher
ji skad gsuns pa biin thams cad rgyas par bstan to; SCHIEFNER p. 243-44.
51 Karmasataka 30a7.
150 PETER SKll.-LING
under the truly and fully A wakened One Kasyapa, but I have not attained
any special quality (gUl;agalJa). Kasyapa has predicted that the brahman
youth Uttara will become a Buddha - may I serve him, may I not miss him,
may I go forth in his dispensation! 52 May I cast off all defilements and real-
ize the state of a worthy one (arhatva). And just as Kasyapa proclaimed my
preceptress to be foremost of those who remember what they hear, so may
the Sage of the Sakyas, the King of the Siikyas
53
, declare me to be foremost
of those who remember what they hear5
4

52 The story of Gautama's past life as the brahman youth Uttara is related in the
Gharfkara-sutta (Majjhimanikiiya 81), Bhai:tajyavastu, and Sanghabhedavastu (Raniero
GNOLI [ed.], The Gilgit Manuscript of the Sanghabhedavastu, Part II, Rome, 1978, II
22-30). The Buddha identifies himself with Uttara at the end of this ancient jataka
(p. 30.14): kiT[l manyadhve yo 'say uttaro aham eva sa tena kalena
tena samayena. The Gi1git manuscript of the Sanskrit Bhai:tajyavastu refers the reader to
a sutra version in the Madhyamagama. Ernst WALDSCHMIDT, "Central Asian Siltra Frag-
ments" (in Heinz BECHERT, ed., The Language of the Earliest Buddhist Tradition, Gottin-
gen, 1980, p. 143), gives a brief description of the Nandipala-siitra and its parallels. See
also Marcel HOFINGER: Le Congres du Lac Anavatapta (Vies de Saints Bouddhiques),
Extrait du Vinaya des Miilasarvastivadin Bhai:tajyavastu, II: Legendes du Bouddha (Bud-
dhiivadana) (Publications de l'Institut Orientaliste de Louvain 38), Louvain-Ia-Neuve,
1990, 102-115, "NandIpala et Uttara". For a Lokottaravadin version see E. SENART,
Mahiivastu I (1882), pp. 317 foIl., translated J. J. JONES, The Mahiivastu, Vol. I, London,
1949 (repr. 1973), pp. 265-285. The Upiiyakausalya-siitra gives a detailed account from
a Mahayana perspective,
53 cpo the Sukhiivatfvyuha in Jerome DUCOR (ed., tr.), Le
satra d'Amida precht par Ie Buddha, Peter Lang, Bern, 1998, 18, p. 165.15, bhagavata
sakyamunina sakyadhirajena; Tibetanp. 174.19, bcom ldan 'das Siikya thub pa siikya'i rgyal
pos.
54 The whole passage is stock: cpo Sanghabhedavastu II 66.29 bhUtapurvaT[l bhik:tavo
'sminn eva bhadrake kalpe vimsativar:tasatayu:ti prajayaf!! kiiSyapo nama samyaksaT[lbud-
dho loka udapadi yavad buddho bhagavan ... (67.1) tasyayaf!!
. pravacane tatranelJa <na> kascid gUlJagalJo yasya sakase pravra-
sa bhagavata katyapena bahusrutanaT[l srutadharalJaT[l srutasannicayanam agro
sa maralJakalasamaye pralJidhiinaT[l karoti: yan maya bhagavati kasyape
samyaksaT[lbuddhe anuttare dakeilJfye yavad ayur brahmacaryaT[l caritam, na ca kascid
gUlJagalJo anenahaf!! kusalamiilena yo 'sau bhagavata kasyapena samyak-
saf!!buddhena uttaro malJavo bhavi:tyasi tvaT[l malJava var:tasatayu:ti prajayaf!!
Siikyamunir nama tathiigato 'rhan samyaksaT[lbuddha iti tasyahaf!! pravacane pravrajya sar-
vakldaprahiilJad arhatvaf!! sak:tatkuryam; yathii ca me upadhyiiyo (see Gnoli's n. 2, p. 67)
bhagavata kiiSyapena samyaksaf!!buddhena bahusrutanaT[l srutadharalJaT[l srutasan-
nicayanam agro evam mam api sa bhagavan Siikyamun* Siikyadhiraja(l bahus-
rutanaT[l srutadharalJaT[l srutasannicayanam agro vyakuryad iti; tat pralJidha<na>vaSiid
etarhi maya bahusrutanaT[l srutadharalJa'll srutasannicayanam agro See also
Sanghabhedavastu II 3.23-31; 51.29-52.13.
IMAGES OF NUNS IN (MULA-)SARVASTNADIN LITERATURE 151
Similar tales of initial aspiration are told for other nuns (and, of course,
monks). One of the most dramatic of the nun's tales is that of Krsa Gau-
tami (sKem mo Gau ta mY), related in the (Miila-)Sarvastivadin Vinaya,
the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, and elsewhere
55
. Under Kasyapa
Buddha she vowed to be foremost of the nuns who master the Vinaya
under the future Buddha Siikyamuni56.
Mundane details: teaching, viharas, and titles
Where and whom did the nuns teach? In some cases they were invited
to the homes of lay-followers. Karmasataka No. 36 (Bag rna gton 2)
relates that on one occasion Mahaprajapau GautamI went to the house of
the householder Datta to teach the dharma
57
. When she saw her Bag ma
gtoiJ. was inspired to become a nun herself. In some cases the people went
to the nuns. Karmasataka No.8 (bDe byed rna), the story of K ~ e m a , states
that when K ~ e m a grew up she went for refuge, took the precepts, gave
alms, and went constantly to the nun's vihara at Sravasu to listen to the
Dharma
58
Kajailgala, in the discourse mentioned above, is approached by
the lay-followers of Kajailgala, who ask her to explain her a brief teach-
ing of the Buddha in detail. In the sutra named after her in the Chinese
Madhyarnagarna the famous teacher Dharmadinna (Pali Dhammadinna)
55 For a summary of the Vznaya version see Jampa Losang PANGLUNG, Die Erzlihlstojfe
. des Mulasarvastivada- Vinaya analysiert auf Grund der tibetischen Ubersetzung, The
Reiyukai Library, Tokyo, 1981 (Studia Philologica Buddhica ill), pp. 194-96.
. 56 Vznayakl!udrakavastu, Peking Kanjur (Otani Reprint) 1035, VoL 44, 'dul ba ne, 128a4
ji ltar bdag gi mkhan mo 'di la bcom ldan 'das 'od srun yan dag par rdzogs pa'i sans rgyas
kyis 'dul ba 'dzin pa'i nan na mchog tu gsuns pa de biin du bdag kyan bcom ldan 'das sa
kya thub pa sa kya'i rgyal po des 'dul ba 'dzin pa'i nan na mchog tu gsuns par sog sig.
In the Theravadin Etadagga-vagga (Anguttaraniktiya I 25) it is Patacara who is declared
to be the foremost vinayadhara. In fact the narratives of K r ~ a GautamI, Pafacara, and other
nuns are conflated in the different sources, and only a full-scale study could hope to dis-
entangle them, or at least lay bare the degree of confusion.
5? In Karmasataka there are two stories named Bag rna gton, Nos. 35 and 36. The San-
skrit equivalent of "Bag rna gton" is not clear. FEER (1901) 266-67 reconstructs the title
as "Pradeya-tyaga", but it may well be simply "Avaha", as given in Tshe riil dbail rgyal's
lexicon: see Lokesh CHANDRA, Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary, Supplementary Vol. 5, Inter-
national Academy of Indian Culture, New Delhi, 1993, p. 1236a.
58 Las brgya tham pa (1995) 80.5 ... dge slon ma'i gtsug lag khan du yan rgyun mi
'chad par 'gro iin chos nan to.
152 PETER SKILLING
teaches the female lay-devotee Visakha at Anathapi.Jjqada's Pleasance in
Prince Jeta's Grove in SravastI
59
. In the Pali counterpart, the Cii!avedalla-
sutta, Dhammadinna teaches the layman Visakha in the Kalandakanivapa
in the at Rajagaha.
Anathapll;lqada's Pleasance and Kalandakanivapa were both sites of
monastic institutions. It is not clear whether these institutions subsumed
nunneries under the same overall name or whether nunneries had separate
institutional status and names, except in one case, that of the
vihiira named Rajakarama, near the Jetavana at SravastI, where Kannasa-
taka No.5 (sGur bu 2, the second Kubjapatra story), opens
60
As far as I
know this is the only early nunnery known by name
61
, and as far as I know
it has not been located, even provisionally. How big was it? How was it
laid out, how was it endowed? When a nun's vihiira at SravastI is mentioned
but not named, as for example in the Dhannadinniisiitra or the avadiina of
can we assume it was the Rajakarama? Or were there other nun-
neries at SravastI? Were at least some nuns' residences were independ-
ent? How were they administered? How were they financed or endowed?
The term for nunnery, not only in Kannasataka but elsewhere, is vihiira
(gtsug lag khan)62. The use of this term to describe nunneries as well as
the residences of male monastics seems natural enough, but it is not with-
out significance. Another building met with is the dge sIan ma'i dbyar
khan (= to which Bhadra resorts in the Vinayavi-
bhanga
63
. I hope that further study of (Miila-)Sarvastivadin literature will
lead to the compilation of a glossary of monastic terminology, not only
of residences, buildings, and suchlike, but also of hierarchical terms, for,
of course, monks, nuns, and all monastics. It is noteworthy that nuns are
described as "great female auditor" (nan thas chen ma = mahiisriivikii),
counterpart to "great male auditor" (mahiisriivaka), and "female elder"
59 THIeR MINH CRAU, The Chinese Madhyama f1gama and the Piili Majjhima
Nikiiya, A Comparative Study, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1991, p. 269.
60 Las brgya tham pa (1995) 51.6, dge slan ma'i gtsug lag khan rgyal pa'i kun dga' ra
ba ies bya ba.
61 SKILLING, "A Note on the History of the Bhikkhuru-sangha (II)", p. 30.
62 dge sian ma'j gtsug lag khan, at e.g. Las brgya tham pa (1995) 179.7 (at Mathura?);
337.11 (at Sravastl); 346.9.
63 Op. cit., the 43a3.
IMAGES OF NUNS IN (MOLA-)SARV ASTN ADIN LITERATURE 153
(gnas brtan ma.= sthavirl), counterpart to "male elder (sthavira)64. Another
technical title is "preceptress" (rnkhan rna = upadhyayinf)65.
An insecure vocation
Whether or not nunneries were witlrin or adjacent to monasteries, the
situation of nuns could be precarious. There are accounts of assaults on nun-
neries launched by bands of males, whether wantons or jilted husbands.
In Karmasataka No. 35 (Bag rna gton 1) a young girl inclined towards
renunciation flees to a nunnery at SravastI to avoid an arranged marriage.
There she is initiated into the order and becomes an arhat!. The frustrated
bridegroom sets out in hot pursuit with a troop of confederates to take her
away. He searches the nunnery and then sees the young girl: head-shaven,
red-robed, seated cross-legged in dhyana. He attempts to take her hand but
she rises up into the air and performs such wonders (of the sort often per-
formed by Pratyeka-buddhas) that she overawes the youth and his gang,
who beg her pardon and become stream-winners and then arhats.
In Karrnasataka No. 36 (Bag rna gton 2) a young nun is so beautiful
that young men try to abduct her from the nunnery. In the popular tale
of Mahakasyapa and Bhadra, after Bhadra has ordained she is kidnapped
by a wicked minister and handed over to King Ajatasatru, who violates
her66. Clearly the security of nuns was not guaranteed .
. The use of formulas
As noted above, the texts under study are highly formulaic: again and
again we meet the same phrases, passages, and paragraphs. When a
64 Las brgya tham pa (1995) 51.7-8, in the phrase nyan thos chen mo, gnas brtan ma
gnas brtan ma rdzu 'phrul thob pa.
65 For terms related to nuns see further SKILLING, "A Note on the History of the
BhikkhunI-saiJ.gha (IT)".
66 SCHIEFNER, op. cit., pp. 204-05; for the Pall version of the story see PRUITT, The-
rfgiithii-a{?hakathii, 66-74 on the verses of Bhadda Kapilaru (Therfgiithii 63-66). For the
version of the Chinese "Abhiniskramanasiitra" see Samuel BEAL, The Romantic Legend
of Siikya Buddha, [London, 1875j M o t i l ~ l Banarsidass, Delhi, 1985, p. 320. For the avadiina
of Mahakasyapa see Avadana-kalpalatii of K!femendra (Buddhist Sanskrit Texts 23), Vol. II,
Second edition edited by Dr. Sridhar ThIPATIll, Mithila Institute, Darbhanga, 1989, Chap. 63.
154 PETER SKlLLING
woman requests "going forth" (pravrajyii) the formula states that the
Blessed One entrusts her to MahaprajapatI GautamI, who performs the
ceremony and instructs her
67
Sometimes the instruction is given by an
anonymous preceptress
68
. In one case Mahakasyapa turns Bhadra over to
MahaprajapatI GautamI who has her go forth and take ordination (upasam-
padii)69. It is noteworthy that this formula does not mention the partici-
pation of any monks in the ceremony. This may be a case of
abbreviation, as seen also in PaIi texts like the Therzgiithii-Cfnhakathii, or
it may have a greater significance
70
The Therzgiithii-atthakathii goes to
great length to deny that the" ehz ordination" - direct ordination by the
Buddha himself - was ever used for nuns, but there is tantalizing evi-
dence to the contrary71.
Another formula used in the avadiinas describes the attainment of the
state of arhat by a nun. It is no different than that used for a monk, and
ends with the phrase:
... she became an object for the offerings, reverence, and respectful speech
of the gods with Indra and Upendra
72

In the Ratnamiiliivadiina realized nuns are praised in similar terms 73 :
67 So for Soma, Karmasataka 30b6 de nas bcom ldan 'das kyis de skye dgu'i bdag mo
chen mo gau ta mf la gtad nas, skye dgu'i bdag mo chen mo gau ta mfs der rab tu phyun
nas, bsfien par rdzogs par byas nas de la lun phog go. See also Las brgya tham pa (1995)
73,82,303.
68 mkhan mo = upadhyayinf, Las brgya tham pa (1995) 337.12.
69 P 1034, Vol. 43, 'dul ba the, 41b3, des de skye dgu'i bdag
mo chen mo la yons su gtad nas des de rab tu phyun bsfien par rdzogs par byas so; cf.
SCHIEFNER, Tibetan Tales, p. 204.
70 Therigatha-arthakatha (PRUITT) 66.35 aparabhage Mahagotamiya santike pabbajjal'[l
upasampadafi ca labhitva.
71 The relation between the rules and norms of Vinaya and the accounts of ordination
in narrative literature - whether in Pili or Sanskrit, or in Tibetan or Chinese translation
- needs to be investigated. For discrepancies in the Pili versions, see Liz Williams, "A
Whisper in the Silence: Nuns before Mahapajapa1I? ", Buddhist Studies Review 17.2 (2000)
167-73.
72 See Las brgya tham pa (1995) 74.6, 82.16, 179.17,304.3,337.15: dban po dan fie
dban daft bcas pa'i lha mams kyis mchod cin rjed pa dan gus par smra ba'i gnas su gyur
to. Cf. Avadanasataka (PEER) 14; for the Sanskrit formula see (SPEYER) I 207.13 sendropen-
dralJal'[l devanal'[l pujyo miinyo 'bhivadyas ca sal'[lvrttaJ:t.
73 Kanga TAKAHATA (ed.), Ratnamalavadana: A Garland of Precious Gems or A Col-
lection of Edifying Tales, Told in a Metrical Form, Belonging to the Mahayana, The Toyo
Bunko, Tokyo, 1954 (Oriental Library Series D. Volume 3), p. 115.4, of Sukla.
or:
sadeviisuralokiinii7!1 pftjyii miinyii samaniatalJ
va7!1daniyii ca vabhUva brahmaciirilJf.
sa deviisuralokiinii7!1 va7!1dyii pftjyabhavat satf74.
Another common formula suggests that for the narrators, Qr perhaps for
the society which produced the avadiinas, having a female child did not
pose a problem. At least in the "good families", the daughter is cosset-
ted from birth. According to the formula, birth and naming ceremonies
(jiitimaha) are held for the baby girl, who is entrusted to the care of eight
nurses made up of four pairs, each pair with a specific duty - two to feed
her, two to wash her, and so on. Under this care the little dear flourishes,
well-fed with the dairy products so popular in Indian lore, and "blossoms
like a lotus in a pond" (vardhate hradastham iva paftkajarrt).
These are formulas, stock passages Do they have any significance?
I believe they do. They have not fallen out of the sky, but were produced
by society, by the Buddhist community. They embed and thereby trans-
mit the idea that like a monk a nun can become an arhat, and then - just
like a monk - deserve the offerings of gods and humans. The formulas
are codes or metaphors that express female (and male) potentials.
Envoi
(MUla-)Sarvastivadin literature portrays nuns as teachers, some of whom
. played a significant role in the transmission of the Dharma. I have given
only a few samples, collected at random, from a rich source, the avadiina
literature. There is a great deal more to be learned from this literature not
only about the role of nuns, good, bad, and neutral, but also about the
process of education and training within the community as a whole. Instruc-
tion seems to begin with explanation of aggregates, elements, and bases .
(skandha-dhiitu-iiyatana)75. This developed into exegetical traditions,
complex Abhidharnma systems, and monastic educational institutions.
74 Ibid., 380.1, of Ksema.
75 See for example Perakopadesa 112.2 buddhiinarrz bhagavantiinarrz siisanarrz tividhena
saizgaharrz gacchati, khandhesu dhiitusu iiyatanesu ca.
156 PETER SKILLING
Several of the important stories, such as that of Soma, have no coun-
terpart in the literature of the Theravadins of Sri Lanka. What are we to
make of this? When we recall the role of Sarp.ghamitta Then in the estab-
lishment of Buddhism in the Isle of Tabropane, and the explicitly posi-
tive image of nuns as teachers presented in the Dlpavarrzsa, we cannot
say that the role of nuns was ignored in Sri Lanka vis-a-vis North India.
But society changes, and what we have, at any rate, are only fragments
of history or narrative related to nuns, embedded in records, devoted to
other SUbjects. We do not have a or any kind of his-
tory devoted to nuns. And I do not think that there ever was, at least after
the earlist period, a single or linear history of the nun's order. The affairs
of the sarrzghas, including the order of nuns, would have evolved differ-
ently in different societies and at different times over the vast regions in
which the sarrzghas were established. For as soon as the sarrzgha spread
we must speak of monastic communities, of sarrzghas, for in the post-
Asokan age there was no central authority. We know so little about the
history of these sarrzghas that it seems audacious to form any general con-
clusions. We can suggest, on the basis of our fragmentary evidence, that
some monastic centres, such as Vallabhl and Nalanda, evolved into great
centres of education, and maintained this identity for centuries. In some
areas the ascetic forest tradition may have been strong, but since even for-
est monastics depended on the town for support, they were certainly not
uninfluenced by social evolution or upheaval. The sarrzghas in some areas
may have become totally corrupt, with married monks and nuns tilling the
soil and engaging in trade
76
In some areas the sarrzgha ceased to exist as
an institution, and caityas and viharas were abandoned. But insofar as
monastic orders survived, nuns or female renunciants must have also sur-
vived, and our task is to reconstruct, from fragmentary and even contra-
dictory records, at least an outline of a history.
76 I take the references in Mahayana sutras (for example the RiiiffrapiiZaparip!cchii)
and other texts (RiijataraJigil}i) to this state of affairs to be more than rhetorical, and believe
this happened at a very early date, let us say by the beginning of the Christian Era. It is
one of the topics that must be addressed if we are to understand the social history of
saf[lghas.
THE LIFE OF DGE SLONG MA DPAL MO:
THE EXPERIENCES OF A LEPER, FOUNDER OF
A FASTING RITUAL AND TRANSMITTER OF BUDDIllST
TEACIllNGS ON SUFFERING AND RENUNCIATION IN TIBETAN
RELIGIOUS IllSTORY*
!VETTE M. VARGAS-O'BRYAN
We humans are fragmented and divided beings, at odds with ourselves and
OUT surrounding world. We suffer from OUT ongoing fragmentation and yearn
for a wholeness whose presence we somehow sense as the driving force in
OUT quest for its recovery.
Herbert Guentherl
One of the ways in which the Tibetan Buddhist tradition was able to
project central Buddhist teachings on suffering and renunciation was
through the lens of the profound and painful experiences of its influen-
tial practitioners. When these practitioners experienced devastating ill-
ness, for example, it was one of the most direct ways in which suffer-
ing became a central concern, values were called into question, healing
was desperately sought for the immediate circumstances, and the ultimate
achievement of Buddhahood sometimes became a goal. The overall Bud-
dhist tradition's affinity with medicine on many different levels affects
this view as well. As a doctrine and path of salvation, the eradication of
disease becomes a metaphor for liberation from the endless cycle of
rebirths
2
But the connections go deeper, for the problem of suffering
and the goal of renunciation were at the heart of Buddhist teachings from
the start and were continued in the Tibetan tradition throughout many
* I would like to thank Professors Leonard W.J. van der Kuijp, Charles Hallisey, and
Kimberley Patton for their helpful comments on an early draft of this paper and my dis-
sertation.
I H. Guenther, Ecstatic Spontaneity: Saraha's Three Cycles of Doha (Berkeley, Cali-
fornia: Asian Humanities Press, 1993), p. 16.
2 K.G. Zysk, Kenneth, Asceticism and Healing in Ancient India: Medicine in the Bud-
dhist Monastery (New York: Oxford University Press. 1991); R. Birnbaum, The Healing
Buddha (Boulder, Colorado: Shambhala Publications. 1979).
158 IVETTE M. VARGAS-O'BRYAN
centuries. In the following case study focusing on the life of one indi-
vidual, the Kashmiri Buddhist nun and former leper called dGe slong rna
dPal m0
3
(Gelongma Palm0
4
, "Nun Palmo"), certain questions emerge
about Tibetan Buddhism's transmission of its central concern: How can
one overcome the limitations of physicality? What is the relationship
between illness and renunciation? What does this relationship stress in
terms of central Buddhist concerns for suffering and its eradication
through detachment? How can biographical literature reiIiforce funda-
mental Buddhist teachings in Tibetan Buddhist communities? This study
will fill a gap in previous scholarship by examining written versions of
the hagiographies of Gelongma Palmo: specifically, the teachings on the
hermeneutics of sufferingS and renunciation through her illness experi-
ences of leprosy. These texts have provided a powerful religious model
for female and afflicted practitioners in Tibetan communities from the
eleventh century to the present day,
The stories of Gelongma Palmo's life are diverse but there is a thread
in both oral and written versions that holds them together, that is, the
descriptions of a woman whose fortitude healed her from a devastating
illness and propelled her to become the founder of a lineage of fasting
(smyung gnas "nyungnay") revealed by her tutelary deity Avalokites-
vara, As texts, the stories are part of a larger corpus according to the
Gelongma Palmo system
6
, Western scholarship has, for the most part,
3 Also commonly known by the Sanskrit name Bhilqul)l
4 Hereafter spelled as Gelongma Palmo.
5 sdug bsngal, that is sdug pa "to be afflicted" and bsngal ba "to be faint, exhausted",
6 Although it is widely transmitted in oral and written form, no one has done a com-
prehensive study of the vast written corpus of texts that are found as individual works and
in collections. This corpus of texts includes diverse genres such as hagiographies (rnam
thar, 10 rgyus) of Gelongma Palmo and that of her lineage descendants, "ritual prescrip-
tions" or manuals (cho ga-s) for the fasting ritual itself, rituals of propitation or literally,
means for the spiritual realization of a deity (sgrub thabs, Sanskrit. stidhana), as well as
other genres like prayers (smon lam) and hymns of praise (bstod pa). The texts date approx-
imately from the 11th century to the present day. The texts even contain information about
Tibetan, Nepalese, and Indian teachers and practitioners. They are preserved and used by
present day Tibetan and non-Tibetan Buddhist communities in Tibet, Nepal, and India.
There also exist Nepali versions of the hagiographies and the ritual of propitiation used in
Newar communities in Nepal, and translations of some of these genres in English and
other Western languages. The Nepali version of the Gelongma Palmo hagiography was
translated orally for me by a Tamang practitioner in the spring of 1998 during a research
TIm LIFE OF DGE SLONG MA. DPAL MO 159
taken notice of the impact of this corpus of material in Tibetan culture,
focusing mostly on the significance of the fasting ritual and limited oral
versions of Gelongma Palmo's life extracted from present-day Tibetan
communities. This has generated useful sociological and religious
insights? What is unique about this study is a focused attention on what
study of the fasting ritual in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Nepali version of a nyungnay text
entitled: Srfmatf Kamalako (nyyungne) Granntha used by Newars was
sent to me from Patan, Nepal in the spring 2000 by Min Bahadur Shakya, the Director of
the Nagarjuna Institute of Exact Methods.
The ritual of propitiation by Blo bzang bskal bzang rgya mtsho, the Dalai Lama VII
(1708-1757), was translated by Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche and Churinoff 1995 and is
readily available. On pages 193-96 is a short synopsis of Gelongma Palmo's life derived
from Ye shes rgyal mtshan, written in 1760, in his commentary of the sadhana of the Great
Compassionate One found in the Collected Works Tshe Mchog gling Yongs 'dzin Ye shes
rgyal mtshan. Vol 9 (New Delhi: Tibet House, 1976).
7 Scholars in the fields of anthropology and religious studies and outside of acade-
mia from the late 1960s to the present have focused exclusively on the fasting ritual as
a single study (apart from the story of its founder) or have focused on the link between
the ritual in its performative context and oral versions of the life of Gelongma Palmo
for their religious and ethnographic significance in terms of lay and monastic relations,
the agency of nuns, and purification techniques. Perhaps one of the earliest mentions of
the fasting ritual was Emil Schlagintweit's 1863 work, Buddhism in Tibet (Leipzig: F.A.
Brockhaus, 1863), pp. 95, 240-42. Other studies from the 1960s to the present include:
C. von Fiirer-Haimendorf, The Sherpas of Nepal: Buddhist Highlanders (Berkeley: Uni-
versity of California Press, 1964), pp. 150, 153, 180-5,211,224; S. Mumford, Himalayan
Dialogue: Tibetan Lamas and Gurung Shamans in Nepal (Wisconsin: The University
of Wisconsin Press, 1989), pp. 4, 25, 57, 82, 111-13, 116; S. Ortner, Sherpas through
their Rituals (Cambridge University Press, 1978), High Religion: A Cultural and Polit-
ical History of Sherpa Buddhism (princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989); R. Jack-
son, "A Fasting Ritual," in Religions of Tibet in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1997), pp. 271-292; R. Jackson and J. Makransky, Himalayan Dialogue: Tibetan
Lamas and Gurung Shamans in Nepal (Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press,
1989); M. Shaw, Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric Buddhism (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1994), pp. 126-130. Most recently, anthropoologist Kim
Gutschow's research on nuns in Zangskar, Ladakh presented useful fmdings on nuns
and celibacy. See K. Gutschow, "The Women Who Refuse to be Exchanged: Celibacy
and Sexuality at a Nunnery in Zangskar, Northwest India," in Celibacy, Culture, and Soci-
ety: The Anthropology of Sexual Abstinence (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wis-
consin, 2000).
Along these lines of thought, my own research fmdings while engaging in participant-
observation of the fasting ritual in nunneries and monasteries in Kathmandu, Nepal and in
Lhasa, Tibet in 1998 led me to think that the fasting ritual according to the Gelongma
Palmo system is very much a gendered ritual since women outnumbered men in this prac-
tice, was unusually performed in nunneries or primarily prepared by nuns, and often called
a "woman's practice" by both genders.
has been neglected about the life of the figure behind such an influential
fasting ritual: specifically, Gelongma Palmo's illness experience as a
graphic example of Buddhist teachings on suffering and renunciation and
how this contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the role of the
fasting ritual in these texts
8

This study will mainly focus on select written hagiographies of
Gelongma Palmo dating from the medieval and modem periods because
of their comparative value and their diverse presentation of Buddhist
teachings representing a wide range of historical periods
9
as well as
some discussion of evidence from other historical sources. The three
8 This study presupposes that it is not an accident that the title of one of the rnam thars
includes the term nges 'byung, which can be defmed as "giving rise to aversion," a close
equivalent to renunciation.
9 Tibetan texts are translated by me in this study unless otherwis indicated. Perhaps
one of the earliest extant hagiographies in this study is by Jo gdan Bsod nams bzang po
(1341-1433) entitled: Smyung gnas bla ma brgyud pa'i rnam thar. Jo gdan Bsod nams
bzang po, Smyung gnas bla ma brgyud pa'i rnam thar (Lhasa: Dpal ldan Par khang:
1997), 107 folios. This medieval version is contained in a collection of texts 107 folios
long that includes the hagiography of Gelongma Palmo, a biography of the author by his
student Bsod nams dar (1385-1444), a biography of Bsod nams dar by one Btsun pa
chos kyi grags pa, and hagiographies of Gelongma Palmo lineage descendants, Tibetan
and Nepali. Only the fIrst 60 folios are by Jo gdan Bsod nams bzang po. The Gelongma
Palmo hagiography itself is very brief, 7 folios long with a publisher's colophon on a
separate folio. The author was a compiler of previous hagiographies on Gelongma Palmo
with intriguing affiliations with the lineage of Sakyasnohadra (7- ?I225), a key fIgure
in Indian and Tibetan Buddhist history. For more information on the possible identity
of this author and his link with a strict ascetic practice, see L. van der Kuijp, "On the
Lives of Sakyasnohadra (7-71225)," in the Journal of the American Oriental Society
114.4 (oct.-dec. 1994), pp. 599-616; D. Jackson, Two Biographies of Sakyasnohadra:
The Eulogy by Khro phu 10 tsa ba and its Commentary by Bsod nams dpal bzang po
(Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1990).
The second rnam thar in this study is by a Bhutanese individual, Bla rna Rab brtan,
entitled: dOe slong ma dpal mo'i rnam thar nges 'byung rgyud la skye ba'i chos gtam.
Bla rna Rab brtan, dOe slong ma dpal mo'i rnam thar nges 'byung rgyud la sky ba'i chos
gtam (added English title: The Biography of Kamala Bhikshuni, Princess of King Dharma
Pal, an Ancient King of Kashmir,India) (Kalimpong: Tibet Mirror Press, pp. 1-21; rpt.
1963[1953]), pp. 1-21. The text is 21 pages (not folios), long, including the publisher's
colophon, describing detailed narrative accounts of Gelongma Palmo's religious devel-
opment and that of her servant. Information on the identity of the author of this, perhaps
the latest written version of the Gelongma Palmo story, is problematic since no outside
sources are available except for what is provided by the publisher'S colophon. No author's
colophon is included. The publisher's colophon, provided by G. Tharchin in Kalimpong,
informs the reader that the text was published in 1953 to honor the bequest of a late
THE LIFE OF DGE SLONG MA DPAL MO 161
main texts are: Jo gdan Bsod nams bzang po's (1341-1433) The Sacred
Biography of the Lineage Gurus of the State of Fasting, 'Od dpag rdo
rje's (?late 14th-?15th century), The Sacred Biography of Gelongma
Palmo, and 'Brug pa Bla ma Rab brtan's modem text, The Liberation
Story of Gelongma Palma: A Religious Discourse for Generating
Renunciation in the Mind Stream (pub. 1953). These selections and
other historical sources will highlight the historical value of Gelongma
Palmo as a key figure in Tibetan religious history, the historiographic
value of the Gelongma Palmo textual tradition, and the impact of this
study for future scholarship.
Bhutanese Lama Rab brtan. This lama, while hospitalized in Kalimpong leprosy hospi-
tal, made a request to have this version of the life story of Gelongma Palmo published
for future generations. Although ethnographic data is not available, we can speculate
based on the urgency of this plea and the benefit the author hopes to bestow on others,
that the author of this text was a leper perhaps seeking solace and who believed in the
meritorious value of the printing of this text on himself and others. Publisher's colophon
pages 21.4-.13: DE YANG PAR BSKRUN ZHUS MA THAG PA'j RNAM THAR 'DI BZHIN 'DI NAS
LO MANG SNGON KA SPUG MDZE NAD SMAN KHANG DU SMAN BCOS CHED DU PHEBS PA MKHAS
DBANG 'BRUG PA BLA MA RAB BRTAN DAM PA DE NYID SMAN KHANG DU BZHUGS SKABS DGE
cSLONG MA DPAL MO'j RNAM THAR MDOR BSDUS 'DI NYID PHYI RABS SKYE 'GRO RNAMS LA
SMAN SLAD DU GSAR 'GYUR BYED POR PAR BRKO ZHIG NGES PAR YOD PA ZHES PHEBS DON
LTAR I DA LAM BLA MA DAM PA DE NYID GYI DRAN GSO'! SLAD DU PAR BRKOS ZHUS ZIN PA
'DIS RNAM THAR KLOG MKHAN RNAMS LA PHAN PA'j RGYUR GYUR CIG I KA SPUG BOD YIG
ME LONG PAR KHANG DU RAB BYUNG BCU DRUG PA'j CHU SPRUL HOR ZLA BDUN PA'j TSHES
DRUG SPYI ZLA BRGYAD PA'j TSHES BCO LNGA STON PA YE SHU'j 'DAS LO 1953 NYIN PAR DU
BSKRUN PA'O II
The third version of the Gelongma Palmo story in this study is by the rNying rna
scholar 'Od dpag rdo rje (?late 14th-?early 15th century) entitled: Thugs rje chen po bcu
gciz zhal gyi bla ma brgyud pa'i rnam thar nor bu'j phreng ba. 'Od dpag fdo rje, Thugs
rje chen po bcu gcig zhal gyi bla ma brgyud pa'i rnam thar no bu 'j phreng ba contained
in Instructions for the Practice of the Gsa Sbyong and Smyung gnas Focussing Upon
the Invocation of AvalokiteSvara in the Eleven-faced Form (Thimphu: Dorji Namgyal,
1985), folios 1-233, with the dGe slang ma dpal mo rnam thar contained in folios 20-
50. The rnam thar is written in dbu med script and contained in folios 20-50. Although
a more extended version, many passages in this text parallel what is contained in J 0
gdan Bsod nams bzang po's version. The dating and background information of this
author is problematic: see D. Martin, Tibetan Histories: A Bibliography ofTibetan-Lan-
guage Historical Works (London: SerindiaPublications, 1997), p. 66. His name appears
in the Blue Annals as a chief abbot (maha upadhyaya) who advocated fasting as a life-
preserving ceremony. G.N. Roerich, The Blue Annals. (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1976),
p. 1016. He is also known as the author of 15 works in the Tibetan rNying rna tradition:
L Bradburn, et al. Masters of the Nyingma Lineage (Berkeley: Dharma Publishing,
1995), p. 441.
162 .
IVE'ITE M. VARGAS-O'BRYAN
Background of Gelongma Palmo's Life and Past Scholarship on
Texts About Her
Who was this Gelongma Palmo and why did so many practice her rit-
ual? And even more poignant to this study, what is it about this woman's
experiences that have held people's attention for so many centuries beyond
the practice of self-denial? Often in modem-day Tibetan communities in
Tibet and in diaspora, particularly during the holiest time of the year,
Sa ga zla ba (Sagadawa), the holiday dedicated to the birth; nirvii1)a, and
parinirvii1)a of the historical Buddha, one comes across women and groups
from all Tibetan sects retelling the story of the former leper Gelongma
Palmo and undertaking her fasting ritual, not fully knowing this nun's
identity or understanding the full religious and historiographic value of
her voluminous corpus of texts
lO

So far, it is unclear whether or not Gelongma Palmo was an historical
person since no systematic study has been done on her life or on her
extensive textual corpus. We have to therefore rely on the little informa-
tion available from a variety of sources to extract the identity of this nun
and the value of her teachings.
First, the only textual historical source that establishes the dates for
Gelongma Palmo's possible historical existence in a particular time period
is the Blue Annals
ll
(1476-1478) which links this nun with Avalokites-
vara and with imparting a fasting lineage, and gives details about her
impressive lineage of fasting descendents:
The Degree of propitiating Arya A valokitesvara by performing the rite of
fasting was preached by the Nun L a k ~ r n I (dPal rno) personally blessed
by Arya A valokitesvara. She taught it to the paI).q.Ita Ye shes bzang po
(Jfianabhadra), blessed by her. He to Bal po (the Nepalese) Pefiaba, blessed
by him. They were all saints (siddhas) ....
10 Although there are numerous extant fasting texts in the Tibetan tradition dedicated
to various deities, the fasting ritual according to the Gelongma Palmo system is by far the
most popular, based on the number of texts found at present and what was used in the prac-
tices of past (as described in texts) and present-day Tibetan practitioners.
11 See G.N. Roerich 1976, pp. 1007-8, 1044, and 1008-18 for information on her lin-
eal descendents. For a discussion of the etymological significance of the title of this work,
see L. van der Kuijp, "Tibetan Historiography," in Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre.
Ithaca, New York, 1996}, p. 44 and D. Martin 1997, pp. 14-15.
\
. Also there eXisted a Lineage of the dmar-khrid (detailed exposition) of
the Cycle of the Great Merciful One (Mahiilcann;lika). The Nun
(dGe-slong ma dPaI mo) imparted it to dPaI gyi bzang po (Snohadra).
The latter to Rin chen bzang po who imparted it to Atisa.... .
The Chapter on the Lineage of the system of dPaI mo of the Cycle
of AvaIokitesvara
12

The text also notes that even teachers of the bKa' gdarns pa lineage
Buddhism surround Avalokitesvara in a vision
13
, showing that
this early lineage dating back to the 11th century was closely associated
with this deity and the Gelongma Palmo practice
14
Therefore, because of
her association with key figures in Tibetan Buddhist history like Atisa
(?982-?1054), Rinchen bzang po (958-1055), and others, Gelongma
Palmo is placed in the 10th to 11th century.
In addition, although relics do not finnly establish historical existence,
they help to illuminate Gelongma Palmo as a figure of religious histori-
. cal importance. Documents in Zhwa lu monastery in Tibet record the
existence of the relics of Gelongma Palmo on its premises, one of her liver
(sku mchin) inside an image of a Thugs chen rgyal ba rgya mtsho and the
other inside a medicine image (sman sku) of Avalokitesvara
15
This lat-
ter detail of her relic found in a medicine image of this particular type of
bodhisattva is relevant to this study because of Gelongma Palmo's life
'experiences of disease and healing .
. . Besides these materials, the hagiographies (rnam thar "narnthar" and
10 rgyus "logyu") of Gelongma Palmo are the main sources relied upon
in this study for joint historical and extra-historical value. While both
terms imply a narrative account, the term namthar, meaning literally,
"full liberation" [story] implies that the protagonist reached full
12 G.N. Roerich 1976, pp. 1007-8, 1044, 1018.
13 Ibid. 1976, p. 1015.
14 In addition to this text, the Tibetan canon also contains a Gelongma Palmo text
attributed to Atisa.
IS KaI;! thog Si tu Chos kyi rgya mtsho, Gangs ljongs dbus gtsang gnas bskor lam yig
nor bu zla shel gyi se mo do (An Account of a Pilgrimage to Central Tibert During the
Years 1918 to 1920 being the text of Gangs ljongs dbus gtsang gnas bskor lamyig nor bu
zla shel gyi se mo do). Photographically reproduced from the original Tibetan xylograph
by Khams sprul Don brgyud nyi rna. Sungrab Nyamso Gyunphel Parkhang, Tashijong
(Palampur, India: Tibet Craft Community: 1972), pp. 407.1, 409.2.
liberation in the Buddhist sense, and that the story is didactic and polem-
icaI16. These accounts operate like Western hagiographies and are typ-
ical of the Tibetan and Indian Buddhist tantric tradition, written in a
narrative framework including factual material and showing greater-
than-human figures overcoming limitations in very human ways. They
also provide models and illustrate a doctrine throughout a long histor-
ical period. For example, the hagiographies link Gelongma Palmo with
a King IndrabodhilIndrabhUti, (perhaps one of three figures mentioned
in the historian Tiiranatha's The Seven Instruction Lineages
17
, and pos-
sibly one the Indian, Mahasiddhas), and a so-called King DharmapaIa.
Gelongma Palmo, prior to her renunciation, is also referred to as
and after her healing experience as VajraviirabI, perhaps
alluding to some conflation of her identity with one of the Indian
Mahasiddhas or other figures. The Newars refer to her as Candrikanta
and as S'rImatI who is believed to have existed in the 10th cen-
tury18. There may also have been two Gelongma
one of this tradition, and another who propagated higher anut-
tarayoga tantras
19
. Overall, these sources show that the corpus of mate-
rials provides models of ordinary beings undergoing and overcoming
hardships in religious development and revealing their Buddhanature,
and of enlightened beings reappearing as tulkus (sprul sku) figures, who
16 Logyu, on the other hand, although literally meaning, "news of the year(s)," imply-
ing an historical account, is in actuality, a narrative account or record with both historical
and ahistorical material included in it. For more information, see L. van der Kuijp 1996,
pp. 42-3 and D. Martiu 1997, pp. 14-5. For more information on biographies, see J. Willis,
; Enlightened Beings: Life Stories from the Ganden Oral Tradition (Boston: Wisdom Pub-
lications, 1995) and J. Gyatso, Apparitions of the Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a
Tibetan Visionary (princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998).
17 D. Templeman, The Seven Instruction Lineages. Translation of Tibetan text: Jo nan
pa, Tiiraniitha, nKa' babs bdun ldan gyi brgyud pa'i rnam thar ngo mtshar rmad du
byung ba rinpoche'i Ita bu'i rgyan (Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives,
1983).
18 This information was given to me during research in Nepal, spring 1998. A text enti-
tled: Srimati Bhiko1uni Kamaltiko Upoo1tidha (nyungne) Grantha (1993) is also read in
Newar communities. Dan Martiu also attributes the same identity of Gelongma PaImo in
the Newar tradition to Candrikanta (corresponding to Tibetan Zla mdzes?). D. Martin
1997, p. 62.
19 I thank Dan Martiu for presenting this possibility. This study is not meant to resolve
these questions but to highlight the rich identities of and possible conflation of Gelongma
PaImo with other figures throughout Tibetan religious history.
come repeatedly to the world to impart a particular teaching to others
throughout a long historical period.
Synopsis of Hagiographies: Their Common Ground
Overall, the hagiographies themselves vary in length and detail but
offer a wide range of comparative possibilities. In order to appreciate the
complexity of the individual works in this study, it is also helpful to find
their common ground. Despite diversity in narrative detail and length,
the hagiographies in this study share a frame story which includes
Gelongrna Palmo's royal background, her contraction of leprosy and her
struggles with it, her search for and devotion to a deity, her practice of
the ascetic ritual, her final realization, and her reinclusion into ordinary
life to help others. The present works describe Gelongma Palmo as a
Kashmiri princess who was related to one of the King Indrabodhi-s and/or
King Dharmapala. She was known as the most beautiful and noble of
women in the region and according to the more extensive modem 1953
version and a medieval text (1400s) by 'ad dpag rdo rje, was desired by
kings ranging from Tibet, China, India, and Tajikistan. She entered reli-
gious life as a Buddhist renunciant and was known as a "gelongma" or
fully ordained nun.
The more extensive modem version describes her studying with a guru
for a few years until she surpassed her teacher in knowledge and prac-
tice. Eventually she was asked to become the head of a temple despite her
ambivalence about being a nun in charge of monastics and her lack of
experience. All versions describe how her life took on a new dimension
when she contracted leprosy. Her life as a Buddhist nun came to an end
in all versions, while the modem version explicitly describes her being
thrown out of her monastery by her fellow monastics. All versions also
describe the painful journey of living as a despised leper in isolation with
a deteriorating body. They also stress that after realizing that suffering this
devastating illness was instrumental for her healing and future teaching,
she was instructed, via divine intervention, to devote herself to the bod-
hisattva Avalokitesvara, who revealed to her an ascetic fasting ritual.
Despite the hardship of practicing this challenging ritual in her deterio-
rating condition, she was determined to attain a higher state of awareness
as promised by her protector deities. Then she revealed herself in three
aspects typical of the tantric tradition (outer, inner, and secret) encom-
passing human and divine qualities. Thereafter, she was healed not just
from leprosy, but also from sarrzsara, the cycle of suffering itself, and
returned to transmit her teachings to others. The following sections will
show in more detail how it is the stories themselves that are foundational
to the understanding of Gelongma Palmo as a key figure for Tibetan prac-
titioners and a transmitter of teachings in the Buddhist tradition through
her experience of leprosy.
Falling to Pieces: Leprosy's Role in the Gelongma Palma Hagiographies
Then at the age of 15, after leprosy arose from the ripened sinful actions of
previous [lives], her entire body appeared discolored and [as] dead flesh
filled with abscesses. It was as if iron nails struck into her face. With the
disease in her body, immeasurable suffering arose in her mind.
'Od dpag rdo rje
20
The most striking and unique features of leprosy (Tibetan. mdze or mdze
snyung) are almost immediately confronted by the reader of these texts
and serve as graphic examples of the Buddhist tradition's focus on the
teachings of impermanence, detachment, and suffering. It is not unusual
that texts such as these associate Buddhist teachings on impermanence
with an illness like leprosy. The Pali Canon abounds with examples
of how the Buddha taught patients according to the severity of their
disease. As Raoul Birnbaum notes in The Healing Buddha, the Buddha
taught such that, "[t]hose with fatal diseases received lessons on imper-
manence, while those who could be cured were taught to meditate on the
"seven limbs of enlightenment"21. What is different in the Gelongma
Pahno hagiographies is that the experience of the disease leprosy (which
is considered a fatal disease in the above Buddhist texts) is what is cru-
cial here to trigger an awareness of the teaching of impermanence rather
20 'Od dpag rdo rje 1985, foL 21.4-.6: DE NAS SNGON GYI MI DGE' BA'I LAS NGAN SMIN
NAS BCO LNGA LO LA MDZE BYUNG NAS LUS TRAMS CAD SHA RO DANG SRAB GRA BYUNG CHU
BUR GYI GANG SHAL LA KHRO'I 'DZER BU BDAB PA LTA BUR GYUR / LUS LA NA TSHA DANG
SEMS LA SDUG BSNGAL DPAG TU MED PA BYUNG /
21 R. Birnbaum 1979, p. 10.
than the exercise of meditative techniques. In addition, leprosy proved not
to be fatal since . Gelongma Palmo lasted for quite a while, sometimes
years according to some texts, so leprosy proved to have a redemptive
quality, giving her the hope for future healing. The deterioration and trans-
formation of the physical and mental constitution of a person to the level
of an animal and the subsequent social stigmatization created by leprosy
reveals the texts' insistence upon this experience as a first step in Tibetan
tantric religious development. Leprosy operates in the texts on two lev-
els: the impact of the disease on the physical individual and on her rela-
tionship with society, and secondly, the impact of the illness on promot-
ing understanding of basic Buddhist doctrine
22
.
Leprosy is a devastating disease caused by the microbacterium leprae
with complex symptoms
23
and manifests itself on the physical level in
numerous ways24. In general, leprosy appears as a blister on the extrem-
ities of the body because the bacilli apparently like cooler surfaces. As
22 Following the distinction between disease and illness made by certain medical anthro-
pologists and physicians like Arthur Kleinman from Harvard Medical School and Arthur
Caplan from the Center for Biomedical Ethics at the University of Minnesota, illness can
be defmed as a phenomenological experience of disease, a subjective perception of the bio-
logical experience: W.F. Bynum and R. Porter, Companion Encyclopedia of the History
of Medicine. I (London and New York: Routledge, 1993), pp. 18-19,240,242.
23 It was sometimes, nevertheless, very difficult in various cultures to clearly identify
the disease as leprosy especially since symptoms may have been secondary or tertiary
infections due to lack of, or improper, treatment. Therefore, even though the Tibetan term
mdze appears in texts, it may not always indicate "leprosy" in the strict sense but a dis-
ease that resembles it symptomatically, as small pox does in its early phases. The charac-
teristics described in the passages in this study were most probably associated with lep-
rosy in its various stages.
24 The evidence of lack of pain is based on thefmdings of the British surgeon Paul Brand
who conducted work on leprosy in India. P. Brand and P. Yancey, Pain: The Gift Nobody
Wants: A Surgeon's Journey of Discovery (London: Marshall Pickering, 1993). The asso-
ciation of leprosy with nerve disorders. in the rgyud bzhi also makes it relevant to the west-
ern medical perspective of the disease. It was not until the Norwegian scientist Arrnauer
Hansen (1841-1912) identified the agent responsible for the disease in 1872-4 as microbac-
terium leprae, (a bacillus closely resembling the tuberculosis bacillus), followed by others
in the twentieth century like Paul Brand, Philip Yancey, and so forth that crucial objec-
tive discoveries about nerve damage and lack of pain in leprosy patients were made about
the disease. This disease has proven to be one of the least communicable of all commu-
nicable diseases. See also T.I. Tsarong, Fundamentals of Tibetan Medicine According to
the Rgyud-Bzhi (Four Tantras) (Dharamsala: Tibetan Medical Centre, 1981) for the rgyud
bzhi's description of leprosy and the nerves.
168 !VETTE M. VARGAS-O'BRYAN
leprosy bacilli migrate to nerves in the cooler regions of the body, such
as around the joints, t h ~ body's immune system dispatches masses of
macrophages and lymphocytes which swarm in and swell inside the
nerves' insulating sheath, choking off vital nourishment. The nerve
swellings are the result of the body's own defense mechanism. After the
extremities like the nasal passages, hands and feet, testicles, eyes, and
ear lobes become deformed, they may also lose, in some cases, all sen-
sation, including the sensation of pain, leaving the victim vulnerable to
injury. One of many examples of the effects of leprosy on the extremi-
ties is evident in Lama Rab brtan's modern text, "Just about three months
passed, the ten toes ofthe lama's feet fell off. Then five months later, the
ten fingers of [her] hands fell off"25.
Although no systematic study has yet been conducted on the history of
leprosy in Tibetan culture, a study of some of the basic Tibetan medical
perspectives on leprosy from one medical text will aid in understanding
the descriptive elements in the texts in this study, the physiological
and psychological effects of the illness on Gelongma Palmo, and how
Buddhism came to playa role in the healing process. Leprosy's associa-
tion with demons and the psychological and physical nature of the illness
are apparent in both genres.
Generally, the Tibetan medical perspective encompasses a broad range
of literature and practices designed to improve and maintain mental and
physical health. Although the purpose of medicine in the genre of litera-
ture called gsa ba rig pa (the science of medicine; gsa ba literally means
"purification, healing") is for the treatment of disease and the maintenance
'of health through physical means, the practice of Tibetan medicine is
fully integrated with Tibetan religious views and practices and can be
related to other systems of medical knowledge like Indian (A.yurvedic),
Chinese, and Greek which reflect Tibetan culture's cosmopolitan past
26
.
25' Lama Rab brtan 1953, 7.19-8.1: ZHABS TOG GANG CIR BYED KYANG MI PHAN PAR I ZLA
BA GSUM TSAM LON PA DANG BLA MA'! ZHABS KYI SOR MDZUB BCU CHAD I DE NAS ZLA LNGA
LONG PA DANG PHYAG MDZUB BCU CHAD I
26 These include a wide variety of religious, ritual, and yogic practices of divination,
amulet and talisman-making, astrology, the collection of merit, the power of the lama in
addition to practices one associated with modern Western medicine detailed in canonical
and post-canonical literature on physiological theory and pharmacology.
The best-known medical encyclopedic work revered in Tibetan medical
training is a gter ina text, the rGyud bzhi, discovered in 1038
27
The prin-
cipal idea that emerges from this text is that of balance, balance within
the body and between it and its corresponding aspects in the outside
world. Imbalance is the cause of disease.
As the Tibetan medical tradition and the Gelongma Palmo stories both
make clear, there are basically two causes of disease: one, the long term
cause, karma from past lives; and two, the short term cause, factors in the
present life, the latter including seasonal changes, evil spirits, poison, and
habit and behavior. The third tantra of the rGyud bzhi specifically refers
to different types of causes - a primary cause (rgyu) (distant causes such
as, the three poisons, and near causes, with wind as the cause of all dis-
orders because of its influence on both hot and cold) and promoting causes
(rkyen), such as the influence of time, nutrition, behavior, and demons But
surprisingly ironic is how the rGyud gzhi categorizes leprosy.
As with all diseases that could not be satisfactorily explained, Tibetan
medical theory traditionally ascribed leprosy (as well as other ailments
like possession by evil spirits, dementia, epilepsy, and so forth) to a
large category of causes of what is typically translated as "demons"
27 'The Rgyud bzhi was based on or influenced by Sanskrit medical works like the
Corresponding to Indic Ayurvedic humoral theory (except for the fourth
humor in one of the main texts and other factors to be discussed below), Tibetan medi-
cine follows the line of thought that all metabolic function is ascribed to three humors: wind
(rlung), bile (mkhris pa), and phlegm (bad kan). Disease in general results when one or
more of these different types of humors becomes unbalanced because of a variety of mun-
dane and supramundane sources. Unlike the Indian system, these humoral factors, with the
addition of blood (khrag) are delineated in the Rgyud bzhi under two broader categories,
hot and cold. For example, wind and phlegm are cold diseases, and blood and bile are hot.
'The causes of disease reflect the fact that humoral balance has to be maintained not just
within the body, but also in accord with the psychological life of the individual and the
natural environment. See Rgyud bzhi (Leh: Tashigangpa, 1975); A.C. de Koros, "Analy-
sis of a Tibetan Work," in Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Jan. 1835), pp. 1-20;
R.E. Emmerick, "A Chapter from the Rgyud-bii," in Asia Major 19 (1975), pp. 141-62;
"Sources of the Rgyud-bii," in ZeitschriJt der Deutschen Morganliindischen Gesellschaft.
SuppL ill.2 (1977), pp. 1135-41; "Epilepsy According to the Rgyud-bii," in G. Jan Meu-
lenbeld"and Dominik Wujastyk, eds., Studie on Indian Medical History. Groningen: Egbert
Forsten (1987), pp. 63-90; J. Filliozat, "Un Chapitre du Rgyud-bii sur les bases de la sante
et des maladies," in Laghu-prabandhiilJ: Choix d' articles d'indologie (Leiden: Brill, 1974),
pp. 233-42; and Y. Donden, The Ambrosia Heart Tantra, translated by Jhampa Kelsang
(Alan Wallace), (Dharamsala: Librairy of Tibetan Works and Archives, 1976).
(gdon)28 who cause certain diseases when they get offended by an action.
Demons are perceived not merely as physical entities (for example,
demons are transformed into dharma protectors) but also as psycho-
logical entities associated with a multitude of mental and emotional
obscurations afflictions (nyon mongs) that cause individual humans to
commit karmic acts
29
The following passage in Jo gdan Bsod nam
bzang po's medieval version of Gelongma Palmo' s life describes demons
transformed into protectors of Gelongma Palmo's tutelary deity, the
bodhisattva Avalokitesvara:
When external demons and so forth began to create obstacles, since [she]
meditated a little [on] each [with] kindness and compassion, all [the demons]
became endowed with bodhicitta. When the ten directional protectors and
so forth also arose to do a little harm, [she] remained steadily in the gener-
ation stage of the Great Compassionate One, and [having] summoned [them]
before [her], by having bound [them] to an oath, [they] pledged to be the
Dharma Protectors of the practice of the Great Compassionate One and in
particular, the eight great Nagas pledged to be the Dharma Protectors of the
Eleven-faced One
30

It was not until these demonic forces were under the control of Gelongma
Palmo after she was healed, that the suffering of the world can be fully
overcome.
Therefore, from the Tibetan point of view, it is actually not ironic at
all that a disease that seems on the surface to be merely a "skin afflic-
28 gdon or gdon bgegs is the general category used for one of the causes of disease,
although in the Tibetan religious system, there are many so-called "demon-like" entities
. called bgegs pa, literally meaning "obstacles," klu (Sanskrit naga), bdud, and so forth.
29 One explicit example of so-called" demons" symbolically being identified with men-
tal (nyon mongs) including all negative emotions is found throughout the biog-
raphies of the eleventh century cJiikinf, Ma gcig Lab sgron rna, the founder of geod prac-
tice, the practice that cuts through these demons. The demons are conquered and annihilated
with meditational and other ritual practices - translation by J. Edou, Machig Labdran and
the Foundations of Chad (Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 1976), p. 19.
30 Jo gdan Bsod nams bzang po 199?, folios 6a.l-.6: TING NGE 'DZIN BZANG po RGYUD
LA SKYES / PHYI ROL GYI BDUD LA SOGS PAS BAR CHAD RTSOM DU BYUNG BA LA / BYAMS SNY-
ING RJE CUNG ZAD RE BSGOMS PAS TIIAMS CAD BYANG CHUB KYI SEMS DANG LDAN PAR GYUR
/ PHYOGS SKYONG BCU LA SOGS PA YANG CUNG ZAD GLAGS BLTAR BYUNG BA LA / TIillGS RJE
CHEN PO'l BSKYED RIM LA BRTAN PAR BZHUGS TE MDUN DU BKUG NAS DAM LA BTAGS PAS
THUGS RJE CHEN PO'! SGRUB PA BYED PA,l CROS SKYONG DU KHAS BLANGS SHING / KHYAD PAR
DU KLU CHEN BRGYAD KYIS ZHAL BCU GCIG PA'l SGOS KYI CROS SKYONG DU KHAS BLANGS /
tion" is more than what meets the eye and is also a psychological phe-
nomenon based on bad action committed in the past that is now manifested
physically. Gelongma Palmo's therapeutic remedy is thus both physical
and psychological. Leprosy is perhaps the most symbolic mirror of psy-
chological sickness; unable to hide inner spiritual deformity, the victim
is eaten away internally, and a mental and physical disease is created.
Leprosy, Suffering and .the Purpose of Gelongma Palmo
[Indrabodhi said],
After having turned [literally, "made"] this virulent disease of yours into an
opportunity ... 31.
Gelongma Palmo offered the following petition:
'Lord in Refuge, Rinpoche, since I can no longer bear it, the suffering of
saf!lsiira is not to be tolerated any longer in this life and I request you to teach
the good path of liberation, the dharmadhiitu. I am a girl, of low intellect
and little insight- please give me a profound instruction in few words and
great meaning with a heart of loving-kindness'32.
Gelongma Palmo said, '[I] am sick for the sake of sentient beings who are
as vast as the sky'33.
As noted earlier, on the level of disease, leprosy is a biological patho-
logical condition with complex symptoms destroying nerve tissue and
leading to physical deformities. Leprosy creates a barrier of physicality
impacting on the individual and her relationship with society. The
31 Jo gdan Bsod nams bzang po 199?, folio 3b.2: KHYOD KYI NAD DRAG po 'DIS RKYEN
BYAS NAS in the 81st chapter of the third tantra, the Rgyud bzhi describes demons (klu, niiga),
leprosy, and the degeneration of the human race. Gyu thog yon tan mgon po, bDud rtsi
snying po yan lag brgyad pa gsang ba man ngag gi rgyud (Lhasa: Bod ljongs mi dmans
dpe skrun khang, 1993); E. Finckh, Foundations o/Tibetan Medicine According to the book
Rgyud bzhi. 2 (Dorset: Element Books, 1985), p. 22. Tibetan text from Jo gdan Bsod nams
bzang po 1953: folios 3b.2.
32 Lama Rab brtan 1997,5.14-: BU MOS ZHU BA 'DI LTAR PHUL BA I SKYABS RJE RIN po
CRE LA ZHU BA LA I MI TSHE 'DI BAS PHYI MA SHUL TRAG RING II 'KHOR BA'J SDUG BSNGAL
BZOD RLAGS MI 'DUG PAS II CROS DBYINGS THAR PA'r LAM BZANG STON PAR ZHU I BU MO BDAG
NI BLO DMAN SHES RAB CHUNG II TSHIG NYUNG DON CHE GDAMS NGAG ZAB MO ZHIG I BTSE
BA'r THUGS KYIS BDAG LA GNANG BAR ZHU / ZHES ZHUS PA DANG I
33 Lama Rab brtan 199?, 7.12-.13: NAM MKHA' DANG MNYAM PA'j SEMS CAN GYI DON
LA NA BA YIN GSUNGS /
Gelongma Palmo hagiographies, in addition to Tibetan medical texts like
the rGyud bzhi, confnm that leprosy cannot be understood simply as a bio-
logical condition but also as an experience. Leprosy is said to be caused
by demons in the Tibetan context that, although believed to be external
forces, may also be defIned as negative propensities experienced by human
beings. Therefore leprosy as an illness experience has instrumental value
in terms of Buddhist religious development. In her hardship Gelongma
Palmo realizes the purpose of suffering and its eradication. The illness
experience of leprosy is an essential part of Gelongma Palmo's path,
a via dolorosa (literally, path of pain). Leprosy was a catalyst, triggering
Gelongma Palmo to undergo spiritual work in order to develop and reveal
herself as a model and as a teacher for others.
The suffering caused by leprosy in the Gelongma Palmo hagiographies
is due to two factors: a disruption of identity and a loss of human
agency. As the texts constantly describe bodily decay and dismember-
ment in graphic detail, the initial message is the impermanence of phys-
ical existence and the suffering response when facing that awareness.
These texts reflect the basic Buddhist dictum that whatever is imper-
manent causes suffering. Lama Rab brtan's modern text describes the
effects of leprosy on the physical body and its impact on the sufferer
and on others:
Then at a certain time, reaching the age of 25, a mere itch arose on one big
toe of her feet and a small boil arose. Then it became as a bursting blister
that filled the bottom of her feet to the crown of her head. Then Gelongma
Palmo kept it a secret from the preceptors ... 34.
While she remained in the temple, Gelongma Palmo was consumed with
severe leprosy. Because of this, suffering arose like an arrow struck into the
mind of that very servant Sampelma .. Although she offered whatever serv-
ices were possible [to Gelongma Palmo], it had no effect. Just about three
months passed, the ten toes of the lama's feet fell off. Then five months later,
the ten fingers of her hands fell off. At that time, severe suffering arose
in the minds of both the mistress and the servant. Sampelma enclosed the
lama with a curtain. During this time, it was as if her body was not seen by
34 Lama Rab brtan 1953,7.8-.12: DE NAS DGUNG LO NYER LNGA LON PA'r DUS NAM ZmG
GI TSHE! ZHABS KYI THE BONG GCIG GYA' BA TSAM BYUNG BAS BRUM CUNG ZmG BYUNG! DE
NAS SRIN THOR GcrG TU SONG BAS / DE'r RKYEN BYAS ZHABS KYI MTHIL DANG SPYI Bo'r GTSUG
RNAMS GANG BAS! DENAS BLON MDZAD RNAMS LA GSANG BAS !
. anyone. At this time, after all in the temple noticed the pus and blood,
Gelongma Palmo and Sampelma were thrown out after the end of the year3
5

In this passage, the extreme deterioration of the physical body is clear.
Scenes of Gelongma Palmo's body literally breaking awayfrom her into
little pieces are reminiscent of scenes in Buddhist literature of deteriorating
corpses in cremation grounds and the graphic metaphors used about the
body exemplifying physical impermanence. Each severed limb and aes-
thetic imperfection on the body has symbolic impact. The Anguttara
Nikaya (4:386-87) in the Indian Buddhist tradition compares the body to
a festering pustule, like a boil with nine openings:
hnagine, monks, a boil that has been collecting for many years which might
have nine open wounds, nine natural openings, and whatever might ooze out
of it, foulness would ... squeeze out of it. .. This boil, monks, is a ... metaphor
for the body which is made up of the four great elements, begotten of mother
and father, ... subject to impermanence, ... dissolution, and disintegration ... 36.
An example of Gelongma Palmo being stripped of her identity and of
life itself is evident in Lama Rab brtan' s text when Gelongma Palmo dis-
courages her servant Sampelma from remaining with her and orders her
to return to Kashmir:
I have exhausted benefiting you. This marsh valley is my burial site ...
I am not a person, I am a leprous corpse. Girl, detach yourself from this
leprous corpse. It is better that you go to a happier place
37

From these stigmatizing experiences, Gelongma Palmo faced a crucial
lesson: Illness cuts the barriers between social distinctions and therefore,
35 Lama Rab brtan 1953, 7.16-8.4: DGE SLONG MA MDZE SNYUNG DRAG PO ZillG GIS ZIN
TE BZHUG PA'r TSHE I GYOG MO BSAM 'PHEL MA DE NYID SEMS LA MDA' PHOG PA LTA Bu'r
SDUGBSNGAL BYUNG BAS I ZHABS TOG GANG CIR BYED KYANG MI PHAN PAR I ZLA BA GSUM
TSAM LON PA DANG BLA MA'r ZHABS KTI SOR MDZURB BCU CHAD I DE NAS ZLA LNGA LONG
PA DANG PHYAG MDZUB BCU CHAD I DE TSHE DPON GYOG GNTIS PO THUGS LA SDUG BSSN-
GAL DRAG PO BYUNG BAS I BSAM 'PHEL MAS BLA MA LA YUL BAS SKOR TE I SKU LUS GZHAN
GTIS MI MJAL BA LTAR BZHUGS PA'r DUS 'DIR I KUN GTIS RNAG KHRAG TSHOR NAS SKABS 'DIR
LO RDZOGS PA DANG PHYI LA STON BYUNG I
36 Anguttara Nikiiya. Translated by Rev. Richard Morris (London: Pali Text Society,
1883), pp. 386-7.
37 Lama Rab brtan 1953, 11.15-.18: JL LTAR BYAS KYANG PHAN PA MJ SRID PAS II NGA
Nr MI MIN MDZE MA'r RO YIN NO II MDZE MA'r RO LA ZHEN CHAGS MA BYED PAR II BU MO GANG
DGA'r, YUL DU 'GRO BA LEGS II
despite her social standing, she as a human being contracted the disease
- illness does not discriminate.
In addition, the deteriorating and transformative effects of leprosy also
reduces a human being to a lower level of existence, much like that of an
animal or preta in the Buddhist perspective, losing all human agency and
control, This loss of human agency and control is reflected, for example,
on the grammatical level in the use of the non-intentional verb form 'chad
meaning "to be cut" where scenes of leprosy are described in these texts,
rather than the use of the intentional form of the verb, gcod, meaning
"to cut"; the latter is used when describing Gelongma Palmo' s trans-
formed healed state. Notice the transformative deterioration of Gelongma
Palmo's physical constitution, and particularly, the loss of her right hand,
in a scene from Jo gdan Bsod nams bzang po's medieval version:
Despite [the] fact that this nun was knowledgeable in the five domains of
science, and instructions and vows were present [in her] in a very noble
way, leprosy arose due to the force of previous karma. Her right hand was
severed from the wrist, even the front of her face looked as if it had been
pounded with bronze nails, her complexion was like an autumn flower struck
[by] frost, [her] taking of food and drink was like an animal eating grass
not knowing how to feed [herself] with [her left] hand. Even though
knowledgeable in the five domains of science, by being afflicted with a vir-
ulent illness, there arose immeasurable suffering settling in [her] mind as if
without recourse. When attendants carried [her] into an isolated thatched
hut, she stayed there crying38.
In a South Asian context, the loss of her right hand has great significance.
Gelongma Palmo has only two options, to eat with her left hand
0" (an impure act) or simply to eat as an animal. In her initial response to
leprosy, Gelongma Palmo feels compelled to lose her human agency
38 Jo gdan Bsod nams hzang po 199?, 2h.3-3a.S: DGE SLONG MA 'm NI RIG PA'r GNAS LNGA
LA MKHAS SHING / BSLAB SDOM RNAMS KYANG SHIN W BTSUN PAR BZHUGS PA LAS / SNGON
GYI LAS DBANG GIS MDZE BYUNG STE / PHYAG G YAS PA'r 'KHRIGS MA NAS CHAD / ZHAL GYI
GDONG LA YANG KHRO GZER BTAB PA BZHIN DU GYUR / SHA MDOG NI STON KA'r ME TOG LA
BA MOS PHOG PA BZHIN DU GYUR / BZA' BTUNG BYED PA YANG PHYAG GIS BSNYOD MI SHES
PAR DUD 'GRO RTSA ZA BA BZHIN DU GYUR / RIG PA'I GNAS LNGA LA MKHAS KYANG / NAD
DRAG POS BTAB PAS SDUG BSNGAL SEMS LA BZHAG THABS MED PA LTA BU DPAG W MED PA
" BYUNG STE / 'KHOR RNAMS KYIS LOGS SHIG W RTSA'r SPYIL BU CIG W BSKYAL NAS DER BSHUM
GYIN BZHUGS PA NA / the line: PHYAG G YAS PA'I 'KHRIGS MA NAS CHAD literally, "severed
from the wrist of her right hand" was changed in the translation to make sense of it.
because of the moral and social implications of the act of eating with her
left hand, the defiled hand used to clean oneself.
In addition, as with any devastating illness, the impact does not stop
on the personal level, but affects the individual's relationship with soci-
ety, in this case the monastic community. She is forced to leave her
monastic community because of the contraction of leprosy.
Another example of the social stigma created by this illness reminds
readers of leprosy's 'association with sexual transgressions, the weak
gender described as "woman" (Tibetan: skye dman "low birth" or bud
med, may etymologically mean "negation of masculinity")39, and issues
of purity40. 'Od dpag rdo rje's medieval version associates gender, lep-
rosy, and purity: "The custodian [of the temple] said, 'On top of being
of low birth [i.e. a woman], you are a leper woman. Stay behind the
door and make your request
41
,,, This passage comes out of a scene that
describes the fury felt by the custodian. Lama Rab brtan' s modern text
describes the scene in this way:
'You, female leper beggar, have come inside my temple. I myself cannot do
offerings of incense to the deities and purification by water in the temple.
If the crops fail, hail strikes and so forth, it is certain that [all] will come to
my head
42
.'
With the key handle, he beat her from the crown of [her] head to the
soles of her feet. Having pulled the nun from [her] feet, he brought her
39 I thank Professor L. van der Kuijp for this etymology,
40 Western scholarship also points out the relationship of serious illnesses with sexual
potency (or the lack thereof) and purity issues, In other cultures, see S. Sontag, Illness as
Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors (New York and London: Doubleday, 1990); S.N.
Brody, The Disease o/the Soul: Leprosy in Medieval Literature (Ithaca, New York: Cor-
nell Univerity, 1974); and H.M. de Bruin, Leprosy in South India: Stigma and Strategies
o/Coping, Pondy Papers in Social Sciences 22 (France: Institut Fran<rais de PondicMry,
1998).
41 'Od dpag rdo rje 1985,23.1-.2: DKON GNYER NA RE KHYOD SKYE BA DMAN PA'r THOG
DU MDZE MOR 'DUG PA SGO RGYAB TU 'DUG LA GSOL BA mOB crG GSVNGS /
42 Lama Rab brtan 1953,16.16-17.3: MDZE SBRANG GI SBRANG MO KHYOD NGED GY! LHA
KHANG NANG 'ONGS PA DANG / NGED RANG NI LHA KHANG NANG LHA BSANGS KHRUS GSOL
BYAS MI TSHUGS PAS fLO mOG NYES PA DANG SER BAS RDVNG PA LA SOGS PA BYVNG NA NGED
RANG GI MGOR 'ONG NGES YIN ZER NAS / LDE MIG GI THAG PA DES SPY! GTSUGS NAS RKANG
THIL YAN CHAD DU BRDVNGS SHlNG / DGE SLONG MA'r SHABS NAS 'THEN IE LHA KHANG Gr
RGYAB LA BSKAL BAS / DGE SLONG MA'r THUGS DGONGS LA SEMS CAN GY! BLO MA RIG PAS
SGRIB PA YIN SNYAM BYANG CHUB TU THUGS BSKYED DE f
176 . IVETTE M. VARGAS-O'BRYAN
[to the] back of the temple. In Gelongma Palmo's rriind, she generated
bodhicitta [by thinking]? 'Sentient beings' minds are obscured by igno-
rance.'
The custodian of the temple was convinced that Gelongnia Palmo's
presence was going to defile the sacred space of the temple and cause harm
even on the level of harming the environment and since he was in charge
of maintaining purity, he would be blamed by the locals. It is clear here
that women and lepers, who do not fit into society, defile - a theme
common throughout diverse religions and cultures.
From these examples, the message of the texts is that as the body breaks
down, all marks of identity on the physical level also break down and take
on new meaning, while concerns on the psychological level become more
prominent. As described in the previous chapter, leprosy destroys the
microscopic fibers that produce pain in the extremities of the body there-
fore making individuals with leprosy prone to injury such as severed
limbs. Nevertheless, the leprous individual experiences suffering that is
painful, a pain not altogether related to a specific location on the body or
to the nervous system. Rather than the sensation of the prick of a needle
on the skin, it is a pain that becomes more existential, a philosophical con-
cern about the pain experience that goes beyond the immediate experi-
ence to the wider concerns of suffering in the world. Lama Rab brtan's
passage reiterates Gelongma Palmo' s awareness of the futility of attach-
ment to the body:
Since those who assembled asked Gelongma Palmo to leave, Sampelma
said, 'There is no reason for us to leave.' The lama [Gelongma Palmo]
replied, 'Sampelma, I myself [am] a lie, even ifI do not lie, my own body
is a lie' .... Then going away, Sampelma carried her. The toes of [Gelongma
Palmo' s] feet hit the ground. Her very body appeared like a discarded load.
[There] arose hardships three times and [Gelongma Palmo] was the height
of filth. Then the samgha was happy43.
43 Lama Rab brtan 1953, 8.4-.7: TSHOGS PA RNAMS KYIS DGE SLONG MA THON ZHUS PAS
/ BSAM 'PHEL MA ZHU BAS THON RGYU MED ZER BAS I BLA MA'j GSUNGS NAS / BSAM 'PHEL
MA NGA RANG RDZUN NGED KYANG MI RDZUN RANG GI LUS PO DE RDZUN GSUNGS / BSAM
'PHEL MAS BLA MA KHUR BAS / PHYAG ZHABS MED PA'j STABS KYIS DAR STON NAS 'KHUR ZHIG
GSUNGS / DE NAS BSAM 'PHEL MAS 'KHUR NAS BYON PAS ZHABS MDZUB SA LA GTUG PAS / SKU
LUS DE NYID 'KHUR BOR BA LTAR BYUNG BAS / '0 RGYAL LAN GSuM BYUNG ZHING 'BAG PA'J
TOG TU GYUR TO / DE NAS NANG GI MI RNAMS DGA' BAS /
The simile, "her body appeared like a discarded load," and the phrase
" [she] was the height of fIlth" are very pertinent here. Gelongma Palmo
became detached from her physical existence because she could no longer
be rigidly defined by her body in terms of categories established by. the
ordinary world, that is, by her gender, social status as daughter and
princess, religious status as nun, and even as human being. This is also
in accord with the Tibetan Buddhist tantric idea that the level of renun-
ciation that Gelongma Palmo made was not a full one; further religious
development needed to be attained in order to achieve the goals of the
Mahayana Buddhist tradition such as the aspiration for bodhicitta, the
final realization of emptiness of phenomena, and the attainment of enlight-
enment. She had to overcome the limitations of physicality. These cate-
gories are fluid and impermanent as everything else in ordinary existence.
Physical decay shook the very foundation of Gelongma Palmo's precon-
ceived notions of reality, triggering a sense of loss and despair; and an
urgent need for direction.
As the next example will show, it is often the case that suffering has
a way of shaking a person's sensibilities and forcing her to concentrate
on what is most important, survival. Lama Rab brtan's text offers an
example of the determination displayed by Gelongma Palmo despite her
horrific circumstances when Avalokitesvara appeared to her to offer con-
solation:
Then in order to practice, she accepted the austerities of the Holy One [i.e.
Avalokitesvara] and left. One day went by. Because her leprosy, she could
not walk with her feet Then she crawled on her stumps .... She accepted the
suffering and remained there
44

These examples of awareness of impermanence, disruption of identity, and
loss of human agency make clear that the path of suffering, la via
dolorosa, can be translated to mean in Buddhist terms that the path
of hardship within religious development is the crucial message of
these texts. The survival instinct made Gelongma Palmo open to religious
44 Lama Rab brtan 1953, 14.11-.12: DE NAS DGE SLONG MA DPAL MO 'PRAGS PA'r BKA'
SGRUB PHYIR DKA' SPYAD DANG DU LONG TE BYON PAS / NYIN eIG BYON PA DANG SKU 'r GZID
SNYUNG MDZE Y1N PA'r STABS KYIS ZHABS KYIS BYON MA TSHUGS / DE NAS SPYI SHUD RGYAB
CING BYON PAS / C ... ) 14.17-.18: SDUG BSNGAL DANG DU BLANG STE BZHUGS PA
experience in a fuller sense, she became receptive to the teachings that
appeared to her via divine intervention. It was now up to her to take ini-
tiative and regain her control over the situation by re-acting and trans-
forming this illness experience, la via dolorosa, into a hard lesson on
value of renunciation and as a foundation for others' future growth.
Emerging Whole: Fasting as Reconstruction and
in the Process of Renunciation
With a greater appreciation of the illness experience, a new perspec-
tive is gained into the profound role played by fasting ritual in these sto-
ries. Bodily deterioration and transformation of the individual caused by
leprosy complement aspects of the fasting ritual that Gelongma Palmo
practices and transmits to others. Leprosy and fasting in these stories
operate on opposing and complementary planes, each offering unique
affiliations to Tibetan Buddhism's focus on religious development and
transformation: leprosy, with its notion of bodily deterioration and
destruction, and fasting, with its focus on reconstruction and renewal.
Therefore, after falling apart, Gelongma Palmo will emerge whole. Fast-
ing is the next step in the reassembling process. As leprosy can be an
example of a breakdown of the attachment to previous ways of thinking
and being, fasting is an example of reconstruction and transformation of
this state through human agency and divine intervention that will ulti-
mately put an end to the cause of the cycle of suffering in the first place.
A brief analysis of the term "fasting" and examination of its role in rela-
tion to leprosy as presented in the hagiographies and one ritual of pro-
pitiation (sgrub thabs) will reveal teachings on the role of suffering and
renunciation
45
.
Literally, the term smyung gnas means "a fasting state, abiding in fast-
ing, enduring the fast" and so the fIrst impression after reading the descrip-
tions in the texts is a practice of self-denial of food and sometimes water,
45 The sgrub thabs text used in this study is by the Sa skya scholar Zhu chen Tshul
khrims rin chen, dGe slang rna dpal rna lugs kyi thugs rje chen po bcu gcig zhal gyi sgrub
thabs srnyung gnas dang bcas pa'i cho ga sdig sgrib rnarn sbyong. In Collected Writings
on Buddhist Philosophy, Liturgy, and Ritual of Zhu chen Tshul Khrirns rin chen, Vol. 2
(New Delhi: Ngawang Gelek Demo, 1972), folios 275-315.
THE LIFE OF DGE SLONG IvIA DPAL MO 179
a practice common to most religious traditions, meant to purify the prac-
titioner of past transgressions or in preparation for union with the divine.
Beyond the literal meaning of the word "fast," the term can be extended
to include other practices in an ascetic program. The Tibetan equivalent
the word asceticism is dka' thub meaning "capable of [enduring] diffi-
culties" which is what Gelongma Palmo's experiences represent. Walter
O. Kaelber in the Encyclopedia of Religion proposes a useful working def-
inition of the term "asceticism":
[AJ voluntary, sustained, and at least partially systematic program of self-
discipline and self-denial in which immediate, sensual or profane gratifica-
tions are renounced in order to attain ahigher spiritual state or a more thor-
ough absorption in the sacred
46

The ascetic aspects of the fasting ritual consist of challenging exercises
of discipline and self-denial meant to assist the practitioner in achieving
a trans formative state
47
The fasting text according to the Sa skya scholar
Zhu chen Tshul khrims rin chen divides the ritual into three stages: a
preliminary practice (sngon 'gro, the actual ceremony (dngos gzhi) and
the concluding ceremony (rjes). Overall, the ceremony may last two and
a half days to several months, sometimes being continued for many years.
There are vows of purification (gso sbyong), refuge vows to the four jew-
els, prostrations and visualization practices; offerings to the deities; a
complete fast of food, drink and even one's saliva on alternate days, and
a vow of silence. The ritual is meant to be performed on an annual basis
on new and/or full moon days in Tibetan areas with the longest per-
formance during the most auspicious period, Sa ga zla ba, or as needed.
As the next passage will show, the hagiographies are connected with
devotion to a deity. Gelongma Palmo was specifically directed by divine
46 W. Kaelber In: The Encyclopedia a/Religions, p. 441. As the Jewish scholar Steven
Fraade states in his essay in reference to the Greek and later connotations of asceticism,
"as athletic and military training require both the positive strengthening of one's physical
faculties and the negative abstention from weakening habits, so too philosophical and spir-
itual training require both affirmation and renunciation." S. Fraade, "Ascetical Aspects of
Ancient Judaism," in Jewish Spirituality from the Bible through the Middle Ages (New
York: Crossroad, 1986), p. 256.
47 These practices include prescriptions and injunctions on worship, speech and silence,
sleep, clothing, sexual activity, food, offering, story-telling, singing, and pilgrimage.
It also incorporates bhakti-like activities (devotionalistic) toward a particular deity.
. :;;
180 . IVETrn M. VARGAS-O'BRYAN
intervention to devote herself fully to a certain bodhisattva, Avalokites-
vara, who has historical associations with asceticism and healing and a
cultic status as the patron deity of the Tibetan people. Under this bod-
hisattva's watchful eye, Gelongma Palmo enacts a fasting regimen that
triggers a bodily reconstruction and complete mental and physical trans-
formation:
Then from having remained before the Eleven-faced One, she made an
oath not to go elsewhere until she attained the highest realization, not
paying attention to eating or drinking. Having meditated on the Eleven-
faced One day and night, when one year passed, the entire disease of her
body shed like the skin of a snake and disappeared. Her right hand was
restored and her body became even more beautiful than it had heen before
the leprosy arose. Sound samadhi was generated in her [mind] stream
48

Gelongma Palmo is restored to an even more beautiful woman than
before, while the restoration of her right hand symbolizes her pure state.
This reconstruction is another crucial step in a series of steps on the phys-
ical and mental level in a long purification process that varies from text
to text. According to the modem version of the story, the restoration of
Gelongma Palmo' s agency is exemplified by the intentional use of the
word for cutting, gcod. She is able to take control over her healing process
by actively engaging in the act of detachment:
She practiced enduring the fast. One day, she [cut off] food. One day, she
[cut off] speech. In meditation, she said the praises of the Holy One with
intense fortitude and diligence like this ..... Due to the compassion of the
Holy One, Gelongma Palmo, having accomplished her aggregates [as] a
rainbow body in this life, went to the sky rea1m
49

48 10 gdan Bsod nams bzang po 19991, 5b.2-6a.1: DE NAS ZHAL BCU GCIG PA'r DRUNG
DU BZIIDGS NAS MCHOG GI GNGOS GRUB MA THOB BAR DU 'm NAS GZHAN DU MI 'GRO BA 'r
DBU SNYUNG BEHES TE BZA' BA DANG BTUNG BA YID LA MI BYED PAR NYIN MTSHAN KHOR YUG
TU ZHAL BCU GCIG PA LA THUGS DAM DU MDZAD NAS LO GCIG LON PA'r TSHE LUS KYI NAD
THAMS CAD SBRUL GYI SHUN PA BUD PA BZHIN DU SONG I PHYAG G YAS PA YANG SOR CHUD
CING SKU LUS NI MDZE MA BYUNG BA'r DUS LAS KYANG MTSHAR BAR GYUR I TING NGE 'oZIN
BZANG po RGYUD LA SKYES I
49 LamaRab brtan 1953,17.4-.6: SMYUNG GNAS GNANG NAS INYIMA GcrG ZAMA/NYI
MA GcrG NGAG BYED NAS I THuGS DAM LA 'PHAGS PA'r BSTOD PA SNYING STOBS BRTSON
'GRUS DRAG po'r SGO NAS 'm LTAR GSUNGS PA I ( ... ) 18.1-.2: 'PHAGS PA'r THUGS RJES DGE
SLONG MA DPAL MO PHUNG PO 'JA' LUS GRUB NAS TSHE 'm LA MKHA' SPYOD DU GSHEGS PA
YIN NO II
This extra-hum!lll transfonnation is prevaient throughout these versions
of the hagiographies. In Lama Rabten's modem text, Gelongma Palmo
appears flying above her servant-companion Sampelma like "a sparkling
dew drop more brilliant than before
50
". The fmal process for Gelongma
Palmo is to reveal herself as a divine being, an emanation who entered
the world for the sake of others.
As mentioned earlier in the case of leprosy, transfonnation is enacted
beyond the individual and society to the universe-at-Iarge. As Gelongma
Palmo regained control over herself and was literally "reassembled," she
now had control over her environment and became a better vehicle for the
Buddhist teachings than in her fonner state. The demons that were the
cause of leprosy, her instrumental illness, and a hindrance to the Bud-
dhadharma, were subdued and transfonned as she herself was.
Ultimately, fasting is the necessary act to reassemble Gelongma Palmo
into a purified, yet unattached being. This ritual is instrumental to the
journey of suffering in the fonn of leprosy in that it healed and reinforced
a sense of control over the self and the environment through ritual struc-
ture and the devotional and tantric transfonnational process. Textual
descriptions and modem-day practitioners' report suggest that fasting cre-
ates a sense of control over the self in society and often differentiates
women's religiosity and experience from men's. Not only dowomen in
modem-day communities outnumber men in this practice and the retelling
of the frame story, but lamas often call this a "woman's practice." The
body, speech, and mind of Gelongma Palmo are not just physically puri-
fied but ontologically purified in the ultimate sense of achievement or
Buddhahood. Gelongma Palmo herself becomes the embodiment of the
Buddhist concept of renunciation.
In the conclusion of Jo gdan Bsod nams bzang po's medieval version
Gelongma Palmo gains full control and reveals herself as a divine figure,
appearing as a rjiikinf dancing and wielding a knife. Here she is enacting
the healing process of others. She is transfonned from a patient-leper to
the level of physician and teacher to a community. The metaphorical
value of this knife is not missed: this ritual implement and meditation tool
so Lama Rab brtan 1953,20.3: DE 1 DBUS SU DGE SLONG MA MO RANG SNGAR BAS KYANG
GZI MDANGS CHE BA BZHIN ZIL CHU KHROL LE BZIflJGS PAS /
is used intentionally to symbolize the cutting off of human beings' attach-
ments to preconceived notions of reality.
Conclusion
This study offers a glimpse of the diverse purposes for the continual
transmission of these texts by individual authors and of a common theme
of the hermeneutics of suffering via illness and renunciation through a
female embodiment. In addition, because of the consistent prolific writ-
ten and oral transmission of these stories from the eleventh century to
the present-day, these teachings have proven to have been a foundational
strand of Tibetan religious history.
Uncertainty about the identity and historical existence of Gelongma
Palmo has not detracted from her historical relevance as a symbol since
her stories have provided a model and illustrated a doctrine throughout a
long historical period. Examples of this are explicitly seen in present-day
Buddhist female renunciants' tendency in Tibetan Buddhist communities
to be the holders of her ritual tradition. Their nunneries are places for the
retelling of her stories. And as the compiler of the modem text and con-
temparary evidence from Nepal and Tibet show, sufferers of severe ill-
nesses like leprosy have sought solace through the printing and trans-
mission of her story, practicing her ritual, or visiting a temple associated
with Gelongma Palmo.
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WHAT MAKES A NUN? APPRENTICESHIP AND RITUAL
PASSAGE IN ZANGSKAR, NORTH INDIA.
KIM GUTSCHOW*
TIris essay examines how and why ordained nuns serve both the Buddha and
their families in Kashmir today. The rites of passage by which a nun comes to
the nunnery contrive to make her part and parcel of the mundane village sphere
in a different sense than monks. It begins by exploring how the erasure of nuns
in Buddhist studies was due to the rnisrecognition and confusion over ordained
nuns and elderly renunciants.
The Erasure of Nuns From Buddhist Scholarship
Scholars like Don Lopez who follow in the wake of Said have decon-
structed the field of Buddhist studies by showing how the curators of the
Buddha constructed their object of study, Buddhisml. Due to a number
of reasons including research methods and materials available, Buddhist
studies has privileged doctrine over practice, text over local informant,
classical sources over the vernacular, and monks over nuns. When Bud-
dhist studies first began in 18
th
century Europe, it relied heavily on texts
brought back from Asia as colonial booty. The antiquarians who first
attempted a systematic study of Buddhist sources consistently privileged
ancient texts over modern ones because they thought that earlier scriptures
would offer a more pristine and original form of Buddhism, untainted by
historical decay and decline. By the same arguments, they privileged doc-
trinal explanations and accounts over those offered by modern informants,
who were generally held to be unreliable if not ignorant of their own clas-
sicalliterature. Paraphrasing Lopez (1995: 13), the Orientalist took charge
* Brandeis University, Dept. of Anthropology, Mail stop 006, Waltham, MA
02454-9110, Gutschow@Brandeis.edu.
1 Lopez (1995, 1998) provides marvelously detailed accounts of the birth of Buddhist
and Tibetan studies.
Volume 24. Number 2.2001
188 KIM GUTS CHOW
of representing the Orient because he believed the Orient to be incapable
of representing itself.
Interestingly, modem Tibetan studies has also privileged both text
and doctrine, albeit for rather different reasons. For much of the 20
th
cen-
tury, Tibet remained an elusive object of study, which only few for-
eigners were able to penetrate. When the Chinese occupation and attacks
forced an entire religious elite into exile in 1959, scholars were left in
the awkward position of studying Tibetan Buddhism without Tibet.
They overcame this difficulty by translating the texts which had been
smuggled out of Tibet, and focussing on doctrinal, philosophical, and
historical issues rather than lived religious experience or ritual context
in which these texts may have been used. Even those scholars who
explored the religion in exile or the politics of displacement tended to
privilege Tibet as the source of authentic religious culture. By the same
token, the practices of Tibetan Buddhism along the Indo-Tibetan bor-
derlands were often compared to an ideal, but vanished template of
Buddhism inside Tibet. Thus, the Tibetan Buddhism found in Kashmir
since thelO
th
century was held to be a derivative or corrupt form of the
Buddhism found in Tibet itself.
My approach turns over these tendency by focussing on the local,
the vernacular, and female aspects of Buddhist renunciation in a
Kashmir. I will focus on the practice of Buddhism in eastern Kashmir
within the region of Zangskar. A formerly Buddhist kingdom once ruled
by a direct descendant of the last king in Tibet's early dynasty which
has been Buddhist almost as long as Tibet has, Zangskar today forms
the southern and safer half of Kargil district - the site of the recent mil-
itary clashes between India and Pakistan in 1999. Roughly 95% of the
local population is Buddhist, while the remaining 5% are Sunni Muslims.
Although Zangskar covers an area twice the size of Rhode Island, its
extreme aridity and elevation at the edge of the Tibetan plateau make
it one of the least populated regions in India. Monks and nuns, who
make up about 4% of the total popUlation, live in nine nunneries and
seven monasteries which follow the Gelug and Kagyud schools of
Tibetan Buddhism. Nuns make up roughly one fourth of the entire
monastic population. This percentage may be one of the highest in the
entire Himalayan realm. It is more than twice as high as the ratio of nuns
WHAT MAKES A NUN? 189
to monks in Tibet and the Himalayan borderlands before 1959, and
over four times as high as the ratio in Tibetan refugee monasteries by
the late 1980's2.
The classical Tibetan sources which describe the origin and develop-
ment of Buddhism in Zangskar have been dominated by metaphors of
conquest and penetration, as well as a wholesale erasure of nuns. Local
histories and legends celebrate the activities of saints, monks, and kings
in subduing Cdul bay or taming a landscape conceived as demonic and
female
3
The erasure of nuns in the historical record is due more to the
way in which monks and kings dominated the Buddhist economy of merit
than in any real absence of nuns or female renunciants, which are alluded
to in both written and oral sources. The 19
th
and early 20
th
century
European scholarship on Buddhism in Kashmir, including both colonial
Gazeteers and extensive travel literature by the participants in the Great
Game over Central Asia, failed to see nuns in the territory they cata-
logued and mapped so carefully in other ways. Yet even modern schol-
arship on Buddhism in Kashmir has ignored nuns which comprise one fIfth
of Zangskar's monastic population
4
. The erasure of nunneries lies in the
local as well as the foreign imagination. When an eminent Zangskari
monk once told me, "there is no gonpa in Zangla village," I was surprised.
I knew that Zangla did in fact house a nunnery and that gonpa (dgon pa)
-literally solitary place - is a gender neutral term which can refer to
either a monastery and nunnery. Yet just as the generic term man leaves
2 Shakabpa (1967) notes that there was one nun for every nine monks in Tibet before
1959. Havnevik (1992: 85) states that there were 653 nuns and 6337 monks in India,
Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan before 1959, and 340 nuns and 6278 monks in Tibetan refugee
monasteries by the late 1980's. Gutschow (1998: 97) reports that Zangskar's nine nunneries
housed 116 nuns while its seven monasteries housed 297 monks in 1997.
3 The myth of the demoness is found in many parts of the Tibetan cultural realm.
See Aris (1979), Gyatso (1987), and Gutschow (l997a). Aggarwal (1994, 1997) and Beek
(1996, 1997) critique the Tibetan studies approach to Ladakh.
4 Western scholars who largely ignore or misrecognize nuns in their accounts of
Buddhism in Kashmir include Crook and Osmaston (1994: 804,674), Dendaletche (1985),
Dargyay (1980, 1987, 1988), Dollfus (1989), Friedl (1983), Kaplanian (1981), Petech
(1977, 1998), Schuh (1976, 1983), Snellgrove and Skorupski (1980). Local historians who
ignore nunneries include: Gergan (1976), Tsering (1979), Paldan (1982), Shakspo (1988a,
1988b, 1993), Zodpa and Skakspo (1979). Scholars who detail the situation of nuns in
Kashmir include Green (1997), Grimshaw (1983a, 1983b, 1992), Gutschow (1998, 1997a,
2000a, 2000b, 2001), and Reis (1983).
190 KIM GUTS CHOW
out half of humanity, gonpa overlooks a substantial portion of Zangskar' s
monastic institutions, namely nunneries.
The remarkable absence of nuns in the literature on Buddhism in
Kashmir is due to what one might call a category failure. The scholars
who ignored and misrecognized nuns, did so out of oversight as much as
oblivion. Some failed to see nuns right in front of their eyes because they
held a narrow doctrinal image of what a nun ought to resemble. Schol-
ars were perplexed by nuns, often not in robes, who worked side by side
with laywomen in the fields. Those scholars who do mention nuns often
described them in degraded terms as widows, divorcees, single mothers,
or unhappy woman who could not find a husband, probably because they
had been speaking to female renunciants not nuns
5
.
Much of the misrecognition of nuns was due to the confusion between
ordained nuns and female renunciants, due to their misunderstanding
of the local vernacular. In local idiom, ordained novices and female
renunciants are referred to by the same name: jo rno, although the lat-
ter are also referred to more specifically as household nuns' (grong pa'i
jo rno)6. Urban elites rarely use the honorific Tibetan term for female
novices, Getsulma (dge tshul rna), although male novices are usually
called by the honorific term, Getsul. Yet the distinction between the
two roles is clear in local ritual and religious terms. Female renunciants
may take up five precepts - not to kill, steal, lie, commit sexual mis-
conduct, or take intoxicants - and shave their head, but they have no
formal ritual roles in village life. By contrast, ordained nuns undergo a
lengthy ritual apprenticeship and several rites of passage which prepare
them to be members of the monastic assembly (dge bdun, samgha) and
train them in the rituals required at household and village wide events.
5 Lopez's (1998:211) critical deconstruction of Tibetan Buddhism repeats the com-
mon tropes about nuns when it notes, "Unmarried daughters often became nuns (some-
times remaining at home). Other women became nuns to escape a bad marriage, to avoid
pregnancy, or after the death of a spouse." In contrast to this stereotype, not one of the
120 nuns I have interviewed in Kashmir over the last decade was divorced or a single
mother, and only one was a widow.
6 Compare Klein's (1985) description of unordained and unmarried women ineastem
Tibet known as ka rna, who dressed like Buddhist nuns and could join the circle of monks'
tents in order to concentrate on religious practices. Ortner (1989, 1996: 119) also describes
unordained women ('khor ba) or 'peripheral ones', who are afffiliated with Sherpa nun-
neries in N epa!.
While ordained novices exemplify the intellectual and spiritual elite of
their society. By contrast, female renunciants may be the object of
derogatory epithets like 'self-willed woman' (mo rang mo) and proverbs
like, "a woman without a husband is like a stable without a door" (bang
ra sgo med, bu mo mag med).
Residential and labor arrangements also contributed to the confusion
between ordained nuns, renunciants, and laywomen. All of these women
perform domestic and agricultural chores on their family estates. While
ordained nuns have a room of their own at their monastic compound, they
may live temporarily in the village during busy agricultural seasons or
caring for their aged parents. Monks, on the other hand, forgo many of
their parental obligations when they join a monastic community, espe-
cially as they are sent throughout the monastery domain as village level
ritual officiants. Institutional poverty and lack of ritual earnings forces
nuns to work on their family farms in exchange for their daily subsis-
tence. Monks earn their living from vast landed endowments and daily
earnings performing rituals and religious services at the household and
village level. Let us consider tum to how nuns reach the nunnery in the
first place.
The Ritual Passage to the Nunnery
The life of an individual in any society is a series of passages from one age
to another and from one occupation to another. .. For every one of these
events there are ceremonies whose essential purpose is to enable the indi-
vidual to pass from one defmed position to another which is equally well
defined
7

The three critical rites along the path to full nunhood - tonsure, ordi-
nation, and taking a seat at the nunnery - neatly parallel Arnold Van
Gennep's and Victor Turner's classic schema of separation, transition,
and reintegration. Tonsure separates a young girl from a licentious and
libidinous adolescence. Ordination emphasizes the transition from fer-
tility to celibacy, and from worldliness to asceticism. Finally member-
ship in the nunnery marks a certain reintegration as a nun moves into
7 Van Gennep (1960: 2-3).
192 KllvI GUTS CHOW
a formal monastic fellowshipS. The order of the second and third stages
can be reversed as a nun joins the nunnery before ordination, as a pro-
bationer. In this case, her probationary status substitutes for ordination
and indicates her acceptance of celibacy and asceticism. Each of these
three rites of passage moves a woman irrevocably from one state or
stage of life to another. Shaving one's head, adopting robes and vows,
and finally joining a religious community for ritual work and study
move a woman from one recognized social status to the next The rites
which make a woman into a nun are not simply ceremonial rites which
affirm a certain status, but are deeply transformative rites. Although a
woman may abandon her vows and robes, she cannot return to her orig-
inal status as a laywoman and is ineligible to rejoin the monastic order
in this lifetime.
Apprenticeship and Tonsure
Although first tonsure marks a ritual moment when a young girl first
takes vows of celibacy, she will have been marked for the nun's life years
before. When and if a set of parents decide that their daughter is to become
a nun, she begins to dress and wear her hair more like a boy than a girl.
They will request a distant relative who lives at a nunnery or monastery
to accept their daughter as a servant for a winter or two. Most nuns recall
these apprenticeships as times of nurturing and care, as kindly old nuns
taught them their first letters and textual recitations, stanza by stanza. The
teacher and apprentice relation at the nunnery is meant for the most basic
literacy requirements, while philosophical explanation is given mainly by
monks. Most apprentices spend little time studying, but more time work-
ing as servant for their teachers. They may spend several dreary winters
performing menial tasks such as fetching water from the streambed, wash-
ing dishes, and cleaning their teacher's monastic cell. They begin to
participate in the most quotidian aspects of monastic life - attending
daily assemblies, hauling water and firewood, and other collective works.
8 Compare Lynn Denton's (1991) description of Indian renunciates (Sannyiisinf) in
Banaras who go through three stages - rejection of householder life, commitment to a
particular path of salvation, and entry into a community of aspirants.
While their teachers go to the village and work, they may be required to
remain reading aIid memorizing texts from dawn to dusk. They will be
pampered by their tutors at the nunnery whose maternal energies belie an
eagerness for new recruits.
The youthful initiate who takes tonsure may be known as arab 'byung
rna (S. anagiirikii) literally, "one who has gone forth fully."9 This term
harkens back to the original meaning of renunciation as going forth into
homelessness. More colloquially, she is called a Genyen, (dge bsnyen
ma, upiisikii) or "virtuous devotee." Both tonsured initiates and laypeo-
pIe may take up the same five precepts - avoiding killing, lying, steal-
ing, sexual misconduct, and intoxicants - albeit in rather different ritual
contexts. When Iaypeople fake up these five precepts, usually in the con-
text of a Tantric empowerment (dbang)., they neither shave their heads
nor adopt celibacy, as tonsured initiates do. While both laypeople and
tonsured initiates repeat the same words, when they vow to "cast off
impure actions" (mi tshang spyod spong ba), these words have different
meanings depending on the ritual context. In general, laypeople are not
renouncing the world in the same way that future monastics are. While
laypeople easily commit themselves to the five precepts, they break them
just as quickly - in many cases as soon as the empowerment. is over and
the drinking parties begin. For Iaypeople, taking five precepts signals an
intention to be virtuous rather than virtue itself. Indeed, lay precept hold-
ers are classed into six types (dge bsnyen drug) depending on how many
and how strictly the five precepts are held. Strictly speaking, the tonsured
candidate should be called tshangs spyod dge bsnyen, or chaste devotee.
Yet Genyen is also a shorthand for laypeople who observe a ritual absten-
tion (bsnyen gnas) that involves taking eight vows for a single day 10.
Such ritual vows, which can be held by either Iaypeople or monastics
9 Rab 'byung rna is a condensation of rab tu 'byung ba which derives from rab tu
(thoroughly, fully) and 'byung ba (go forth, set out). While dge bsnyen rna has been defuied
by Das (1902: 270,511) as "Buddhist devotee"; the term derives from dge ba (virtue)
and bsnyen ba (to receive, admit, worship, or approach).
10 While the two terms, bsnyen gnas and srnyung gnas, sound similar and are often
mistaken, Gutschow (1998, ms) has clarified the entire ritual process of the fasting rite.
The eight precepts held during bsnyen gnas include: (1) not killing, (2) not lying, (3) not
stealing, (4) not commiting sexual misconduct, (5) not taking intoxicants, (6) not singing
and dancing, (7) not eating after noon, and (8) not using a high or luxurious seat or bed.
194 KIM GUTS CHOW
may be held on alternate days during a popular Tibetan fasting rite known
as Nyungnas (smyung gnas).
Girls with strong religious inclinations may undergo tonsure without
their parents' permission or much formal training. Because most
questions asked at the tonsure ceremony are asked in the negative, the
candidate is asked to speak up if she knows anyone who objects to her
taking tonsure. If she has not told her parents, she does not know if
they have any objections, strictly speaking. While it is possible to take
tonsure without the explicit blessing of one's parents, the initiate requires
the tacit acceptance and instruction of at least one monastic in their
community. Only monks perform the tonsure rite in Zangskar, although
high ranking nuns once performed it in Tibet before 1959
11
. A quorum
of monks is not required, but the officiant must be a fully ordained
monk (dge slong) who can transmute the rite's latent sexual imagery into
a purified Buddhist offering (mchod pa). When an initiate requests the
monk to shave her head, she may offer him a blessing scarf, some
money, or simply some butter for the lamps honoring the local guardian
deities. She then undergoes a ritual cleansing ceremony (khrus) in which
she is cleansed of the mental defilements (sgrib) that may have accu-
mulated through her inadvertent actions or ignorance. She will make
merit simply by offering her body to the path of renunciation which
was the Buddha's main legacy.
The Symbolic Significance of Hair
To cut the hair is to separate oneself from the previous world; to dedicate
the hair is to bend oneself to the sacred world ...
12

Although the ritual moment of tonsure happens quickly, its consequences
and significance are deep and lasting. Tonsure signals a lifelong intention
to remain celibate and reject the call of sexual desire. The initiate is trans-
formed from a potentially fertile and sexual woman into a voluntarily
infertile and somewhat asexual woman. At the same time it is a form
of disciplinary control by which the apprentice is brought under the
11 Havnevik (1998) reports that nuns may administer hair-cutting rites in Tibet.
12 Van Gennep, 1960: 166.
monastic gaze. Over the next few years, the initiate comes under proba-
tion as her parents and her tutors at the nunnery consider whether if she
has sufficient inclination for the spiritual life.
Hair is a potent symbol of sexuality; its removal signifies a turning
away from feminity and fecundity. When a young woman shaves off her
braids whose length and glossiness are considered to index her fertility,
their absence is mourned inwardly but not publicly. Braiding the hair is
one of those events that bond young agemates. Yet unlike brides, who cry
hysterically for up to three days before their wedding night, nuns have
pointedly told me that they do not cry when their heads are first shaven.
The recognition that monasticism will free them from marriage makes
tonsure a liberating if not joyful experience for most nuns I interviewed.
The actual cutting of hair (skra phud phuT) has both symbolic and peda-
gogic import in Zangskar as elsewhere in the Buddhist world. As a sacred
substance associated with one of the most sacred parts of the body,
the head, shorn hair is also associated with a person's luck (spar kha).
In order to avoid anyone stepping on the shorn hair and thereby destroy-
ing one's luck, a nun shoves the shorn hair into the chinks of her cell or
hides it under a rock
13

Unlike in Sri Lanka, where hair is used as vehicle for meditation upon
impermanence, in Zangskar, tonsure is a means to reflect upon the renun-
ciation of desire. There have been many interpretations of the symbolic
significance of shaving the head. While some scholars have placed ton-
sure under the rubric of "ceremonial mutilation," along with circumci-
sion, blood-letting, and cutting off finger joints, others have seen a link
between tonsure and castration
14
The Freudian analysis is somewhat
reductionist and does not account for the Buddhist emphasis on
13 The Sherpas in Nepal toss hair, old clothes, and amulets into trees, so that nobody
steps over them, as Adams (1999) notes. The concept that one's luck (spar kha) resides in
physical substances like hair or clothes is related to the Indian notion of bodily substances
which are transacted between individuals as Marriot (1989, 1991) notes. Van Gennep
(1960: 166) describes that in most tonsure rites, the shorn hair may be "buried, burned,
saved in a sachet, or placed in a relative's keeping," because it is associated with aspects
of personality.
14 Scholars who discuss the symbolic import of hair include Ty10r (1873), Berg (1951),
Leach (1958), Hershman (1974), Obeyesekere (1981), Lang (1995), and Elberg-Schwartz
and Doniger (1995).
196 KIM GUTS CHOW
liberation rather than castration. Hallpike (1969) has analyzed tonsure
as a form of disciplinary control by which individuals are brought
under institutional control, noting that monks, soldiers, and convicts
all wear shorn hair. Yet the cultural significance of hair and its removal
may vary considerably. In the Indian context alone, tonsure signifies
mourning for Rajput Hindus, unacceptable renunciation for Punjabi
Sikhs, and lifelong monasticism for Zangskari Buddhists. For both
Buddhist and Catholic nuns, hair expresses a dangerous female sexual-
ity. Yet the Buddhist aims to sever desire at the root while the Catholic
tradition attempts to repress it into oblivion. While tonsure signals total
severance from the worldly life in the Theravadin context, there is
much more fluidity between the householder and ascetic realms in
Zangskar.
Tonsure and Androgyny
The liminal is neither this nor that and yet it is both ... Liminal entities are
neither here nor there; they are betwixt and between
15

In Zangskar, tonsured girls who have not yet taken ordination remain at
home working on the family estate. These apprentice nuns participate
fully in village life and owe their primary obligations to their household,
even as they begin to apprentice themselves to the nunnery and apply
themselves to the study of Buddhist texts. While such apprentices may
continue to slip in and out of their obligations to the village and the nun-
nery, they know they are pledged to a life of renunciation. Even if their
parents delay their ordination in order to keep them at home for chores,
further renunciation awaits inevitably.
They cannot wear monastic robes but begin to abandon certain mark-
ers of femininity. They may wear the upper shawl (gzan gas) which all
nuns must wear at monastic functions even though they cannot wear
full robes until ordination. Rather than the plump and pleated dresses
with the embroidered triangles of red and green and the swishing
tie-dye shawl (ling zed) which every Zangskari girl owns, they don a
boyish coat (gon ehe). Their ears and necks no longer drip with corrals,
15 V. Turner (1967: 99, 1969: 95) describes the ambiguity of the liminal state.
turquoises, and pearls which mother's give to their daughters at an early
age. Their boyish clothes and close cropped hair signal a liminal status
betwixt and between genders. They are both girls and not girls.
They may perform the same chores as their girlfriends, but they are no
longer marked for marriage and maternity. They may still go to the
water pipe to fetch water for her mother, but they may no longer flirt
and gossip. Although their five precepts do not prevent them from
attending the biannual parties (chang dud) of their village agemates,
they must keep a restrained etiquette. They may serve but not drink the
barley beer; they may play the drum but not sing or dance the romatic
songs which they have memorized since youth. They may stay at these
parties for days and nights, but cannot sneak off for a secret tryst in the
village fields as the other girls do. They will watch as romances are
kindled and then quickly smothered by parents busily negotiating mar-
riages on behalf of their daughters. Over the next years, they learn to
be nuns by unlearning the feminine graces they have up to
this point. They must maintain an inward purity (gtsang rna) in the midst
of the worldly dramas which unfold around her and in which they can
play little part.
The initiate is separated from her agemates intellectually, as she
begins to study classical Tibetan and the initial ritual texts that every
nun must learn. She must show special aptitude for mastering the gram-
mar and syntax of an archaic language she neither speaks nor under-
stands, as the West Tibetan dialect spoken in Zangskar differs markedly
from the classical Tibetan of religious texts. She begins to memorize
texts whose esoteric meanings may only become clear after many years
of practice and study16. By the time she takes novice ordination, she
will have begun to study many of the prayers she will have to recite or
read every day after she joins the monastic assembly (i.e. rGyaZ sras [hag
16 Such texts may include the Diamond Sutra (rDo rje rnchod pa), Heart Sutra (Shes
rab snying po), and Offering to the Lama (bLa rna rnchod pa) as well as a local text known
as The Jewel of Essential Teachings [in] Zangskar (Zangs dkar bslab bya snying gi nor
bu which was authored by Gra sgom Rin po che (1992). It includes prayers for the long
life of the Dalai Lama, Panchen Lama, Ngari Rinpoche, and other venerated Zangskari
teachers. The other texts are famous examples of Buddhist literature, translated by Lopez
(1996, 1997), Conze (1954), Dalai Lama (1998), and Berzin (1979).
198 KIM GUTS CHOW
len, 'Dus 'khor smon lam, Phyag drug pa'i stod pa, Phul 'byung ma,
Tshe med yon tan). More importantly, she begins"to imitate her teacher's
daily devotions and religious meditations. Every night and morning, she
goes to her teacher's chapel, where she will learn to light a butter lamp,
ftll and empty the seven offering bowls with water from left to right,
and perform a perfunctory set of three prostrations. These habitual prac-
tices will become involuntary by the time she learns to dedicate the
merit earned thereby towards all sentient beings with the- 'mind of
enlightenment or 'Bodhicitta'.
The apprentice nun will also take a more active role in the commu-
nal chores at the nunnery, helping the cook prepare the daily service of
butter tea and going to the roof to bring down huge bushels of prickly
thorn that serve as fuel in the monastic hearth. She may be sent to the
mountainside to collect dung and thistles for fuel or to limestone deposits
high up the scree slopes above the village where chalk is gathered before
whitewashing the nunnery compound and religious reliquaries (mchod
rten) each year. She will be asked to lug huge cans of water from
the frozen streambed after chopping a hole in the ice all winter and to
attend the springtime work parties where the monastic grounds are
repaired after the rigors of winter. In short, she will learn the multitude
of chores which attend a communal living arrangement of twenty
women. By the time she joins the nunnery, the seasonal cycle of mun-
dane duties will be all too familiar, leaving her free to focus on more
esoteric knowledges.
Novice Ordination: A Ritual and its Aftermath
Ordination as a novice (dge tshul ma) is the moment when a woman
dedicates her life to the monastic discipline she has been learning to
embody. The ordination ceremony prepares her to take up full member-
ship at the nunnery as it severs her from her lay friends in the village.
Until this moment her vows have been temporary, yet through ordina-
tion they become permanent. Unlike in the Theravadin tradition where
young men come and go from the monastery, in the Tibetan tradition
ordination is an irreversible rite which cannot be undone in this lifetime.
Even if when novices abandons their vows, they can never rejoin the
monastic order in this lifetime I? Although the Vinaya dictates that nuns
be ordained twice, first by monks and then by nuns, there is no quorum
of fully ordained nuns in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition qualified to act
as officiants. As a result, most nuns in the Tibetan tradition are ordained
in generic ceremonies open to nuns and monks. While nuns have begun
taking ordination from Taiwanese and Korean nuns, the validity of these
ordinations is not yet clear. 18 Because it is difficult to find senior monks
willing and able to perform such ordinations, nuns may wait years or have
to travel on lengthy pilgrimages to find a place in an ordination ceremony.
There have been few frrst hand accounts of an ordination ritual in Tibetan
Buddhism, because lay observers are excluded from this rite unlike in
the Theravada tradition. The translations and comparisons of the
precepts held by fully ordained nuns have added philological depth to our
understanding of how the Vinaya varies across sects but little in the way
of thick description of the ordination rituaP9. My account relies on
several first person accounts of novice ordination ceremonies held in
Kashmir.
17 A liturgy for the full ordination rite from the Dharmagupta lineage notes that a
monastic who commits one of the Four Root Downfalls (S. Parajika) is like "a man who
having his head cut off cannot come to life; a tree with dead root cannot be alive again;
a needle cannot be used without a head; nor a broken rock can come back to its original
shape anymore." Thanks to Sarah Levine for supplying this m.s ..
18 The debate about re-establishing the full ordination tradition in South Asia is discussed
in Bartholomeusz (1992, 1994), Gombrich and Obeyesekere (1,988), Tsomo (1988, 1996).
Tsomo (1996) reports that there are over one hundred western women who have taken ordi-
nation from Dharmagupta lineage holders in the last decade.
19 Gutschow (1998, 2000a) relies on interviews with nuns for the only fIrst hand descrip-
tions of novice ordination for nuns in the Tibetan tradition. Li (2000) describes Thurman
(1995: 128-14) has translates Tibetan ordination manuals, Dagpa, Tsering, and Chophel
(1975) describe the vows and discipline held by male novices in the Tibetan tradition, and
Tsering and Russell (1986) describe the vows held by female precept holders, novices, and
probationers. Heirman (1997) translates the novice, probationary, and full ordination vows
held by nuns in the Dharmagupta tradition from a Chinese text. Hirakawa (1982), Roth
(1970), Kabilsingh (1985, 1998), and Tsomo (1998) translate the Bhiksuni Pratimoksha
using Sanskrit, . Chinese, and Pali sources. For the Theravadin tradition, compare
Bartholomeusz' (1994) illustration of an ordination ceremony for female renunciates (dasa
sil mata) and Salgado's (1996) description of the education of renunciates in Sri Lanka.
Tambiah (1968, 1985) and Spiro (1982: 234-54) have sketched Theravadin ordination rites
for monks, which lay observers are invited to attend, unlike the Mahayana ceremonies
which are closed to laypeople.
200
KIM GUTS CHOW
On the day of the ordination, a nun washes her body 'and has her head
freshly ShOID. She may wear the robes and carry the monastic seating rug
(gding ba) which she may have borrowed from relatives at the monastery.
In border regions such as Tibet, a quorum of six fully ordained monks
including the preceptor (mnga' ba) is required to officiated an ordina-
tion. After a ritual purification (khrus) using blessed saffron water stored
inside a sacred vessel (bum pa), candidates receive a brief teaching on
the novice precepts. The candidates are asked to repent the innumerable
transgressions they have committed in this and previous lifetimes. The pre-
ceptor then asks the initiates a series of questions to determine their qual-
ifications for ordination
2o
The questions are read out and silence indicated
assent. The candidates were required to be beholden to neither spouse
nor king, to be neither slave nor concubine, neither demon nor deity,
but free and fully human. Interestingly, they are not questioned about
their motivation, education, previous occupation, or family background.
The Buddha allowed lower caste women, dissatisfied wives, and even
ex-prostitutes to join the order. Yet even today, women from the lowest
caste (rigs ngan) are excluded from ordination in Zangskar. As one nun
put it pithily, "If the blacksmith sits at the head of the row as chantmas-
ter, where will we sit?" In other words, it was impossible for her to imag-
ine a blacksmith sitting in a monastic assembly because they would be
ignoring the seating orders which obtain in Kashmir and elswhere in the
Indian and Nepalese Himalaya.
Before the close of the ritual, the candidates for ordination are
called up in front of the officiant and preceptor to answer the last two
20 An ordination manual from the Dharmagupta lineage lists the following 13 major
obstacles: (1) having cornmitted one of the Four Root Downfalls, (2) having defiled a
nun, (3) having received precepts through deceit, (4) apostasy, (5) being not fully female,
(6) having committed patricide, (7) having committed matricide, (8) having killed an Arhat,
(9) having caused a schism in the Sangha, (10) having shed the blood of the Buddha,
(11) being non-human, (12) being an animal, and (13) not having proper male and female
characteristics. The ten minor hindrances are: (1) not knowing one's name, (2) not know-
ing the name of one's proposer, (3) being under the age of 20, (4) not having the three robes
and an almsbowl, (5) the disapproval of ones mother or father, (6) being in debt, (7) being
a slave, (8) holding a government post, (9) having neither male nor female characteristics,
(10) having one of the five sicknesses (leprosy, epilepsy, retardation, exzema, and manic
depression). Compare Homer's (1930: 140-51) list of ten minor obstructions for the Pali
canon and Wijayaratna (1990: 120-21).
questions - their name and the name of their preceptor. The candidates
offer their blessing scarves on the officiant's throne and placed a small
handful of sweetened barley dough and sweet rice ('bras siT) into the
replica of the Buddha's begging bowl. The candidates then placed one
hand on top of the begging bowl and one below the begging bowl, around
the shaft of the ritual staff (mkhar gsil) to consecrate the initiates
21
.
He gave each candidate his blessing (byin labs) by pinching the three
types of sacred robes they were wearing - the gzan gos, sham thabs, and
chos gos - between his fingers and reciting a brief prayer22. As one
monk explained, when the officiant pinches or may even tie his own robes
to the new novice's robes, he is symbolizing the unbroken lineage of the
Buddha's teachings which the monastic disciplirIe represents. The cere-
mony is concluded when the candidate return to their seats and recite the
vows that all novices are bound to observe, after the officiant
23
.
Ordination, Liminality, and Discipline
It is as though [initiates] are being reduced or ground down to a uniform con-
dition to be fashioned anew and endowed with additional powers to cope with
their new station in life
24
.
The ordination exemplifies both ritualliminality and bodily discipline as
described by both Turner (1969: 106) and Asad (1993). Ritual obedience
is expected, as are other key traits and practices: acceptance of pain and
suffering, simplicity, sacred instruction, silence, unselfishness, total
obedience (to the required sacred formula), sexlessness, anonymity,
21 Das (1902: 143) relates this ritual staff which is used by priests during the dedica-
tion of merit (sngo ba) during alms gathering with a close cognate, khar gsel, "the trident
carried by mendicants of the sngags kyi theg pa Tantrik school." The trident is a symbol
of Vishnu, one of whose epithets is khar sa pa ni in Tibetan. Waddell (1895: 211) shows
a drawing of this ritual staff.
22 Tsomo (1996: 163-4) describes the necessity of blessing of the robes.
23 In the Miilasarvastiva:din canon, novice vows are listed in an abbreviated version of
ten vows or the full list of 36 vows. The abbreviated list is similar to the ten precepts held
by female renunciates (Dasa sil mata) in Sri Lanka and the eight or ten precepts held by
renunciates (Thila shin) in Burma. In the Dharmagupta tradition, novices also take the
Boddhisattva vow during their ordination ceremony, while Tibetan novices take this vow
in the course of Tantric initiations.
24 Turner, 1969: 95.
202 KTh1 GUTS CHOW
homogeneity, equality, uniform clothing, disregard for personal appear-
ance and wealth, suspension of kinship rights, and mystical powers.
Initiates must remain silent as the questions concerning disqualification
are read out, for silence indicates assent and thereby qualification for the
monastic vocation. They are accepting pain and suffering as they take
vows to fast, maintain lifelong celibacy, and eschew any romantic or sen-
timental attachments to members of the opposite sex. Total obedience is
enjoined, as the officiant explains the vows and their meaning. To break
anyone of the vows even in thought is equivalent to a breach of contract,
while breaking one of the four root vows (rtsa [hung bzhi) involves imme-
diate expulsion from the monastic order. Anonymity and sexlessness are
expressed by the uniform maroon robes. The initiates are enjoined to dis-
regard personal vanity and wealth as several of their 36 novice vows
expressly forbid adornments, makeup, body-paint, perfume, saffron, and
flowers, as well as gold and silver.
When the head officiant calls the novices in front of him to bless the
robes, he reminds them of the ritual sanctity and significance of the vows
they are about to take. The act of repeating the vows after him is a per-
formative act, in which saying is doing, as Tambiah (1985) calling on
Austin (1962) notes. During the rite, the novices receive sacred instruc-
tion and sacra - vows and robes - which have been forbidden up until
this moment. Although a novice receives instructions about the form and
flow of the rite, ordination may the first time she recites the 36 novice
vows. In the heightened state of ordination, their reading cannot but have
a lasting effect. As Leach (1966) suggests, ritual is an information stor-
age system, in which highly condensed forms of knowledge are trans-
mitted to the next generation of practitioners. In Tibetan Buddhism, rit-
ual operates as a condensed information storage system par excellence,
as the most esoteric and secret forms of knowledge are only transmitted
orally from teacher to pupil. This method allows the teacher to evaluate
if the student is ready to receive the ritual information, in short, if they
have completed the necessary meditations and other austerities. Students
of Tantra may only be permitted to study advanced texts or visualization
techniques after having received the oral explanation (lung bstan) of the
text or practice from a qualified teacher. This practice ensured that male
teachers controlled the most esoteric ritual practices and knowledges,
while disciplining the student's bodies and minds in the period of appren-
ticeship.
Joining the Monastic Assembly
Ordination ushers in a monastic discipline which demands perseverance
and precocity. Most nuns try to join the assembly of nunS as soon as pos-
sible after becoming ordained, although they may also reverse these two
stages of the ritual process and ordain later due to a lack of ordination cer-
emonies being held in remote Zangskar. The process of joining the nun-
nery, or in colloquial idiom, 'dwelling on the cliff' (ri la bzhugs byes)
involves petitioning the abbot with a thermos of butter tea and a blessing
scarf, a procedural formality. Although the parents and prospective nun
are nervous, the community of nuns and their abbot usually welcomes new
members. Although any nun who objects to a petitioner's entrance to the
monastic community may register her doubts, objections are rare. There
is no entrance examination nor even a set of ritual practices which must
be mastered by this time. Yet the years of apprenticeship at the nunnery
have given the other nuns enough opportunities to judge a prospective
nun's dedication and potential. On a day specified in advance, the prospec-
tive nun and her parents come to the nunnery bearing butter, salt, a bas-
ket of breads for the assembly of nuns, and enough money to make
a small donation to the assembly. The prospective nun will help the cook
make the tea before she is ushered into the assembly hall with her
parents.
After prostrating three times to the altar, the prospective nun places
offers blessing scarves before taking her place at the end of the seating
order of nuns, in her new role as the junior most member of the assem-
bly. Her parents, as lay people, are accommodated on separate cushions
laid out against the rear wall of the hall. When tea and breads are served
to each nun, the parents must refuse vociferously, although they may
drink a single cup of tea out of politeness. This initial "Vinaya tea" (' dul
ja) symbolizes the new nun's formal entrance into the assembly of nuns.
The play of exchange continues to unfold. After removing a wad of small
notes, the parents ask one of the nuns serving the tea to distribute a small
monetary donation ('gyed) to each nun. The abbot replies with a short
204 KIM GUTS CHOW
speech of thanks. The parents then receive blessing scarves and a bless-
ing cord from the head nun on behalf of the entire assembly. As thanks
for receiving a new member, the parents are given a small payment called
stong deb of 14 RS25. The sum is a symbolic replacement for the daugh-
ter they have lost. When the parents feel it is appropriate, they leave the
hall and retire to the guest room where they can drink: more tea in com-
fort. They may move to the private rooms of an elderly nun who was their
daughter's tutor or instructor, where they host a small party for friends
and relatives. Until they build a cell for their daugher, she may continue
to live with her tutor, while learning the rules of life at the nunnery.
After she joins the monastic assembly, a nun is expected to complete
the memorization of all essential texts which are recited during the
monthly and annual ritual sessions or festivals. Villagers occasionally
request nuns to perfonn incidental rituals such as prayers for the deceased,
the ill, blessings for ajoumey, and the removal of obstacles. Unlike monks
who make a living perfonning expiatory and propitiatory rituals, nuns
are usually only called into local households for two life cycle rites, wed-
dings and funerals. Yet even at these two rituals, monks dominate the rit-
ual process. While both assemblies (sarhghas) of nuns and monks are
invited to chant at funerals, only monks are permitted to perform the rit-
ual transfer of the body from this world to the next (cho ga) until the cre-
mation, which again is only officiated by monks. At weddings, only monks
may conduct the bride's ritual transference (gyang 'gugs) from her natal
clan to her husband's clan as well as the ritual destruction of the effigy
(zor) which prevents demons (rgyab 'dre) and malicious gossip (gnod
pa, mi kha) from following her to her new husband's home. Nuns also
attend several village festivals like the springtime ancestor ritual (rgyas
tsha) and the circumambulation of the fields ('bum skor). At the fIrst rite,
while both assemblies make merit for the deceased, only monks officiate
the construction and consecration of tiny votive chorten (tsha tsha) which
symbolize the bodies of the deceased. At the springtime circumambula-
tion ('bum skor), both assemblies are called to read the Prajnaparamita,.
25 French (1995: 110-14) offers a fascinating discussion of the concept of death pay-
ments, also known as stong, which are compensation payments to the family or relatives
of a person who has been murdered. French (m.s.) presents a more detailed discussion of
the sixth section of the dGa' ldan Pho brang Law Code.
but monks perform the ritual ablutions (khrus) which cleanse the crops
and village space:
Once she joins the assembly, a nun is expected to take up a number of
ritual offices which rotate among the member nuns according to senior-
ity. Each nun serves as conch blower (dung rna), ritual assistant (chos
g.yog), sacristan (dkon gnyer), assistant chant master (dbu chung), and
chant master (dbu mdzad) which doubles as head nun. Each of these posi-
tions involve a three-year tenure, except that of sacristan. The office of
ritual assistant carries the responsibility for making all of the dough and
butter sculptures, as well as offering cakes, and other aspects of the rit-
ual altar for any and all rites performed in the nunnery. During her tenure
she cannot stray far from the nunnery, although there are two nuns who
fill this post and substitute for each other when one is busy with village
work. The main ingredients of these sculptures (butter, roasted barley
flour, milk, beer, buttermilk, yogurt, saffron and other ritual spices) are
provided by the sponsoring villager. While the food items are provided
by the sponsor, the ritual assistant herself must procure the powders or
special spices (such as bzang drug) necessary for esoteric rites. She also
serves as caretaker for all of the nunnery's ritual items: the colored
powders for dying butter sculptures, the wooden relief block and orange-
powder used to create a Mandala dedicated to the nunnery's protective
deity, plates for tossing gtor ma, butter lamps and offering bowls, and
other assorted tools necessary for setting up the ritual altars. The sac-
ristan or door-keeper must go at dawn and dusk to the assembly hall to
light and later refill butter lamps, to fill and empty offering bowls, and
to offer a litany of sounds and smells to the protective spirits - juniper
incense, a ritual shake of the bell (dril buy, the hand drum (cang te'u), and
a quick crescendo of beats on large drum (rnga).
The most important post at Karsha nunnery is that of chant master (dbu
mdzad) or head nun. Every nun must take her turn in this position, after
she has completed all the other positions at the nunnery. For three years
prior to being head nun, she apprentices herself as assistant chant master
(dbu chung) as she memorizes the chants and other rules of nunnery life.
By the time the three years are up, she will have memorized nearly
20 hours worth of ritual texts which she can recite on call. In Zangskar,
the head nun does more than lead the assembly rituals, she is a CEO,
206 KIM GUTS CHOW
principal shareholder, and office manager of the nuns' corporation
26
.
She is in charge of the nunnery's finances, resources, works andproj-
ects, ritual calendar, and annual investments and expenditures. She must
keep track of every Rupee that goes in or out of the monastic coffers as
well as record the manner in which it was spent. When necessary, she .even
cooks the tea and prepares the meal requested by a donor sponsoring a
rite, before leading the necessary chants at the same rite. She is the unof-
ficial arbitrator of all internal politics and complaints registered by her fel-
low nuns. However, at most nunneries, the ultimate adjudication of dis-
putes as well as any disciplinary measures are decided by the abbot or a
unanimous vote of the nunnery assembly (dge 'dun).
Every nun who is a member of the assembly owes a certain amount
of labor as well as material resources to the collective, which cover the
operating costs of the nunnery as institution. At Karsha nunnery in
Zangskar for instance, every nun under 60 years of age must bring four
to five loads of thistle wood and firewood, and two loads of dung. Every
nun is also required to attend between 20 and 30 collective work days,
announced by the head nun for maintenance chores. There is much work,
even at such a small institution. The nunnery path is repaired after win-
ter snowfall and avalanches. The nunnery buildings, walls, chorten, and
compound are repaired and whitewashed each spring. The willow grove
and gardens are weeded, watered, and tilled. The water pipe is disas-
sembled each fall before the first heavy frost and reinstalled each spring,
and the snow must be shoveled off the roofs of all the nunnery build-
ings, to prevent leaking and collapsed roofs. The nunnery compost toi-
let is emptied and the manure (mixed with ashes and earth) is carried to
the nunnery garden and fields. Until 1998 when the fields were share-
cropped to local villagers, the nuns were expected to provide a certain
amount of work on the nunnery's two fields, sowing the seeds, per-
forming the "first watering", weeding, harvesting, threshing, winnow-
ing, carrying the grain and chaff to the nunnery, and finally washing,
drying, and roasting the grain. Three nuns known as "field managers"
26 Tibetan nunneries in Dharmsala may have more variegated offices, including
treasurers, stewards, and other positions for handling the business side of the nunnery.
At most Zangskari nunneries, there are one or two stewards (gnyer pa) who handle the
foreign donations; however, the head nun must manage the local, Zangskari donations.
(zhing gi gnyer pa) were responsible for coordinating the agricultural
tasks throughout the summer.
Despite the drudgery of monastic work, monasticism still represent
modernity for many Zangskari women. The monastic vocation IS one
avenue of escape from lifelong drudgery as a housewife or mother in a
non-mechanized rural economy. The religious life remains a vocational
opportunity which offers women relative freedom to pursue study and
contemplation. Most Zangskari nuns have little access to secular or reli-
gious education, unlike Sri Lanka where a nuns enroll in state-sponsored
education before becoming school teachers or meditation trainers
27
Until
now, no single Zangskari nuns have become public teachers although
most senior nuns offer religious instruction through to their apprentices
or disciples. Foreign initiatives in the last decade established senior monks
(dge bshes) at two of Zangskar's nine nunneries, who were supposed to
teach dialectics following the Tibetan monastic curriculum. While the
foreign sponsors provided monthly stipends for these two venerable monks
without fail, the educational outcome was less than favorable. These well-
intentioned schemes simply did not take into account the tremendous
pressure the nuns face from their families and relatives to work at home.
There is also some local backlash as some nuns have privately sugp;ested
that these feminist initiatives expect too much too fast. Local villagers have
voiced incredulity at these efforts, and have mocked the nuns for study-
ing abstract philosophy. They have said that they will no longer need to
call nuns for funerals because what kind of soul would want to be guided
through the bardo by the cacaphony of dialectics? Yet for many young
women, the nunnery and its religious education remains the best oppor-
tunity for a career as well as the freedom to make merit single mindedly
in hopes of a better rebirth the next time around.
Aknowledgements
I would like to thank the nuns of Karsha and other nuns in Zangskar
for their infInite patience and boundless compassion, as well as more cups
27 According to Salgado (1996), 6% of Sri Lanka's 3000 female renunciates were
registered in state-sponsored religious training. Bartholomeusz (1994) describes the Bud-
dhist schools for girls established during the Buddhist revival in the late 19th century.
208
KIM GUTSCHOW
of tea than I can ever hope to repay in this lifetime. Deep thanks to
Michael Aris, to whom this article is dedicated, and also to Manduhai
Buyandelgeriyn, Erika Evas-Dottier, Arthur Kleinman, Sarah Levine,
Ashok Rai, Stanley Tambiah, Nur Yalman, and Jan Willis for helpful
conversations. Funding for research in Zangskar between 1991 and 1997
came from the Jacob Javitz Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and
Harvard's Department of Anthropology. Italics refer to Tibetan, using the
Wylie system of transliteration.
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THE FINANCES OF A TWENTIETH CENTURY
BUDDIDST MISSION:
Building Support for the Theraviida Nuns' Order of Nepal
SARAH LEVINE*
The giving and receiving of donations (dana) is a reciprocal exchange between
the lay and monastic communities by which both stand to profit. In return
for their donations, by which they demonstrate and cultivate attitudes of non-
attachment to material goods and interest in the welfare of others, Buddhist lay
people look to generate spiritual merit to earn them health and prosperity in this
life and a good rebirth. Since ancient times dana has provided Buddhist monks
and nuns with food, clothing, and shelter in return for which they have been
charged, with serving the world as exemplars of renunciation, practitioners of
meditation, and performers of ritual 1. Nuns however, who, by virtue of their gen-
der, are viewed by donors as a "lesser field of merit", now, as in the past, are
at a significant economic 4isadvantage relative to monks
2
This is especially the
case for Theravada Buddhist nuns in Nepal where the Theravada tradition is
rather recently established. Although there is inscriptional evidence for the exis-
tence of Buddhist nuns in Kathmandu and Patan from the fifth through the
eleventh century, the likelihood is that they belonged to the Miilasarvastivadin
school
3
In any event, there is no record of the existence of Theravada nuns in
the Kathmandu Valley, "Nepal" of pre-modern times, before 1931. This paper
looks at how, over seven decades (1931-2000), Nepalese nuns have struggled
to create a viable economic base.
Introduction
Theraviida Buddhism in its "modernist" or "Protestant" form reached
Nepal in the 1920s when a handful of Newar men brought the "good
* Harvard University
1 T. Lewis, 2000: 8.
2 See, T. Bartholomeusz, 1994: 191-194; M. L. Falk, 2000: 37-57; N. Falk, 1980:
207-224; H. Havnevik, 1989: 121-124; H. Kawanami, 1990, 1(1): 17-40; 2000: 159-171.
3 P. Ski.\fuIg, 1993/94, 29-49.
Journal of the International Association of B u d d h i ~ t Studies
218 SARAH LEVINE
news" back from India to the Kathmandu Valley4. Strongly critical of
the traditionallaicised form of Vajrayana Buddhism which they perceived
as elitest, esoteric, overly ritualistic, and largely irrelevant to the lives of
ordinary Buddhists, these young people had gone in search of an alter-
native. The Valley had provided a conduit for the transmission of
Buddhism to Tibet
5
and many Nepalese painters and image makers had
followed in the footsteps of the early missionary and translator monks to
work on Tibetan monasteries
6
Since the Second Conversion; Tibetan
lamas had maintained a continuous presence at Valley stiipas and other
sacred sites; meanwhile, by gradual increments Newar Buddhist mer-
chants had come to dominate the trans-Himalayan trade and thus had had
significant exposure to Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet itself as well as in the
Valley? Not surprisingly, a few of these young Newar "seekers", after
receiving teachings from Tibetan lamas at the great stiipa of Svayambhu,
went north to Tibet, took ordination and spent time in monasteries in
Lhasa and Shigatse
8
But then, dissatisfied with the teaching and practices
to which they were exposed there, they travelled south again to India
where, at Kushinagar, Sarnath and Bodh Gaya, they encountered Maha
Bodhi Society missionaries
9
They were convinced that their approach,
with its egalitarian emphasis and focus on teaching, preaching, and tex-
tual study, was what they had been searching for and, together with oth-
ers who had come directly to India from Nepal, they took Theravada ordi-
nation and came home to reform Newar BuddhismlD. What they had in
mind was to cleanse it of certain features such as castism and blood sac-
rifice, absorbed over the centuries from Hinduism; to focus on the figure
of ' the Buddha as Teacher in place of the complex Hindu-Buddhist
pantheon; to re-introduce monasticism which had vanished from Newar
4 The concept of Buddhist "modernism" was first formulated by H. Bechert (1967),
who described the ideological and organizational origins of the Buddhist revival movement
in Sri Lanka. G. Obeyesekere (1970) coined the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe
the same movement.
5 See A. Chattopadhayay, 1967; E. Obermiller, 1931; D. Snellgrove, 1957.
6 A. W. Macdonald and A. V. Stahl, 1979: 35.
7 T. Lewis, 1989 (38)31-57.
8 Mahapragya, 1983.
9 H. Bechert and I.-U. Hartmann, 1988(8)1-28.
10 R. Kloppenborg, 1977(4)301-322.
THE FINANCES OF A TWENTIETH CENTURY BUDDIDST MISSION 219
Buddhist monasteries in the middle ages wpen monks had married and,
following the Hindu model, metamorphosed into householder priests; and
to bring buddhadharma to every man and woman in their community.
Although they received ordination and some instruction from Maha Bodhi
missionaries who would continue to advise them from a distance for
decades, they brought their. mission to Kathmandu with nothing but their
robes, begging bowls and a few religious anthologies composed of selec-
tions from Pali texts translated into the Newari language. Unlike the
Vajrayana priests with whom they would soon be competing for lay sup-
port, they had no temples, no endowment lands, and no tradition of
paiicadiin (alms of husked and unhusked grain) behind them 11. Econom-
ically, they were on their own.
Background to the Mission
Inscriptions indicate that Hindus and Buddhists have lived side-by-side
in the Kathmandu Valley at least since the period of the Licchavi kings
(400-900 CE.)12. As late as the mid-nineteenth century more than half
the N ewar population, the dominant ethnic group of the Valley, identi-
fied themselves as Buddhists
13
Although their kings almost always
declared themselves sivamiirgis or Hindus, they were also patrons of
Buddhist institutions and festivals. Prithvi Narayan Shah, the Nepali-
speaking Hindu king of the small hill state of Gorkha who conquered the
Kathmandu Valley and drove out the last Newar king in 1769, continued
in the role of patron, as did his immediate successors. But in 1846 Jung
Bahadur, seized power and, he and his successors, known as the Rana
family, keeping four successive monarchs under virtual house arrest, ruled
Nepal as their private fiefdom for 105 years, a era which, for Newar
Buddhist institutions, was one of precipitous decline. By the end of the
Rana period the great majority of Newars identified themselves - if only
for political and economic purposes - as Hindus. In the 1920s, when the
11 The Vajrayana monastic community - male members of the Vajracarya and Sakya
castes - may receive dana four times a year from the laity. On these occasions, the main
gift is a mixture of husked and unhusked rice. See, D. Gellner, 1992: 180-181.
12 M. Slusser, 1982: 171-181.
13 D. Wright, ed. 1972.
220
SARAH LEVINE
first Theravada missionaries appeared in Kathmandu, almost the only
Newars who still called themselves Buddhists were those whose caste-
affiliation gave them no alternative, notably members of the two priestly
castes, Vajracarya (household priest: Nep:purohit; New:gubhaju) and
Sakya (temple priest: Nep:piijari; New: btipha), and the nine Dray mer-
cantile and artisan subcastes
14

The Drays included merchants (sahUj!) who were active in the India-
Tibetan trade which for centuries had passed from Patna on the .Gangetic
Plain through the Kathmandu Valley and thence by one of several routes
to Shigatse and on to Lhasa. When, following the Younghusband expe-
dition of 1904, trade was re-routed through Kalimpong and thence by a
newly constructed road to Gangtok, over the Nathan La pass into Tibet
and on, via Gyantse to Lhasa, Dray merchants re-located their operations
from Kathmandu to Kalimpong andCa1cutta. It was a handful of these
wealthy traders who financially supported the fIrst Nepalese converts to
Theravada Buddhism both during their spiritual explorations in India and
later, after receiving monastic ordination, on their return, as missionaries,
in the Kathmandu Valley. Dray interest in the Theravada "message" was
in part fueled by a conflict with their Vajracarya household priests which
flared in the early 1920s and continued for almost thirty years until it
was finally resolved in the law COurtS
15
. By that time many in the Dray
community had become alienated from Vajrayana Buddhism and, other
than for traditional life-cycle rites whose signifIcance was more social
than religious, had turned to the Theravadins.
For the first twenty years the missionaries encountered strong oppo-
sition from the government. Fearful of any challenge to their control,
the Ranas did their utmost to keep the country isolated from anything
that might threaten the status quo, most particularly democratic and
equalitarian ideas which, in the first decades of the twentieth century,
were spurring on India's march towards freedom
16
. The Theravadins, by
their own account, were reformers not revolutionaries - their objective
was to purify their tradition not to destroy it. Nevertheless the Ranas
14 'Ibis included nine inter-marrying subcastes: Tuladhar, Kamsakar, Tarnrakar, Baniya,
Rajkarnikar, Silpakar, Silrikar, Sindurakar and Sthapit. T. Lewis, 1995: 38-79.
15 C. Rosser, 1966: 68-139.
16 See, M. Hoftun, W. Roper and J. Whelpton, 1999: 2-13.
THE FINANCES OF A TWENTIETH CENTURY B1JDDHIST MISSION 221
were suspicious of them right away and, for twenty years from 1930
when the first newly-minted monks appeared in Kathmandu until the
regime was overthrown and the monarchy restored in 1951, harassed,
imprisoned and even exiled them. Orthodox Hindus, the Ranas were
fiercely protective of the rigid caste system which, by the Mulukhi Ain
(Law Code) of 1854, they had imposed upon the population of the entire
country, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and tribals alike, and which they
believed certain Theravadin activities undermined 17. Most especially,
they objected to the alms round because in their view begging for cooked
food - rice cooked in water, the staple of the Nepalese diet - violated
brahmanical rules of commensality. (Paiicadan, which Vajracaryas and
Sakyas received as alms four times each year from the lay community,
was composed of uncooked grain and rice cooked in milk (khir) which
was purer and less likely to transmit pollution than rice cooked in water.)
As noted above, initially Theravada Buddhism appealed in large part to
Sakyas and Urays, and in the early years all recruits to the monks' order
were from these upper castes
l8
. Although according to Buddhist doctrine,
monastics should accept dana from everyone regardless of caste affili-
ation, according to the Nepalese Law Code, monastics who accepted
alms from people of lower caste status than themselves, incurred pol-
lution by which they lost caste (recovery required ritual cleansing);
infringements were also regarded as criminal acts as those who broke
the law could be heavily fined and even branded with a red-hot iron.
Thus the monks faced a perilous situation: First, the laity were unfa-
miliar with giving cooked rice as alms and, when introduced to the
17 See, A. Hofer, 1979. The caste system imposed by the Mulukhi Ain was an amal-
gamation of three different sytems: first, the Parbatiyas', which included only two "clean"
castes, Brahmans (Bahuns) and Kshatriyas (Chetris) and a small number of untouchable
occupational castes; second, the more elaborated system of the lowland Terai people on
the Indian border, and third, the infInitely more complex Newar system. By the middle ages,
after many centuries of contact with Indo-Aryan culture, the Newars had developed an elab-
orate caste system of their own which included both Hindus and Buddhists. In the late four-
teenth century Jaya Sthiti Malla, a Maithil noble from an area now located within the mod-
em Indian state of Bihar, married a Newar princess, became king of Nepal and, among many
innovations and reforms, regulated caste relations within his kingdom. He is credited with
distinguishing 36 castes and classifying them within the four vamas. See, D. Gellner et aI.,
1995: 1- 37.
18 The one exception, Mahapragya, was a Shrestha, and thus also upper caste.
222 SARAH LEVINE
practice, most refused to participate 19. Second, by accepting alms from
those few devotees who overcame their reluctance, the Theravadins
themselves risked harsh disciplining by the police.
Nevertheless, between run-ins with government officials they preached
in private homes and Kimdol Baha, an ancient Vajrayana Buddhist
monastery near the Svayambhu stiipa that some Kalirnpong merchants
had renovated for the use of Tibetan pilgrim lamas who permitted the
Theravadins to live there too. Among their devotees were three Dray wid-
ows who in 1931 took the road down to Kushinagar, seeking ordination
2o
.
But, given that the Theravada nuns' ordination lineage had died out in
India almost one thousand years earlier and - according to traditional
interpretation of the Vinaya - once dead could never be revived,
Candramani, the Burmese abbot of the monastery at Kushinagar, could
not ordain them as nuns (bhikkhuni) or even as novices (samm:zeri) since
both rituals required the participation of fully ordained nuns of whom
none existed in the Theravada Buddhist world
21
. In Sri Lanka, women who
left the householder life were known as dasasilmata; they took ten pre-
cepts and after ordination lived celibate lives in a monastic setting or in
meditation huts in the forest. In Thailand female renunciants took only
eight precepts; known as maechi meaning "female ascetic", most lived
in temples where they performed domestic chores for the monks
22
.
Candramani proposed giving the Nepalese women the rite with which he
had been familiar in his Burmese homeland where female renunciants
took eight or ten precepts; but whereas in Burma ordained lay women
were known as thilashin "one who owns sila or virtue"23, he called the
Nepalese renunciants anagarikii, the feminized form of the designation
which the Venerable Dharmapala, the founder of the Maha Bodhi
Society, had adopted and which means "homeless one" in Sanskrit.
19 A nun recalled that although her father, a Sakya, would pennit monks to enter his
house and he would give them alms, he believed that, because they accepted food from
lower-caste people, they were vectors of pollution. Thus on their departure he would sum-
mon a Vajraclirya priest to ritually cleanse his house.
20 Dhammapali, Sangapali and Ratnapali were all from Dray merchant families.
21 There is no evidence that the Therava bhikkhunf ordination lineage existed outside
of India and Sri Lanka. See P. Skilling, 1993: 29-49.
22 M. L. Falk, 2000: 133-155.
23 See 1. Jordt. 1988, 13 (1): 17-40.
THE FINANCES OF A TWENTIETH CENTURY BUDDIDST MISSION 223
The Nepalese took ten precepts at ordIDation but, given the realities of their
lives, after three days they gave up the precept prohibiting the handling
of money and in its place took a vow to send metta to all sentient beings.
With shaven heads and in pink and orange thilashin dresses, the three
anagarikas returned to Kathmandu where the local people took to address-
ing them as guruma, meaning mother-teacher, the term by which Buddhist
Newars addressed the wives of Vajracarya priests. Lacking any alterna-
tive, the gummas settled in Kimdol Baha. Living there also was an eclec-
tic group of Theravada monks and Tibetan lamas, together with a
Vajrayana tantric priest and his two shakti consorts.
Marginal as the monks' situation may have been, that of the nuns' was
even more so. As women, they were regarded as socially and legally
inferior to men, and as nuns, like their female renunciant contemporaries
elsewhere in South and Southeast Asia, as spiritually inferior to monks
and hence less worthy of dana.
The Nepalese Nuns' Order: Out From Under
Over the next fourteen years these three gurumas, along with about
a dozen other women, most of them widows or abandoned wives
who, because religious "conversion" was prohibited, had had to take
pabbajja in India, continued to share their living quarters with monks.
Leadership ofthe group was assumed by a nun named Dharmacari. Lit-
erate in several languages in an era when only two per cent of the Nepalese
population - mostly upper-caste males - could read, Dharmacari had
taken teachings from Tibetan pilgrim lamas who had preached in
Kathmandu in the 1920s; in tum she had taught buddhadharma to a cir-
cle of her friends. A charismatic Dray woman, Laxminani Tuladhar, as
she was originally called, was converted to Theravi'ida Buddhism by a
Dray Tibet trader-turned monk named Dhammaloka, one of the first
monks to arrive back in Kathmandu from India
24
In 1934, accompanied
by five followers (cell), Laxminani went down to Kushinagar to request
ordination from the abbot Candramani. When he refused to give her
and her group the precepts as in his view they weren't yet ready for
24 K. Lall, 2001: 49.
224 SARAH LEVINE
monastic life, they traveled on to Arakan in Burma where they lived in
with thilasin in a nunnery for several months. They studied buddhad-
harma, went on the alms round - although they were still wearing lay
dress - and acquainted themselves with the realities of the "homeless"
life and, when finally pronounced "ready", took the precepts and returned
to Kathmandu.
Once she was established at Kimdol, Dharmacari, as Laxminani had
become at ordination, was soon sought out by laypeople and ,by women
in particular, a few of whom followed her "into homelessness". On lunar
days they would tell Jataka stories by which they taught Buddhist ethics,
teach devotees to chant sutras, and sing devotional songs that Dham-
macari composed herself; in return they received dana consisting of
uncooked rice and a few paisa with which to buy vegetables. All the
nuns, like the monks, were from upper caste backgrounds, and some of
their families were well-to-do. Although few had resources of their own,
at times they could call on relatives for food and clothing which they
shared with their poorer companions. Nevertheless they led a hand-to-
mouth existence
25
When the storeroom was bare their only option was
to risk arrest and go for alms to houses where they thought might be well
received. Outside the monastery Dharmacari and her group suffered peri-
odic harassment from the police while within it they were pressed into
service as cooks and laundresses by the monks wh0
26
, perhaps jealous of
Dharnmacari's popularity as a teacher, also tried to curtail their activities
in the community. Technically, given that they were not fully ordained,
the nuns were not subject to the Eight Chief Rules (garudhamma), sub-
ordinating all nuns to all monks, which the Buddha had imposed upon
women when he admitted them to the order; indeed they were not even
members of the Nepal Sangha. Nevertheless, at every juncture the bhantes
asserted their right to control the gurumas.
In 1944, after the police apprehended a monk as he was giving the pre-
cepts to a woman (which was against the law), the Ranas expelled all the
monks and novices who were living in Kathmandu; the following year
they expelled the nuns from the city as well. But whereas the monks were
25 S. M. Tuladhar, 1994.
26 This is still a common practice in Thailand. See M. L. Falk, 2000a: 61-71.
THE FINANCES OF A TWENTIETH CENTURY BUDDHIST MISSION 225
exiled to India, the nuns were only sent to Trisuli, one day's journey
away from the capitaL The year they spent away from Kathmandu gave
them a taste of freedom however, and when, after the intervention of the
eminent Sri Lankan monk Narada Mahathera of Vajirarama temple,
Colombo, the government permitted the monastics to return to
Kathmandu, Dharmacari was determined to establish separate living quar-
ters. With personal funds, she purchased a plot of land a hundred meters
from Kimdol Baha and started to raise funds with which to construct a
nunnery. She received donations not only from her female devotees and
some of their husbands, but from King Tribhuvan himself who, perhaps
in reaction to the orthodoxy of his Rana "keepers", had developed a
strong interest in Buddhism. In 1952, just one year after the ousting of the
Rana government, the new nunnery, whose puja hall housed a great statue
of the Buddha at his parinirviilJa, a source of wonder throughout the Val-
ley, was consecrated. Kimdol Vihara, as Dhammacari called it
27
, became
a focal point for lay women. Confined to a marginal role in traditional
Buddhism which even excluded them from instruction in the meaning and
significance of the mantras that, as wives, they received in tantric initia-
tions, upper-caste women came in large numbers to attend the abbess's
teachings which she continued to give until she was well into old age
28

The Road to Financial Security
Owing to King Tribhuvan's interest in Buddhism and his close friend-
ship with Amritananda Bhikkhu, who was founder and secretary of the
Dharmodaya Sabha, the all-Nepal Buddhist Society29, president of the
Bhikkhu Mahasangha, and for four decades until his death in 1990, the
most prominent monk in Nepal, the Theravadins were hopeful that they
would receive royal patronage just as their Vajrayana ancestors had done
in pre-Rana times. And indeed, for a few years following the restoration
of the monarchy this was the case
30
But King Mahendra, who ascended
27 A Vajrayana Buddhist monastery is known as a biihti and a Theravada monastery as
a vihara.
28 Dhamrnacari died in 1978 at age 80.
29 Candramani was the first president; he was succeeded at his death in 1972 by Amri-
tananda.
30 Dr. Bhikkhu Amritananda, 1986.
226 SARAH LEVINE
the throne on the death of his father in 1955, had little interest in Bud-
dhism and state support, however briefly it had been offered, soon dwin-
dled away. The Theravada monks, almost all of whom had studied in
India, Burma and Sri Lanka in the 1930s and 40s, turned to CUltivating
their foreign networks. Their objectives were fIrst, to secure places for their
novices in Buddhist training institutions abroad; and second, to attract
funds from foreign donors for the construction of monastic facilities. Over
time their efforts were rewarded: Nepalese novices continued to be
accepted for training in Sri Lanka and, the political situation permitting,
in Burma; in the 1970s young monks started studying in Thailand, and
by the late 1980s a few were going to Japan, Taiwan and even Britain and
the US. The Nepalese Sangha received occasional visits from eminent
foreign monks and often donations from devotees in their home countries
would follow. In the early years these were used to extend already exist-
ing viharas; in recent decades however the monks have received much
more substantial sums with which they have built elaborate new facilites
31

By contrast, the nuns had no foreign networks to cultivate. In the 1940s
they too had been exiled from Kathmandu but unlike the monks, who
had spent more than two years in India strengthening ties with Maha
Bodhi Society monks, they had been dispatched to a provincial Nepalese
town. Aside from Dharmacari and her group who had spent a few months
in Burma, the only foreign exposure the fIrst generation of nuns had had
was on brief pilgrimages to the sacred Buddhist sites of north India.
In the late1940s, two Nepalese missionary monks, Pragyananda and
Buddhaghosa, recently returned from training in Burma, began to hold
(iharma classes for women, a few of whom brought daughters and nieces,
students in the first girls' schools to open in Kathmandu and Patan, along
to the temple. Fast approaching marriageable age but determined not to
marry, they jumped at their gurus' suggestion that they study further and,
after many adventures, managed to reach nunneries in Burma32.
31 Monasteries built with foreign funds include: in the 1980s, Buddha Vihara, Kath-
mandu, built with Japanese funds and Srikirti Vihara, Kirtipur, built with Thai funds. In
the 1990s, Sakyasinha Vihara, Lalitpur was rebuilt with Thai funds; the construction costs
of Visvasanti Vihara, Kathmandu, inaugurated in October, 1997, were reported to be
$200,000 which were donated by Chinese Malaysians.
32 After the military takeover by Ne Win in 1962 the government 'ceased to give visas
to foreign dharma students and did not issue them again until the 1980s.
New Leadership.
In the autumn of 1963, one of Buddhagosa's students, a young nun
named Dhammavati, returned from Burma. Born Ganesh Kumari Sakya
in Patan, at age fifteen she had run away from home and made her way
to Burma. Mter receiving the precepts in Rangoon, she studied for 12
years in Khemarama Nunnery, Moulmein and attained the Dharmacarya,
the highest educational qualification in the Burmese monastic system.
She was the first Nepalese monastic, as well as the first Nepalese nun, to
do so. Her abbess invited her to remain in Burma where she was already
earning a reputation as a scholar and preacher and where accomplished
nuns, albeit as "eight precept lay women", were highly respected by
monks and laity alike; but she decided to return to her native land in
order to spread the dharma and raise the status of women generally and
of nuns in particular. She invited her friend, a Burmese nun named
Daw Gunavati, who also had received the Dharmacarya, to go with her33.
Once home however, she was immediately confronted by her "opposi-
tion": As she put it years later, "Nepalese monks suffered very badly
from the' Asian disease''', by which she meant that they looked down on
women, whatever their age and accomplishments
34
But she was deter-
mined to evade the restrictions that the senior monks, none of whom were
as formally well-prepared as she, tried to impose on her. The most out-
rageous of these, in her view, was that they banned her from preaching
in their temples.
The first step, she decided, towards winning the autonomy and respect
that her Burmese mentors had enjoyed was to live as independently as
possible not only of the monks but of the "old guard" in the nuns' order.
In Burma there were two categories of nuns: ngebyu (" one who is young
and pure" i.e., unmarried) who focused on scholarship, and tawdwet ("one
who left for the forest") who had previously been married and whose
focus was meditation
35
She herself had spent her time in Burma with
scholarly ngebyu nuns and now, following the Burmese model, she
decided against living in Kirndol Vihara, where the nuns, like their abbess
33 Daw Gunavati remained in Nepal for thirty years. She returned to Burma to head her
own nunnery in Rangoon in 1995.
34 S. Le Vine, 2000: 13-29.
35 H. Kawanami, 2000: 159-171.
228 SARAH LEVINE
Dharmacari, had all been married at one time and had'little if any formal
education. Rather, she would build her own temple for "those who are
young and pure" and invite a handful of Burma-trained nuns to live there
with her. The bhantes might bar her from preaching in their temples but
they couldn't stop her from preaching in her own!
Like Dharmacari, she was able to draw on personal resources.
Her goldsmith father had recently died and even though, under Nepalese
law, she had no right to his property, her brothers, who were among her
greatest admirers, allowed her a share which they agreed to exchange for
cash
36
With this she bought a small plot of land bordering the courtyard
of Srigha, an ancient smpa in the heart of Kathmandu, in which some
Theravada monks were occupying a renovated biihd. She had known
Aswaghos, the abbot of Srigha Vihara, since childhood as their mothers
were close friends; indeed, from her return from Burma until today
Aswaghos has been one of very few monks in the community to support
her efforts and those of her colleagues to improve the status of nuns.
Already, within a year of her return to Nepal, Dhammavati was becom-
ing known as a dynamic teacher and attracting devotees from among a
circle of women whose merchant husbands supported the monks. It was
to these women that she turned for funds with which to build her nun-
nery. But unsure of their spouses' response should they ask for money on
behalf of such a young and untried woman, they secretly sold some of their
gold jewelry and gave the proceeds to Dhammavati
37
The new nunnery,
which Dhammavati called "DharmakIrti Vihara", meaning "a place built
for the propagation of the dharma", was consecrated in May 1965.
Instructed by Amritananda to register it in the name of the Nepal Sangha,
Dhammavati refused to do so on the grounds that since she was an
andgdrikii not a bhikkhuni, she was not a member of the Sangha and thus
36 See, K. Gilbert, 1992: 1975 legislation which provides that if a woman remains
unmarried beyond age 35 she has a right to a share - equal to that of her brothers - of
her father's property, is rarely complied with.
37 Newar brides receive saris, household utensils and furnishings, and gold jewelry
from their natal families, after which they have no legal claim on the paternal property.
Although in principle their wedding jewelry, which in the case of brides from merchant
families, and may be worth a great deal of money, is capital and theirs to do what they
want with, they are expected to keep it for their children; to sell it and use the proceeds
for some extra-familial project, is strongly discouraged.
not subject to its regulations. To the disgust of the senior monks she reg-
istered DharmakIrti Vihlira in her own name.
Paying Their Way
To accomodate their ambitious program of teaching, publishing, and
social service that Dhammavati and her companions started putting in
place, as well as to house new recruits, DharmakIrti's original single-
storied structure, measuring only 42 by 21 feet, was gradually expanded
over time. It acquired a second story, bathrooms and storerooms; a puja
hall was constructed in what had once been the garden; a sliver of land
was donated on which a kitchen and library were built. Each new addi-
tion had a sponsor or a group of sponsors whose contribution was acknowl-
edged in nunnery publications and whose names, following ancient tradi-
tion, were engraved on Sflapatras and installed above the door of the rooms
built with their donations
38
. Dhammavati's mother, Hera Thanku, fInanced
the construction of several rooms on the second floor3
9

The nuns of Dharmaldrti had a place of their own and a considerable
degree of independence
40
; but for years securing funds - even, at times,
their daily needs - remained a struggle. In Burma, they had been accus-
tomed to going on the alms round twice a month. Following the restora-
tion of the monarchy, the old Nepal Law Code was repealed in 1959 and
the commensality rules abolished. Thus, without risk of police harass-
ment, they tried going for alms in Kathmandu. But the change in the law
had not changed people's attitudes towards almsgiving. Encountering apa-
thy and suspicion and sometimes overt hostility, they soon abandoned it.
("People would shout at us, 'Why are strong young women like you beg-
ging?''') On lunar days they conducted Buddha Puja in the vihiira and
afterwards received dana; from time to time they were invited to chant
paritta and take their midday meal in homes of the laity after which they
would be given small sums of money; but they took most of their meals
38 See, N. J. Barnes, 2000: 17-36.
39 S. R. Tuladhar and R. Tuladhar eds. 1999.
40 Originally there were only five nuns: Dhammavati, Gunavati, Ratnamanjeri, Kamala
and Dhammadina. By 2000 there were 20 resident nuns and about one dozen more who
were being trained abroad but returned periodically.
230 SARAH LEVINE
in the nunnery from supplies donated by devotees or relatives. Although
by the 1990s the five paisa coins they received as dana in the 1960s had
risen to one or even two rupees, these sums, with inflation, were still
inconsequential (monks, however recent their ordination, routinely
received five times as much as even the most senior nun), and were con-
sumed by personal expenditures - bus fares, and toiletries, pens, note-
books, and the like, as well as, on occasion, food.
The Sahujls
Dhammavati's objective on her return to Nepal had been to spread the
True Dharma in her native land, and to reach women in particular and in
Dharmaklrti, just as in other Buddhist temples, whether Theravada or
Vajrayana, the majority of worshippers were women. As noted above, in
traditional Newar Buddhism women play marginal roles. A Vajracarya or
Sakya man must be married in order to perform daily worship (nitya-
puja) in his ancestral biiM; he must also be married in order to take
tantric initiation enabling him to participate in esoteric rites and media-
tion practices, and to become a temple elder in due course. Likewise, a
Uray man must be married in order to take the tantric initiation which
brings with it a substantial increment in social status. But although wives
also take initiation, thereby committing themselves to the performance of
certain rituals every morning for the rest of their lives, and the wives of
Vajracarya priests are responsible for preparing ritual requisites when
their husbands perform rites in their jajmans' homes, they themselves are
peripheral to these ritual events. Regardless of caste, the religious life of
Newar women takes place in the domestic sphere. It consists of making
daily offerings at household, baM and neighborhood shrines, performing
special rituals on lunar days, undertaking vows and fasts to propitiate
the gods on their families' and their own behalf, and seeing that their
children go through the various life-cycle rituals up to marriage.
From the first, rejecting traditional attitudes and practice, Dhammavati
encouraged women to take positions of responsibility in Dharmaklrti
Vihara, and many did so. At the same time she was obliged to seek male
participation. The upper-caste men whose support she solicited were
accustomed to taking leadership roles in the religious as in the economic
sphere and they expected to occupy important positions in DhannakIrti
too. As she pointed out many years later, "Nepal isn't like Burma where
I studied. There, a man often goes to his wife's house at marriage.
A Burmese woman can run her own household and at the same time go
out and have her own business. But Newar men want their wives to stay
at home. They want to keep all the power and all the money for them-
selves .... " Her female devotees might sell their gold bangles and donate
the proceeds for a specific purpose but few had substantial personal
resources; for long-term financial support she realized she had to look to
men. In sum, her freedom and the freedom of her colleagues to make
their own decisions and to act as agents promoting social as well as spir-
itual transformation depended on their success in earning the respect and
attracting donations from a group of businessmen many of whom were
the sons and grandsons of those Calcutta and Kalimpong sahUjfs who had
supported the earliest Theravadin missionaries.
The long list of male donors who regularly attended their sermons and
buddhadharma classes and who went on the pilgrimages they led to sacred
places abroad testifies to the nuns' success in this regard. Admiration for
Dhammavati in particular was aroused by her talents as a preacher and
teacher, her scholarship, her achievements as a community leader and her
personal accessability. In discussing the revival of the nuns' order in
Sri Lanka, Elizabeth Nissan has noted the importance of the social status
of its leader: the fact that Catharine de Alwis in particular was highly edu-
cated and came from a prominent Sinhala family was crucial to her
fundraising success, and to the survival of her movement
41
. Again,
Gustav Houtman has observed that in turn-of-the-century Burma the "nun-
nery" movement was initiated by young, educated women from well-to-
do families who, with family and community support, began to establish
separate living quarters and to insist on being given access to Buddhist
learning which hitherto female renouncers had been denied
42
. Similarly,
as the highly-educated - albeit in a nunnery rather than a western-style
institution - daughter and sister of upper-caste parents and brothers,
Dhammavati won the confidence of some of the most influencial
41 E. Nissan, 1984,4, (1): 32-49.
42 G. Houtman, 1984,4, (1): 51-76.
232 SARAH LEVINE
members of the Buddhist community. In the early years', the most gener-
ous among them was Maniharsha Jyoti Kansakar whose own father, Baju ..
Ratna Jyoti Kansakar, had been known as "Dan Blr" , meaning "hero of
generosity", to the Theravadins. Maniharsa, who was treasurer of the All-
Nepal Buddhist Association, became involved with DharmakIrti through
his wife and sister, both of whom were devotees of Dhammavati. Men
competed for positions on temple committees; they contributed to tem-
ple construction projects in Kathmandu and later, in Lumbini; the birth-
place of the Buddha, in the Terai, they underwrote the publication of
dozens of canonical translations and commentaries that Dhammavati and
her colleagues produced, to the educational expenses of the younger nuns,
and to an endowment fund to provide for routine nunnery expenses
43

The Current Situation
Both the monks' and the nuns' orders have continued to attract recruits;
however over the past thirty years, the monks' order has become pro-
gressively less appealing to young men from upper-caste families who,
as the society modernizes, have taken up more attractive options
44

Today's novice monks are drawn exclusively from farming and occupa-
tional caste families who look to the Sangha to provide their sons with
the education they cannot afford to provide themselves. By contrast, a
number of recruits from poor rural backgrounds notwithstanding, the
nuns' order continues to attract urban women from relatively affluent
families, most of whom are college-educated. Although their well-to-do
parents would actively discourage their sons from "going into home-
"lessness" , in contrast with parents thirty or forty years ago, they are likely
to "offer" their daughters with enthUSIasm since, given the esteem in
which the nuns' order is held today, a guruma earns her parents social
prestige as well as spiritual merit. Some of these women head nunneries
that their families have built for them and into which they have brought
43 A distinction is made between funds donated to the nunnery as an institution and to
individual nuns. For the first, receipts are supposed to be provided, and nunnery accounts
are audited annually; but no receipts are required for personal donations and upi'isakas are
much more likely to give to an individual than to an institution.
44 For figures on caste-composition of the monks' order for 1978-1989, see
D. Gellner, 1992: 322.
THE FINANCES OF A TWENTIETH CENTURY BUDDIDST :MISSION 233
younger nuns whose expenses the absorb. Kimdol Vihara, which under
its founder Dharmacari was for decades the most important center for
Theravada Buddhist women in Nepal, is one of the few nunneries which
still houses widows and divorced women who, in the eyes of the' laity,
appear less worthy of donations than never-married nuns. They are pro-
tected from real want however by the fact that Kimdol has been divided
in two for administrative purposes. Thus some of the nuns are affiliated
with a monastery, Anandakuti Vihara, and the rest look to DharmakIrti
for support.
Although some nuns undoubtedly "go into homelessness" in order to
have more time to meditate and to study buddhadharma, all are moti-
vated by the urgent desire to escape marriage and motherhood, which,
despite the fact that women are entering the professions in considerable
numbers, is still regarded as the only legitimate adult female role. Once
a woman has "shaved her head", she rarely disrobes. By contrast, the
monks' order has great difficulty in retaining recruits. The majority of
young monks find celibacy intolerable and once they have acquired cre-
dentials - most attend university either in Kathmandu or abroad - they
return to their homes and get married. While the nuns' order has many
fewer recruits, given a much lower drop-out rate, nuns still outnumber
monks five to four. Almost twice as many novices as young nuns are
studying in foreign countries
45
where their expenses are covered by local
sponsors and the monasteries in which they are housed. Again, the thirty-
odd novices who are being trained in Nepal in Visvasanti Vihara, the
seminary in Kathmandu, are supported by their abbot's Chinese-Malaysian
devotees. Thus, nuns who need fmancial backing out-number monks two-
to-one. As the scope of their work has widened, securing the resources
needed to support a multi-faceted community program in addition to pay-
ing the day-to-day expenses of about one hundred nuns, has become
increasingly time-consuming. One upasika who remembers that when she
was a child in the 1970s, the DharmakIrti nuns would corne to chant in
her home whenever a member of her large family celebrated a birthday,
45 Although the nuns took much longer than monks to secure places in foreign train-
ing institutions, today young nuns are studying in Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan as well
as Burma. However whereas most novice monks attend universities most nuns study in nun-
neries.
234 SARAH LEVINE
observes that these days you're lucky if you can "book" one of them for
a visit even once a year. In an era when Nepal is being drawn into the
global economy and technological innovations, including cable TV and
the Internet, have invaded many urban homes, Buddhists of all ages, pres-
sured by societal change and heightened economic competition, are look-
ing to the gurumas for emotional support and spiritual guidance. In addi-
tion to long-scheduled appointments, they may be called out to the homes
of devotees two or three times in one twenty-four hour period.
Anoja, who like her guru, Dhammavati, is a compelling preacher, out-
going in character and seemingly tireless, is developing an economic base
for her new nunnery, Sulaksmanakirti Vihara at Chobar on the outskirts
of Kathmandu, which promises to be on a par with DharmakIrti
46
She
comes from a devout, loyal and relatively affluent family which has given
generously to her projects. But since her relatives, generous as they are,
cannot [mance them alone, like her mentor, she spends a great deal of time
and energy developing and maintaining her "donor network". Although
a few dayakas are members of the old upper-caste sahiijf families, most
are businessmen belonging to farming and occupational castes. "They
like to drop in at the vihiira and talk to me whenever they feel like it,"
she remarks. Officially, they come to discuss difficulties they encounter
in their meditation practice, questions they have about the dharma, and
so on. But in reality, says Anoja with a shrug, "mostly they're here to gos-
sip. Though I always have work waiting for me I can never send them
away because if I did, they'd be offended. Until the construction of this
temple is finished I'll have to sit and gossip and wait for them to take
themselves away of their own accord." She adds with a wry smile, that
>even when the construction is finished, she'll have to sit and gossip
because then she'll need more donations to maintain what their earlier
donations helped build! In sum, "development" is a continuous process ...
Conclusions
Since 1988, thirty-three Nepalese nuns - more than one third of those
who are of age (20) to do so - have taken full ordination (upasampada)
46 In 1998 she received her PhD in Philosophy from the Sanskrit University, Varanasi.
TIIE FINANCES OF A TWENTIETII CENTURY BUDDmST MISSION 235
in the Chinese tradition in various foreign countries. The senior monks,
who consider for Theravada nuns invalid, have refused to
acknowledge their new status; they still refer to them as antigtirikti and
have not invited them into the Nepal Sangha. For their part, the laity, still
address the nuns as gurumti; and, while some admire their courage and
determination, most are confused about just why, given the esteem in
which many are held by the community, they regard full ordination as nec-
essary. Dhammavati, Burmese-trained and doctrinally conservative, had
never thought abouttaking upasampadti until she was exposed to west-
ern feminist ideas of gender and institutional equality at the Conference
on Buddhist Women at Bodh Gaya in 1987
47
An abrupt shift in her think-
ing occurred in this regard and the following year, she and two of her col-
leagues took full ordination according to Dharmaguptaka rites from Chi-
nese monks and nuns at Xilai Monastery in Hacienda Heights, California.
Thus far however, even though full ordination may have increased the
nuns' self-confidence, the international feminist movement has not done
much to help the nuns financially. The Nepalese Theravada community
is small and little-known outside Nepal. Most westerners who wish to
study Theravada Buddhism or to practice vipassanti meditation go to
Southeast Asia or Sri Lanka, not Nepal. Unlike the Tibetan Buddhist nun-
neries at Svayambhu and Bauddha, the Theravada nunneries of Kath-
mandu and Patan receive few foreign visitors. Whereas the Tibetan nuns
have begun to get attention and substantial donations from foreigners
48
,
to date the Theravada nuns have attracted only small sums from Asian
Buddhists and even less from westerners. Although many, including most
of the senior nuns, have traveled to the US, mainland China, Taiwan and
India to take full ordination, few speak English or Mandarin effectively.
Thus communication remains a much greater problem for them than for
their male counterparts, most of whom have spent many years abroad in
university settings and speak at least one international language well.
47 See, K. L. Tsomo, ed. 1988.
48 A group of Tibetan nuns from Svayambhu visited the US in 1998 to demonstrate their
skills in mandala painting on college campuses, where they raised funds for their home
nunnery. See, M. Kerin, 2000: 319-337. In 2000, a school for young Tibetan tradition
nuns was established at Svayambhu with funds from a Chinese-Singaporean donor; the
director is Italian and some American and European volunteer teachers are on its staff.
236 SARAH LEVINE
Unlike the monks who are old hands at the game, the nuns are only just
beginning to explore f o r e ~ g n sources of funding
49
. Now, as in the past,
they continue to look to people in their own community whose support
they must work hard to retain. Their success in this regard is due to
dynamic leadership, to the persistence of merchant families in support-
ing their daughters and sisters, and in the latters' willingness to share
their resources with their companions. Giving dana is centrally important
to monks and nuns as well as to lay people since they, too, earn merit by
sharing what they receive with other monastics, including with novices
and young nuns whose ordinations ceremonies they sponsor, whose food
and clothing they provide, and whose educational costs they underwrite.
Another important factor in the nuns' successful fundraising is their abil-
ity to develop and maintain relationships with individual devotees and to
engage their interest in nunnery programs. Furthermore, in the long run
their localized fundraising efforts may be to their advantage. Out of neces-
sity they have cultivated their own garden and because the laity see them
as responsive to their needs and opinions they have rewarded them with
both trust and money. In recent years, as the community they serve has
grown, the nuns have been in dire need of funds to repair and extend
their quarters and to build new facilities. But whereas the monks' efforts
have focused on Southeast Asian Buddhist communities, the nuns have
raised considerable sums at home
5o
. Ironically, the monks have found
that their success in attracting foreign funds has damaged - perhaps per-
manently - their relations with their devotees, many of whom, feeling
slighted and ignored, have distanced themselves from the bhantes and
transferred their trust - and their dana - to the gurumas.
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amount they have received from any foreign source.
50 In 2000, Drabya Man Singh Tuladhar, a Kathmandu businessman, donated 12.5 mil-
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NUNS, LAYWOMEN, DONORS, GODDESSES:
FEMALE ROLES IN EARLY INDIAN BUDDHISM*
PETER SKllUNG, NONTHABURI.
[ Gender pairing
In this paper, I will examine several aspects of the role of the female
in "early Buddhism", defmed here as from the time of the Buddha up
to the early centuries of the Christian Era
l
. Since a s-tudy of female roles
should not neglect the broader context of gender relations within the
Buddhist community, I will begin by examining a structural feature of
Buddhist social organization and literature (the one reflecting the other),
which I describe as "gender pairing". For this we will start in the mid-
dle of the 3rd century BCE, with the reign of King Aoka, whose edicts
are both the earliest lithic records of India and the earliest extant infor-
mation on Buddhism.
Aoka's famous edict on sarrzghabheda, which was set up at three
important centres of Buddhist activity - KausambI, Sand, and Samath
- refers to both monks and nuns (bhikkhu, bhikkhunf)2, The S1irnath
inscription was to be communicated to both the order of monks (bhikkhu-
sarrzgha) and the order of nuns (bhikkhuni-sarrzgha) , In the "Calcutta-
Bairat" edict, the King conveys his wish that both monks and nuns, both
laymen and laywomen, frequently listen to and reflect upon selected teach-
ings of the Buddha - the famous dharrzmapaliyaya
3
,
* I am grateful to illrike Roesler (Marburg) and Justin Melland (Oxford) for their care-
ful reading, comments, and corrections.
I The classic study of the subject remains Homer 1930. Her work makes thorough use
of Pali sources, but does not take into account inscriptions or the literature of other Bud-
dhist schools. See also Paul 1979. For a variety of views on the date of the Buddha, see
Bechert 1991, 1992, 1995: for this article, I assume that the parinirv{iI:za took place between
400 and 350 BCE.
2 Bloch 1950, pp. 152-153.
3 Bloch, pp. 154-155; Schneider 1984, pp. 49l-498. The edict is from a hill 52 miles
north of Jaipur in Rajasthan; the "Calcutta" of the title signifies that the inscription was
removed to Calcutta, then capital of British India.
242 PETER SKILLING
For our purposes, the edicts tell us two things. Firstly, they show
Asoka's concern for the welfare of both saf!lghas, and his regard for the
order of nuns as an important social body, on a par with the order of
monks
4
Secondly, the language of the inscriptions reflects the fact that
the monastic ordination lineage, established by the Buddha himself, was
dual in nature: men became bhikkhu-s, and women became bhikkuni-s.
Lay disciples were also classed by gender: laymen (upasaka) and lay-
women (upasikil).
From Asoka's edicts we may thus deduce that the leading participants
in the early Buddhist movement were two gendered pairs: monks and
nuns, laymen and laywomen
5
. A similar picture may be drawn from
the scriptures, where the two pairs make up the "four assemblies"6.
At the beginning of his career, the Buddha expressed his intention that
the four groups become independent of him in their ability to absorb,
teach, and explain his teachings. This is recounted in the Theraviidin
Mahiiparinibbana-sutta, where the Buddha relates how, not long after
his enlightenment, Mara came and requested him to enter final nibbana
immediately (that is, fearing loss of influence, Mara did not want the
Blessed One to teach the dhamma). The Buddha replied: "I will not enter
parinibbiina, Evil One, until my monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen
have become auditors who are intelligent, trained, confident, learned,
bearers of dhamma who practise in accordance with dhamm(l, who prac-
tise correctly, who follow dhamma; who, taking up what they have leamed
4 Let us remember that according to Sri Lankan tradition Asoka's daughter SaI)lghamitta
became a nun, and took a sapling of the bodhi-tree to the isle of Lanka, where she estab-
lished the order of nuns.
5 A shorthand for the orders of monks and nuns was ubhato- or ubhaya-sal[lgha, "both
orders", "the two orders", In piicattika 84 of the Mahasarp.ghika and Lokottaravadin
BhikeU/Jf Vinaya-s, Visakha invites "the two orders" to a meal together: see Hirakawa
1982, p. 273; Roth 1970, Nolot 1991, 198. In the DakkhilJii-vibhanga-sutta (Majjhima-
nikiiya ill 255.28) the fIrst two of seven classes of offerings made to the order (sal[lgha-
gatii dakkhilJii) are to "both orders" (ubhatosal[lghe diinal[l deti); these are followed by
offerings to the order of monks, the order of nuns, an appointed number of monks and nuns,
an appointed number of monks, and an appointed number of nuns. .
6 See PTSD 437a, s.v. parisii, and Takasaki 1987, pp. 250-252. It is remarkable that
the Catueparieat-sutra, a Sarvastivadin text which according to its title deals with the
[origins of] the "four assemblies", entirely omits the tale of the foundation of the order of
nuns. The Jainas also have a "fourfold community" (caturvidha-sal[lgha): Dundas 1992,
p.129.
FEMALE ROLES IN EARLY INDIAN BUDDIDSM 243
from their teacher, will announce, teach, proclaim, establish, reveal,
explain, and clarify it; who, when a dispute arises, will admonish correctly,
following the dhamma, and, having admonished, will teach the marvel-
lous dhamma. I will not enter parinibbiina, Evil One, until under me the
holy life is successful, flourishing, widespread, popular, and far-famed:
until it is well-proclaimed among humans,,7. The phrasing of (MiHa)-
Sarvastivadin parallels - the Divyiivadiina and the Central Asian
Mahiiparinirviil)a-satra - differs, but also stresses the wisdom and capa-
bility of all four groups equally8.
In this passage, the Buddha defines the conditions for the success of
his teaching, of the "holy life" (brahmacaryii). When the Buddha is
eighty years old Mara reminds him of the statement, and asserts that the
conditions have now been fulfilled. The Buddha offers no direct com-
ment, but tells Mara thathe will enter nibbana in three months' time,
thereby implicitly accepting the truth of Mara's verdict. Similarly, in the
Piisiidika-sutta, in the latter years of his career, the Buddha tells Cunda
that he now has "senior monk disciples who are intelligent, trained, con-
fident, who have attained release from bondage; who are able to proclaim
properly the holy dhamma; who, when a dispute arises, are able to
admonish correctly, following the dhamma, and, having admonished, to
teach the marvellous dhamma". He goes on to list the other members of
his flock: middle-ranking monks, and newly-ordained monks; senior,
7 Dfgha-nikiiya IT 112-113, na tiiviihaf!l piipima parinibbiiyissiimi yiiva me bhikkhil .. ,
bhikkhuniyo ... upiisakii , .. upiisikii na siivikii bhavissanti viyattii vinltii visiiradii bahussutii
dhammadharii dhammiinudhamma-patipannii siimfcipatipanna anudhammacariniyo, sakaf!l
acariyakaf!l uggahetva acikkhfssanti desessanti pannapessanti patthapessanti vivarissanti
vibhajissanti uttiinfkarissanti, uppannaf!l parappaviidaf!l sahadhammena suniggahftaf!l
niggahetva sappiitihttriyaf!l dhammaf!l desessanti, na tiivahaf!l papima parinibbiiyissami
yiiva me idaf!l brahmacariyaf!l na iddhan c' eva bhavissati phftan ca vittharikaf!l
biihujafznaf!l puthu-bhiltaf!l, yava devamanussehi suppakiisitaf!l.
8 Miindhiitiivadiina, Divyavadiina XVII, Cowell & Neil 1987, p. 202.11, na tavat
piipfyan parinirviisyami yavan na me sriivakii/:t pal}tjita vyakta vinita visiiradii/:t,
alaf!l utpannotpannanaf!l parapravadinaf!l saha dharmel}a nigrahftiira/:t, alaf!l svasya viidasya
paryavadiipayitiiro upiisakii upiisikti vaistiirikaf!l ca me brahmacaryaf!l
biihujanyaf!l P!thubhzttaf!l yavad samyaksal?lprakaiital?l.
The Mahtiparinirviil}a-siltra has a different string of words at the beginning, but is otherwise
the same (except for some orthographical variation) (Waldschmidt 1986, 16.8) pal}tjita .. ,
vyaktii medhiivina/:t (= Tib, mkhas pa gsal ba ses rab tu ldan pa), alaf!l ... , Cf, also
Buddhacarita XXllI 63-68.
244 PETER SKILLING
middle-ranking, and newly-ordained nuns; laymen and laywomen house-
holders, both celibate and non-celibate, and concludes with the asser-
tion that: "Now, Cunda,under me the holy life is successful, flourish-
ing, widespread, popular, and far-famed, well-proclaimed among
humans,,9.
The four assemblies are also put on an equal footing in the Sobhana-
sutta. Here the Buddha states: "These four [individuals], 0 monks, intel-
ligent, trained, confident, learned, bearers of dhamma who practise in
accordance with dhamma adorn the order (safTlgha): a monk who is intel-
ligent ... ; a nun ... ; a layman ... ; a laywoman ... "10. By way of contrast,
according to the Theravadin Sangfti-sutta and an Ekottariigama cited in
the Siitrasamuccaya, one of the characteristics of barbarous frontier
regions is that they are not visited by monks or nuns, laymen or lay-
women 11. That is, the presence of the four assemblies in an area WaS the
defIning mark of "civilization", since only then was there a chance to hear
and practise the dhamma.
Other members of the movement were also classed in gendered pairs.
Disciples ofthe Buddha in general were known as male-auditors (siivaka)
and female-auditors (siivikii); lower ordination consisted of siimalJera-s
and siimanerl-s. For further examples, see Table 1.
9 Dfgha-niktiya ill 125.17, santi kho pana me cunda etarahi thera bhikkhil siivaka viyatta
vinita visarada patta-yogakkhema, aiarrz samakkhiiturrz saddhammassa, alarrz uppannarrz
parappavadarrz sahadhammena suniggahftarrz niggahetva sappa{ihiiriyarrz dhammarrz deseturrz . ..
etarahi kho pana me cunda brahmacariyarrz iddhafi ca phftafi ca vittharikarrz bahujafifiarrz
puthu-bhiltarrz, yavad eva manussehi suppakasitarrz.
10 Anguttara-nikaya, Catukka-nipata: PTS II 8; CharthasailgIti [I] 314; Syamrartha
Vol. 21, pp. 9-10; Nalanda II 9-10, cattaro 'me bhikkhave viyatta vinita visarada
bahussuta dhammadhara dhammanudhamma-pa{ipanna sangharrz sobhenti. Only
CharthasaIiglti and Nalanda give the text in full. (Note that the omission of dhammadhara
in the description of the bhikkhunf at PTS 8.13 must be a typographical error, since the
epithets are applied equally to all four in the opening and closing statements.) The com-
mentary (ChaghasaIiglti ed., Anguttara{thakatha II 252.4) has little to say: viyatta ti
pafifia-veyyattiyena samannagata, vinita ti vinayarrz upeta suvinlta, visarada ti vesarajjena
somanassa-sahagatena fial!ena samannagata, dhammadhara ti sutadhammanarrz
adhiirabhilta. For a parallel in the Ekottaragama, see Przyluski 1923, pp. 207-208.
11 Dfgha-nikaya III 264.12, paccantimesu janapadesu paccajato hoti milakkhusu
avififiataresu yattha n' atthi gati bhikkhilnarrz bhikkhunfnarrz upasakana,!1 upasikanarrz ... ;
Pasadika 1989, p. 6.15, mtha' 'khob kyi mi dan, rku 'phrog byed pa dan, kia kio dan,
brnab sems can dan, gnod sems can gan du, dge slon dan, dge sion rna dan, dge bsfien
dan, dge bsfien rna mi 'on ba'i nan du skyes pa yin no.
FEMALE ROLES IN EARLY INDIAN BUDDIDSM
Table 1. Gender pairing in terminology!
a. General
savaka: sravaka
kulaputta: kulaputra
b. Renunciants
samaI).a: sramaI).a
bhikkhu:
samaI).era: SramaI).era
thera: sthavira
savika: sravika
(kuladillta)2: kuladuhiq-
samaI).l: srama", sramaI).a, sramllI)ika
bhikkhum:
SamaI).en: SramaI).en, SramaI).erika
then: sthavirl, sthen, thavirl
245
upajjhaya: upadhyaya
-: karmakaraka
upajjhaya, upajjhayinl: upadhyayinl, upadhyayika
-: karmakarika
3
acariya: acarya
saddhivihan: sardh1iIp.vihan
antevasi: antevasi
c. Lay persons
upasaka: upasaka
gahapati: grhapati
gOO: grill
acari"4: acaryayi", acaryika
saddhivihiiriru-5: sardhrurIvihari"
antevas-r>: antevasinl
sahajlvinl7: -
sikkhamana:
-: upasthayika
S
pavattiru-9: -
upasika: upasika
gahapatam: grhapatinl
,,-a.,;n': hinl
5
llLUll
gr .
1 This is a preliminary list, and does not include all possible terms or forms. For each
term I give first Pilii then (Buddhist) Sanskrit (largely Lokottaravadin), as available. Ref-
erences are given for only a few rarer terms. For further equivalents in Prakrit and
Sanskrit from inscriptions and literature, see Skilling 1993-4, pp. 29-30. Nolot 1991,
pp. 30, n. 80, and pp. 533-534, discusses several of the terms (not all of which are uniquely
Buddhist).
2 See remarks in text, n. 67.
3 See Nolot 1996, p. 89.
4 For Pilii iicarif}f see Vinaya (Bhikkhunf-vibhanga) IV 227.4,317.26 and 29,320.3,
322.11.
5 For Pali saddhivihiirinf see Vinaya (Bhikkhunf-vibhanga) IV 291.27, 325.11,
326.penult.
6 For Pali anteviisf see Vinaya (Bhikkhunf-vibhanga) IV 291.31.
7 Vinaya (Bhikkhunf-vibhanga) IV, piicittiya XXXIV, LXVIII, LXX.
8 See Nolo! 1991, p. 533.
9 See Nolo! 1991, p. 534.
246 PETER SKILLING
, Since the monastic lineages were dual in nature, the related monastic
literature was made up of paired texts: Vinaya, Patimokkha, Kammavaca
for both monks (bhikkhu) and nuns (bhikkhunf). These texts pertain to
the regulation of the monastic life. Other paired texts are fOUli.d in the
Khuddhaka-nikaya of the Sutta-pitaka, as may be seen in Table 2.
The "feminine" pairs consist of three collections of verse that include,
I believe, some of the oldest examples of (ascribed) female composition
in Indian literature!2. The Therz-gathti contains verses spoken by over
seventy senior or elder nuns (therzs), expressing their enlightenment or
relating their spiritual careers. A few of the nuns' verses are mcorporated
mto the Lokottaravadin BhikWlJz Vinaya13. That the Miilasarvastivadins
transmitted a counterpart of the Theri-gtitha is seen from references in lists
of titles corresponding roughly to the or miscellaneous collec-
tion: the Carma-vastu and AdhikaralJa-vastu of their Vinaya refer to a
Sthaviri-gathti!4, and the SaY[lyuktagama m Chinese translation mentions
a The collection has not been preserved either in the
original Sanskrit or m translation!6.
In the Therf-apadana, forty therfs relate in verse the deeds of their
past existences and the joy of their present freedom!? The Theri-gathti
and Therf-apadana give the verses of the therf-s only, with no narra-
tive elements. The Itthivimana has a different structure: in answer to
verse questions put by others (for example, Mahamoggallana), god-
desses explain in verse the meritorious deeds that have led to their
rebirth in fabulously beautiful conditions!8. It is noteworthy that the sto-
ries present, without comment or condemnation, female continuities
"across rebirths: in their past lives the goddesses were also female
19

12 "Ascribed" because monks were certainly involved in at least the later stages of
editing, and because the Itthivimana belongs rather to narrative literature. Female author-
ship was not uniquely Buddhist: for example, some hymns of the Veda are attributed
to women. Women act as astute philosophical interlocutors in the BrhadaralJyaka Upani:jad:
Olivelle 1996, 3.6, 8 (GargI Vacaknavl) and 2.4, 4.5 (Maitreyl).
13 Nolot 1991, pp. 96-98.
14 Dutt 1984, Vol. ill, pt. 4, p. 188.9; Gnoli 1978, p. 64.17.
15 Lamotte 1976, p. 178 (reference to TaishO 99, p. 362c10).
16 For the Sthavira-gatha from Central Asia see Bechert 1974.
17 For the Apadana see Cutler 1994.
18 For the Vimanavatthu see Homer 1974, Masefield 1989, and Falk 1990, pp. 139-142.
19 Cf. Harvey 1995, pp. 68-69, on gender continuity and change across rebirths.
FEMALE ROLES IN EARLY INDIAN BUDDHISM
Table 2. Paired T.exts in the Theravadin tradition!
a. Texts related to monastic discipline (Vinaya)
Male
Bhikkhu Vibhaizga
Bhikkhu P iitimokkha
Bhikkhu Kammaviicii
Female
Bhikkhuni Vibhaizga
Bhikkhuni Pii(imokkha
Bhikkhuni Kammaviicii
247
b. Texts included in the "Miscellaneous Collection" (Khuddaka-nikiiya) of the
Sutta-pitaka
Male
Verses of Elder Monks (Theragiithii)
Exploits of Elder Monks
(Theriipadiina)
PuTisa-vimana
Female
Verses of Elder Nuns (Therigiithii)
Exploits of Elder Nuns (Theri-apadiina)
Itthi-vimiina
! As different schools or lineages evolved, each codified and transmitted texts in its own
recensions. In this table I list only the Theraviidin versions.
While the Thera-giithii and Thera-apadiina are much longer than
the Theri-giithii and Theri-apadiina, the Itthivimiina is longer than
the Purisavimiina. The closest non-Theravadin parallels to the
Vimiinavatthu that I know of are Parables 51 to 57 of the Tsa-pao-tsang-
ching, all of which concern goddesses
2o

Gender pairing also occurs within the texts of the Nikaya-s!Agama-s,
particularly (by nature of its structure) the Anguttara-nikaya/
Ekottariigama. The most famous example is the Etadagga-vagga of the
Ekaka-nipiita, in which the Buddha praises outstanding monks, nuns, lay-
men, and laywomen according to their individual talents
21
A parallel text
is included in the Chinese translation of an Ekottariigama of unknown
school
22
In the Theravadin version, the Blessed One lists thirteen
20 See Willemen 1994, pp. 121-129.
21 Anguttara-nikiiya I 23-26.
22 "Ekottariigama (Traduit de la version chinoise par Thich Huyen-Vi)", in BSR 3.2
(1986), pp. 132-142; 4.1 (1987), pp. 47-58. This text, the Tseng-i-a-han-ching, is pre-
served only in Chinese translation; for its school affiliation, see Skilling 1994a, n. 21.
248 PETER SKILLING
outstanding nuns; in the Ekottariigama he extols fifty-one nuns
23
.
The Sanskrit Karmavibhaitgopadea (of unknown school) refers to a
similar collection as the References to
nuns using the etad-agra formula are scattered here and there in
MiUasarvastivadin literature: in the Avadiinasataka, for example, Supriya
is praised as "foremost of those who have made merit" (!qtapuIJyiiniirrz)25.
Some other examples will be given below.
(It is worthy of note that the Uppiitasanti, a Pali protective 'Verse text
believed to have been composed in Northern Thailand [Un Na] during
the Ayutthaya period, lists the thirteen theris of the Pili version along with
their attainments, and invokes their protection - along with that of past
Buddhas, the great male disciples, deities, and so on)26.
From a verse of the Apadiina of Pa!acara we learn that past Buddhas
(in this case Padumuttara) also made etad-agga declarations
27
Indeed,
each Buddha of the past, present, and future has two "chief male-auditors"
(aggasiivaka) and two "chief female-auditors" (aggasiivikii). The
Buddhavarrzsa names the pairs of monks and nuns who held this position
for each past Buddha; in the case of Gotama, the chief female-auditors
were Khema and UppalavaI).l;la
28
. The Aniigatavarrzsa gives the same infor-
mation for the future Buddha Metteyya
29

In another paired text - found in the Ayiicana-vagga of the Aitguttara-
nikiiya; a Sanskrit Ekottariigama from Gilgit, and the Chinese Ekot-
tariigama - the Buddha names model pairs of monks, nuns, laymen, and
laywomen, whom their peers should emulate
3o
. In the Pili and Chinese ver-
sions, Khema and UppalavaI).l;la are the model nuns, while Khujjuttara and
23 Anguttara-nikaya I 25.17 foIl.; BSR 4.1 (1987), pp. 47-51 (see p. 58, n. 11, for the
total number).
24 Levi 1932, p. 161.19; Vaidya 1961, p. 216.6.
25 Speyer 1970, p. 11.2; Feer 1891, p. 267.
26 See Phra Dhammananda Mahiithera (ed.), Uppatasanti, verses 172-186, in Agrama-
htipal:ujitanusaralJa, Lampang, BE 2535 [CE 1992].
27 Theri-apadana, Niilandii ed., verse 471, tato vinayadhtirinaTfl aggaTfl valJlJesi nayako.
bhikkhuniTfllajjiniTfl tadiTfl kappakappavisaradaTfl.
28 BuddhavaTflsa XXVI, 19 khema uppalavalJlJa ca bhikkhuni aggasavika; see also
DipavaTflSa XVIII, 9.
29 Chit Tin & Pruitt 1988, verses 97-98.
30 Anguttara-nikaya I 88-89; Okubo 1982, pp. (21)-(22); BSR 5.1 (1988), pp. 47-48.
FEMALE ROLES IN EARLY INDIAN BUDDHISM 249
Nartdamata are the modellaywomen
31
The Gilgit version has
MahaprajapatI G:iutanii and Utpalavan;ta in the fIrst instance, and Visak:ha
M!garamata of SravastI and Kubjottara of KausambhI in the second.
Laymen and laywomen are not neglected. The Buddha praises the
qualities of ten laywomen in the Theravadin Etadagga-vagga, and thirty-
one in the Chinese Ekottariigama
32
The Sanskrit Karmavibhaftgopadda
refers to a similar collection as the Upiisikiiniim-agratii-sutra
33
The
Buddhaval'{lsa names the two chief female lay-supporters (agg' upa(thik'
upiisikii) for each past Buddha, as does the Aniigataval'{lsa for the future
Buddha Metteyya
34

There is also a Bhikkhunl-sal'{lyutta in the Sagiitha-vagga. Here there
is no matching *Bhikkhu-sal'{lyutta (but several sal'{lyutta-s of the
Sal'{lyutta-nikiiya are devoted to individual monks). A Sanskrit coun-
terpart of the Bhikkhunl-sal'{lyutta is known from Central Asia, and a
similar section is found in the Chinese Sal'{lyuktiigama; both belong to
the (Miila)Sarvastivadin schooP5. Verses from this sal'{lyukta are cited
in Sanskrit works such as the Abhidharmakosa. The Dharmaguptakas
and MahIsasakas also included a in their Sal'{lyuk-
tiigama-s
36

These examples show an even-handed treatment of gendered pairs in
Asoka's edicts and in texts of several schools: monks and nuns, laymen
and laywomen, are recognized and valued social roles or bodies
3
? This gen-
dered pairing - which goes beyond a simple acknowledgement of the
natural fact of sexual polarity (classed in Buddhist texts as the male and
female faculties, purisa and itthi indriya-s) - pervades early Buddhist lit-
erature. I do not think that gender pairing was accorded the same degree
31 That is, if in the Chinese Ekottara, Kiu tch'eou to 10 = Khujjuttara.
32 Anguttara-nikaya I 26.16 foIl.; BSR 4.1 (1987), pp. 54-57 (and p. 58, n. 19 for the
total number).
33 Levi 1932, p. 161.20; Vaidya 1961, p. 216.7.
34 Chit Tin & Pruitt 1988, verse 99.
35 See Waldschmidt 1980, pp. 144-148, and Akanuma 1990, p. 183.
36 Levi & Chavannes 1916, p. 35; Przyluski 1926, p. 194.
37 There are, of course, hierarchical disparities: monks are mentioned first, followed
by nuns, laymen, laywomen, and it is well-known that the order of nuns was subordinate
to the order of monks. Furthermore, the lists of outstanding nuns and the verse-collections
of nuns are shorter than those of the monks.
250 PETER SKILLING
of significance in early brahmanical or Jaina literary traditions
38
Although
these traditions also had paired terms (as is only natural) - especially the
J ainas, whose terminology was similar to that of the Buddhists -:- they did
not transmit paired texts, or anthologies devoted exclusively to women
39

II. Nuns and the transmission of the scriptures
What role did nuns - or women - play in the transmission of scrip-
tures? For practical purposes, the Bhikkunf Piitimokkha and Bhikkunz
Kammaviicii must have been transmitted by the nuns themselves, since
these texts had to be memorized and recited. What about other texts?
Traditional accounts of the Buddhist councils (sarrzglti) (available for a
number of schools) record that the oral traditions and (later) written scrip-
tures were rehearsed, redacted, and handed down by monks: or at least
they do not mention nuns.
That nuns did participate in the transmission and explication of the
sacred texts is, however, proven by both literary and epigraphic records.
Several nuns are known to have been outstanding preachers
4o
An impor-
tant discourse, the Cu!avedalla-sutta, is spoken by the nun Dharnmadinna
to her former husband Visakha. The Sarvastivadin and MUlasarvastivadin
counterparts, included in the Madhyamiigama, were known as the
It was a well-known and authoritative text,
38 For the position of women in Jainism, see Deo 1956, Jaini 1991, and Dundas 1992,
pp. 48-52. Deo (p. 578) remarks that "the nuns always remained subordinate to the monks
not only regarding seniority but also in the execution of monastic jurisprudence. With all that,
they have played a very important role in the organisation of the female Jaina laity .... " See
Ibid. pp. 507-508 for some (not entirely satisfactory) remarks on "Nuns and Brahmanism".
For the status of women in Indian society in general, see Basham 1971, pp. 179-190.
39 The J ainas also use the terms bhikkhu and bhikkhunf, siivaka and siivikii, upiisaka
and upiisikii, as well as nigantha and nigganthL They did not have a separate set of rules
for the nuns: as noted by Deo (1956, p. 473), "right from the time of the composition of
the Acaranga, different texts give a rule starting with the formula: 'Ie bhikkhu bhikkhUlJf
va', or 'Niggantho nigganthf vii', which shows that the rule was common both to the
monks as well as to the nuns".
40 For "the influence of the teaching and preaching nuns" in China see Tsai 1994, p.
8. For early Jainism cf. Deo 1956, p. 491, who says that "women preachers are often men-
tioned". See also Jain 1991, pp. 352-353.
41 Majjhima-nikiiya no. 44. For the Sarvastivadin version see Thich Minh Chau
1991, pp. 269-278; for the Millasarvastiviidin version see Samathadeva,Abhidharmakosa-
upiiyikiitfkii (Q 5595, Vol. 118, mnon pa'i bstan beos tu, 7a8-12b3).
FEMALE ROLES IN EARLY INDIAN BUDDlllSM 251
cited in the Abhidharmakosa and other works. In the Khematheri-sutta of
the Avyakata-saipyutta, Khema Then delivers a profound discourse to
King Pasenadi
42
. The nun Thullananda - whose behaviour was less than
ideal- is described as "learned, eloquent, confident, outstanding in the
ability to preach sermons,,43. Many people came to hear her preach,
including, on at least two occasions, King Pasenadi of Kosala
44
The same
epithets are applied to Bhadda KapiHiIll-45.
According to pacattika 93 of the Mahasamgbika and Lokottaravadin
B h i ~ U 1 J i Vinayas, the ten qualifications of a nun who can induct other
women into the order include being leamed (bahusruta) in abhidharma and
abhivinaya4
6
According to pacattika 104, a nun who acts as preceptor
(upasthiiyikii ti upddhyiiyinf) must train her charge (upasthdpitan ti sardhaJ'{l
vihdrilJ-l) for two years in abhidharma and abhivinaya4
7
In the Sobhana-
sutta cited above, a nun who is, among other things, "learned, a bearer of
dhamma" (bhikkhuni ... bahussuta dhammadhara) is said to adorn the
42 SaTJIyutta-niktiya IV 374-380. According to Akanuma (1990, p. 235) there is no Chi-
nese parallel.
43 Vinaya IV 254.4, 255.4, 256.23, 285.18, 290.4, bahussutti hoti bhtilJikti vistiradti
parrhti dhammiTJI katha7JI ktituTJI. I interpret bhtilJikti as "eloquent", rather than as the fem-
inine of bhtilJaka in the technical sense of a trained reciter of a section of the scriptures
(digha-bhtilJaka, etc.), since in this sense bhtiQakalbhtilJikti does not appear in the Tipitaka,
but only in later literature such as paracanonical texts and Atthakathti (and also early
inscriptions). The occurrences of bhtilJikti listed above seem to be the only ones in the
Tipitaka, except for manju-bhtilJikti, "sweet-voiced, uttering sweet words", ltitaka VI 422:
see PTSD 501b, s.v. bhtilJaka. The termparrha is also rare (PTSD 402b). The word bhtilJikti
is not listed in the indexes to the Lokottaravadin Bhik:tulJi-vinaya (Roth 1970; Nolot 1991).
I reluctantly render bahussuta/bahusruta as "learned", for want of a better equivalent: we
should remember that the term belongs to the realm of aurality/orality, and means literally
"having heard many [teachings]".
44 Vinaya IV 254-256.
45 Vinaya IV 290.7.
46 Hirakawa 1982, p. 290; Roth 1970, Nolot 1991, 207. There is no Piili parallel to
this rule.
47 Hirakawa 1982, pp. 313-314; Roth 1970, Nolot 1991, 218. The text defmes abhid-
harma as nava-vidhal; sutrtintal; and abhivinaya as prtitimok:tal; vistara-prabhedena.
Here, and in other epithets, terms such as (abhiJdharma or (abhiJvinaya do not refer to
the written texts that we know today, but to earlier oral transmissions and explications
of the Buddha's teachings and the monastic guidelines. The Piili parallel (pticittiya 68)
does not give the ten qualifications, or mention abhidharma and abhivinaya (but the
ability to train in abhidhamma and abhivinaya are among the five qualities that a monk
should possess in order to ordain another: Vinaya I 64.penult.) For the two terms see
Watanabe 1996, pp. 25-36.
252 PETER SKILLING
order. The of the Divyavadana mentions nuns who are
"versed in Tripitaka, preachers of dharma, coherent and fluent speakers"
tripita dhiirmakathika yuktamuktapratibhiilJa)48.
The accomplishments of nuns related to the transmission or preaching
of dhamma are singled out in statements phrased in the etad-agga fonnula.
It is important to observe that these exemplary nuns are described as "fore-
most among my female auditors, among the nuns" (etad aggaJ?l ... mama
savikiinaJ?l bhikkhunfnarrt) in a certain ability: that is, other nuns had the
same accomplishments, but to a lesser degree. In the Etadagga-vagga, the
above-mentioned Dhammadinna is extolled as "foremost among preachers
of dhamma"49. Patacara is singled out as "foremost among bearers of
vinaya"50. According to the MUlasarvastivadin Vinaya and the Avadanasa-
taka, Kacarp.gala is "foremost among those who explain the siitras"51.
According to the Avadanasataka, Soma is "foremost among those who are
learned and who preserve the oral tradition" (bahusrutanaJ?l srutadharflJaJ?l),
and is "foremost among those who are very wise and very elo-
quent" (mahiiprajnanarrt mahiipratibhiinaJ?l)52. In the Etadagga-vagga,
the latter is described as "foremost among those who are very wise"53.
48 Cowell & Neil 1987, p. 493.8, 15. The same passage occurs in the Vinaya-vibhanga
and Vinaya-samuccaya with the variant *dvlpita va tripita va: Vinaya-vibhanga, Q1032,
V0143, 'dui ba fie, 65bl, 7 and Vinaya-samuccaya, Q5607, VoL 121, 'dui 'grei mu, 104a7,
b6, dge sion ma rnams ni sde snod gfiis pa dan, sde snod gsum pa chos sgrog pa, rigs pa
dan, groi ba'i spobs pa can dag. (The few minor variants in the Tibetan need not trouble
us here.) For yuktamuktapratibhtilJa cf. Braarvig 1985, pp. 18 and 25, nn. 3, 4.
49 Anguttara-nikaya I 25.22, etad aggal'(! bhikkhave mama savikanal'(! bhikkhunfnal'(!
dhammakathikanal'(! yad idal'(! dhammadinna. Cf. BSR 4.1 (1987), p. 48.
vir(ayadharanal'(! yad idal'(! patacara. Cf. BSR 4.1 (1987), p. 47. Patacara's initial aspira-
tion in a previous life is related in her apadana: Therf-apadana, Niilanda ed., verses 468-
511, especially verses 471 (for which see n. 27 above) and 506. For a summary of the
apadana see Cutler 1994, pp. 9-10.
5] in Dutt 1984, VoL III, pt. 1, p. 22.13, me
mama sravikalJal'(! siitrantavibhtigakartrflJal'(! yad uta kacal'(!gaia
Tibetan translation QI030, VoL 41, 'dui ba ge, 121b8; Avadanasataka in Speyer 1970,
p. 43.8 = Feer 1891, p. 291. See also the Tsa-pao-tsang-ching (Taisho 203), in Wille-
men 1994, p. 21, "Among [Kacaqlgala] had the best understanding of the
sutras".
52 Speyer 1970, pp. 22.4,50.9, respectively; Feer 1891, pp. 277, 295, respectively. For
the skills implied by bahussuta and sutadhara see Majjhima-nikaya I 213.1.
mahtipafifianal'(! yad Idal'(! khema. Cf. BSR 4.1 (1987), p. 47.
An early Pali chronicle, the Dfpavar{lsa, gives a long list of nuns,
starting with MahapajapatJ: GotamI and other nuns in India, who are
described as "learned in vinaya" (vinayafifiu) and "adept in the path"
(maggakovidii)54. It then gives long lists of nuns: Then Satp.ghamitta and
nuns who came with her from J ambudipa to Sri Lanka, followed by other
nUns both from India and Ceylon. A refrain states that the nuns "recited
the Vinaya-pi(aka in Anuradhapura, recited the Five Nikiiyas [of the
Sutta-pitaka], and the Seven Treatises [of the Abhidhamma-pitaka],,55.
The account goes up to at least the time of Abhaya, son of Ku!ivar,u;ta, that
is to the first half of the first century of the Christian Era
56
, and concludes
with the statement: "At present there are others - senior, middle, or
newly-ordained - ... bearers of vinaya, guardians of the transmission of
the teaching: learned and virtuous, they illuminate this earth"57. The nuns
were honoured by Kings Abhaya and Devanatp.piya Tissa. King
Lajjitissa listened to the well-spoken words (subhiisita) of the nuns and
offered them whatever they desired
58
.
Epigraphic evidence for the accomplishments of nuns in the field of
learning is scant. At Siifici Avisina from Maqalachika!a is described as
"versed in the sutras" (sutiitikinf)59. No title is supplied to indicate her sta-
tus, so we do not know whether she was a nun or a laywoman. A bhilqulJf
named Buddhamitra, who set up images of the Buddha, is described as
"versed in the Tripi!ak:a" (trepitikii)60. Buddhamitra is associated with her
teacher the bhilqu Bala, also "versed in the Tripi!ak:a". It is likely that both
Buddhamitra and Bala belonged to the Sarvastivadin school.
Although early literary and epigraphic evidence thus shows that nuns
contributed to the transmission of the texts - as is only to be expected -
54 Dfpava,!!sa XVITI, 7-10.
55 Dfpava,!!sa XVITI, 11-43: the refrain runs (with variants) vinaya,!! tiiva viicesu'!!
pi!aka,!! anuriidhasavhaye, nikiiye palka viicesu'!! satta c' eva pakaralJe.
56 Geiger 1953 II, p. x, gives regnal dates CE 16-38 for Ku!akaI}I).atissa, 38-66 for
Bhiitikabhaya.
57 Dipava'!!sa xvm, 44 idiini atthi afzfziiyo therikii majjhimii navii, vibhajjaviidi
vinayadharii siisane pavelJipiilakii, bahussutii suasampannii obhiisenti mahi,!! ima,!!.
58 Dipava1!lSa XIX, 12.
59 Marshall & Foucher 1983, Vol. I, 304, 305.
60 Shanna 1984, p. 184, notes 46 and 49. For trepitikii (masc. trepitaka) see Damsteegt
1978, pp. 179 and 248 (where he notes that the feminine trepi!ikii is not in any of the
dictionaries that he consulted).
254 PETER SKILLING
their role seems to have eventually been forgotten or ignored. Furthermore,
no commentaries or independent treatises composed by nuns are known to
have survived. It may be that they were never written down, or,. if they
were, they were not preserved in later ages, when the influence and status
of the order of nuns waned. This may have been a decision made by the
monks, who controlled the redaction of the scriptures.
If the scriptures were transmitted by males, by monks, there is one
intriguing exception: the ltivuttaka. According to the commentaty (attrib-
uted to Dharnmapala), the ltivuttaka was transmitted by the laywoman
(upasika) Khujjuttara, first of all to the ladies of the royal harem of King
Udena at Kosambl, who learnt it by heart. Later the monks learned the
collection, which was recited by Ananda at the First Council. This is a
unique case of an entire collection being transmitted by a woman
61

Khujjuttara is praised for her "wide learning" (balJussutata) in both the
Pali Etadagga-vagga and the Chinese Ekottaragama
62
. As seen above, she
is presented as a model laywoman in the Pali, Gilgit, and Chinese
Ahguttara-nikaya/Ekottaragama.
Nuns and laywomen in Mahayana sutras
63
In Mahayana siitras, we meet another gendered pair: kulaputro va
kuladuhita va, "son: of good family or daughter of good family".
The pair occurs frequently, for example in the Prajftiipiiramita Sutras
64
-
where it often refers to the exemplary audience or potential practitioners
of the "Perfection of Wisdom" - and in the SaddharmapulJ4arika65.
61 Woodward 1948, p. viii.
62 Ailguttara-nikiiya I 26.19; BSR 4.1 (1987), p. 55. Note that the Sobhana-sutta (see
n. 10 above) includes "laywoman" among those who adorn the order: upiisikii bhikkhave
viyattii vinitii visiiradii bahussutii dhammadharii dhammiinudhamma-pa{ipannii sailghaTfl
sobheti.
63 For some aspects of the feminine in Mahayana literature, see Dayal 1932, pp. 223-
224 and Paul 1979.
64 See e.g. the Vajracchedikii in Conze 1974, 8, 14h, 19,28, 30a, 32a, and Conze's
remarks on kulaputra, pp. 103-104. It is interesting that several of the similes of the
Vajracchedikii begin with "whatever woman or man" (yas ca khalu punaIJ. subhUte stri vii
p u r ~ o vii): see 13e, 15a, and also 11.
65 See Ejima et al. 1985, pp. 280-281, s.v. kula-duhitr, kula-putra. kula-duhitr is "always
accompanied with (sic) kulaputra"; the latter occurs alone, and more frequently.
The pair also occurs in (Miila)Sarvastivadin literature, for example in the
*Gautamf-sutra of the Chinese Madhyamagama, in the MahaparinirvalJa-
siitra, and in a siUra cited in the Abhidharmakosa
66
, but the extent of its
use remains to be detennined. It does not seem to be known in Pa:li
67

The openings (nidana) of some Mahayana sutras mention the presence
of nuns in the audience. Some, such as the Vimalakirti-nirdda, the Susthi-
tamatidevaputra-pariprccha, the Bhadrakalpika-sutra, and the Rat-
nagulJasafTlcaya-gatha simply record the presence of the four assemblies,
or what I have described above as the two "gendered pairs" (monks and
nuns, laymen and laywomen). The qualities, names, and size of the atten-
dant sravaka assemblies are often mentioned, more often for monks but
sometimes for nuns as well. The PafzcavifTlsatisahasrikii and Dasasa-
hasrikii Prajfzaparamita-s state that 500 nuns, laymen, and laywomen
were in the audience, "all of them stream-enterers"68. The Sad-
dharmapulJcjarzka and KarulJapulJcjarzka Sutras give the most detailed
nidana that I have found: "6000 nuns headed by Mahaprajapau,
Yasodhara Rahulamata and her following". Similarly, some sutras men-
tion (e.g. the SaddharmapulJcjarika) or list (e.g. the Vajracchedikii) the four
assemblies in the closing formula. Many other Mahayana sutras do not
mention nuns at all. Although these nidana-s are formulaic and ahistori-
cal, they tell us something about the attitude of the compilers or editors
of the texts towards nuns, and deserve further study69.
66 Tsukamoto 1985, Vol. II, pp. 1094-1095; Waldschmidt 1986, 41.5, 10; Abhidhar-
N 4ab (pradhan 1975, p. 196.15); N 117ab (Pradhan 270.11): for a fuller
citation see Abhidharmakosa-vyiikhyii ad N 4ab (Dwarikadas 1971, pp. 580-582).
67 For kula-putta see PTC 63b, which gives only 3 references for kula-dhltii (63a), to
Vinaya II 10 and Mahiiniddesa 229, 392. In none of these references is kula-dhltii paired
with kula-putta. Where the Sarvastivadin *Gautamf-sutra has "believing son or daughter
of good family", the Pili counterpart (Dakkhil}iivibhanga, Majjhima-nikiiya III 254-255) has
no equivalent. Where the (MiHa)Sarvastivadin Mahiiparinirviil}a-sutra has both kula-putra
and kula-duhitr, the Pali Mahiiparinibbiina-sutta has only kula-putta. In both Pali and
Sanskrit, kula-putta/kula-putra (and, in the latter, kula-duhitr) is regularly prefIxed by "faith-
ful, believing" (saddha, sriiddha), and is frequently used in connection with the creation of
merit (pul}ya). A comprehensive study of the usage and contexts of kula-putra/kuladuhitr
in Theravadin, (Miila)Sarvastivadin, and Mahayana literature is a desideratum.
68 Since the passages referred to may easily be found at the beginning of any edition
or translation of the texts in question, I do not give any references.
69 I would not be surprised if in some cases different recensions or translations of the
same siitra give different nidiina-s.
256 PETER SKILLING
One Mahayana siitra which allots to females an outstanding role as
teachers of the profound bodhisattva practices is the Gar.ujavyuha. Out of
the 52 consulted by the pilgrim bodhisattva Sudhana, one
is a named SiI!lhavij!lllbhita
70
Another kalyalJamiira, the "night
goddess" (ratrz-devata) SarvanagararalqasaI!lbhavatejal}.sn, relates her
deeds in a former life as a nun named Dharmacakranirmfu).aprabha, who
had a retinue of 100,000 nuns Out of
the 52 kalyalJamitra-s, four are described as laywomen (upasikti)72, and
four others are female 73. Others are goddesses: these will be discussed
below.
The Mahayana was not a monolithic entity, and different texts present
different views of women. An example is the discrepancy in attitude
between the Sukhtivatz and Vyuha-s
74
In Amitabha's "pure
land" there are no women - devotees are reborn as men, albeit within
beautiful lotus-flowers - while both genders are present in the pure land
of Neither sutra mentions the presence of nuns or laywomen
in the audience. In contrast, the SaddharmapulJtjarzka includes a large
group of nuns in the audience, as seen above, and predicts the future
Buddhahood of MahaprajapatI and Yasodhara
75
After they have heard
their predictions, the nuns offer to teach the Lotus Sutra. These differences
may reflect the influence of time and place, of social milieu, upon the com-
position of the sutras, as well as the attitudes of the compilers towards
women.
70 Vaidya 1960, pp. 148-153, translated in Paul 1979, pp. 94-105 (from Sanskrit: abbr.),
and Cleary 1987, pp. 141-146 (from Chinese).
71 Vaidya 1960, pp. 236.10 foll.
72 Nos. 8, 14,20,46: see table in Vaidya, pp. xxiv-xxix. For translations from San-
skrit of Nos. 8 and 14 see Pauly 1979, pp. 137-144, 144-155; for translations from Chi-
nese see Cleary 1987, pp. 84-90 (No.8), 107-111 (No. 14), 127-132 (No. 20), 318-319
(No. 46).
73 Nos. 11,26,41, and 42 in Vaidya's table. For a translation of No. 26 from Sanskrit
see Pauly 1979, pp. 155-162. For translations of Nos. 11,26,41, and 42 from Chinese see
Cleary 1987, pp. 98-102, 146-149,273-305,305-315. No. 51 (Cleary pp. 320-328) has a
gendered pair: a young man (diiraka) and a young woman (diirikii).
74 G6mez 1996, vow 35, pp. 74 (from Sanskrit) and 170 (from Chinese) for the for-
mer; Dantinne 1983, pp. 97-98 (vow 21), 141-142 (note x), 194-197,223-224 (note w)
for the latter.
75 Watson 1993, pp. 191-192. Needless to say, as Buddhas the former nuns will be
males.
III. Nuns and laywomen as donors
During his lifetime, the Buddha and the community of monks and nuns
attracted the support of female donors. One of the best-known, and most
liberal, was Visakha, "Migara's mother", lauded by the Buddha as "fore-
most among female donors,,76. She endowed a monastery at Savatthi:, at
which the Blessed One spent several rains-retreats. One of the classical
sutta opening formulas (nidiina) begins with: "At one time the Blessed
One was staying in Savatthi:, in the Eastern Pleasance, at Migara's
mother's residence .. .'>77. As noted above, on at least one occasion
Visakha inv.ited both orders to a meal.
In the period beginning about a century after Asoka, women partici-
pated in the sponsorship of the construction of the earliest surviving mon-
uments of Buddhism, the great caityas at Bharhut and Sanci. These edi-
fices - the earliest large-scale stone monuments of India - were not
erected and adorned by a single donor,. but rather through collective spon-
sorship of men and women from various walks of life: royals, merchants,
artisans, and their wives and relatives 78. Donative inscriptions from these
monuments and from other early sites record the names, and sometimes
other details, of individuals who sponsored component parts of the struc-
tures, such as coping stones or pillars.
(A study of the family and social relationships recorded in the dedica-
tions is much needed, since it would tell us a great deal about individual
and collective acts and dedications of merif9. Many donations were joint
[family or corporate, rather than individual] acts; even when they were
individual, the ensuing merit was dedicated to family members and teach-
ers. The inscriptions show that family relationships retained their impor-
tance for renunciant monks and nuns. This is borne out by the monks'
rules, the Piitimokkha, in which certain practices that are normally
76 diiyikiinarrz aggii, Anguttara-nikiiya I 26.18. For Visakha see Horner 1930,
pp. 345-361; DPPN II 900-904; FaIk 1990.
77 e.g. Majjhima-nikiiya ill 104.2, ekam samayarrz bhagavii siivatthiyarrz viharati
pubbiiriime migiiramiitu piisiide.
78 For patronage during the period in question, see Thapar 1992, Dehejia 1992,
Willis 1992. For the vocabulary of donation in early inscriptions, see Bhattacharya 1987.
79 See, for a start, Gokhale 1991, pp. 13-15 and Gregory Schopen, "Filial Piety and the
Monk in the Practice of Indian Buddhism: A Question of 'Sinicization' Viewed from the
Other Side", in Schopen 1997, Chap. ill.
258 PETER SKILLING
prohibited are allowed if the person involved is a relative. For example,
nissaggiya piicittiya no. 4 states: "Should any bhikkhu get an old robe
washed or dyed or washed by beating by a nun not related to him
[afifiiitikiiya bhikkhuniyii], this entails expiation with forfeiture": Similar
exceptions involving nuns are found in nissaggiya piicittiya-s nos. 5 and
17; exceptions involving male or female householders [afifiiitako gaha-
pati vii gahapatiinf Vii] are given in nos. 6 to 9 and 27. Biographies of the
Buddha relate that he returned to Kapilavastu to convert his father [and
other clan-relations], and ascended to the Trayastrirpsa heaven to convert
his mother. In the [MUla]Sarvastivadin tradition these two acts are among
the necessary deeds performed by all Buddhas
The first convert after the Group of Five monks was the householder
Yasa, who became an arhat and a monk. Immediately afterward, Yasa's
father, mother, and former wife all became stream-winners and lay-fol-
lowers. Thus, from the beginning of the order, family relationships were
important.)
Inscriptions from Sand, Bharhut, Kru:meri, Karle, Kuqa, Nasik, Pauni,
AmaravatI, and Mathura show that nuns were major sponsors of the early
monuments. Gregory Schopen has calculated that at Sand there were
129 monk donors, and 125 nuns. He notes that "at Pauni there were three
monk donors and five nuns; at Bharhut 16 nuns and 25 monks; at Ama-
ravaH there were 12 monk donors and 12 nun donors"so. The inscriptions,
which date from roughly the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE,
show not only that nuns played an active role in the erection of caitya-s
and vihiira-s, but also that they had the social and economic status that
ellabled them to do so. Inscriptions from Nepal, belonging to the Licchavi
period (5th to 9th centuries) record a number of donations made by nuns
S
!.
Other inscriptions commemorate donations made by women: some
described as laywomen, others not. A thorough study of the role of lay-
women as revealed in inscriptions remains to be undertaken, and I can give
here only a few examples. At SancI the term upiisikii occurs in fifteen ded-
ications, upiisaka in four
s2
. At Sannati a beam was sponsored by upiisikii
80 Schopen 1988-89, p. 164.
81 See Skilling 1993-94, pp. 34-35.
82 Marshall & Foucher 1983, Vol. J, p. 297. For women as patrons, see Thapar 1992,
pp. 28-29, Gokhale 1991, pp. 14-15, and Willis 1992.
Sama
83
Queens, or other female members of the court, played a role.
MahadevI Gautarni Balasn, mother of Gautarniputra Siri-Satakrup, donated
a cave (lelJa) at Nasik (LL 1123). Also at Nasik, upiisikii gave
an endowment to the order (LL 1137), a cave (layana) was offered by
upiisikii Mamma (LL 1145), and cells (ovaraka) were donated by
wife of (himself an active donor in the region)
(LL 1132, 1134). At in Andhra Pradesh, female mem-
bers of the royal elites were prominent donors
84
. In Sri Lanka, ten of the
early (3rd century BCE to 1st CE) BrahmI inscriptions edited by Paranav-
itana record the donation of caves to the sarrzgha by nuns (samalJi) - as
against nearly 300 by monks
85

Nuns and laywomen also participated in the sponsorship of some of the
earliest Buddha images, such as those produced at Mathura
86
At Mathura
a seated bodhisattva was set up by upiisikii Nagapriya, housewife of the
goldsmith Dharmaka
87
At SancI, in the period, an image of the
jambu-chiiyii episode was installed by Madhurika, an image of Sakya-
muni by VidyamatI, and an image of Bodhisattva Maitreya by a woman
whose name has been 10st
88
At a later date, a fine bronze standing Bud-
dha was donated by "Lady Buddhakaya" in Uttar Pradesh
89

The pedestals of early stone images frequently bear scenes in relief
representing worshippers Qr donors (in addition to geometric, floral, ani-
mal, or architectural motifs). I have not seen any studies of these reliefs
in their own right. They are rich in detail and variety, and might be
described as relief miniatures (especially in most reproductions, in which
the scenes are so small that they are difficult to read). Examples from
Mathura show a variety of devotees: couples, or men and women, includ-
ing children, paying respect to dharma-cakras, trees, or auspicious
83 Sarma & Rao 1993, p. 90.
84 For references see Chaudhury 1982, pp. 229-232.
85 Paranavitana 1970, pp. cv-cvi, cxvii. Paranavitana describes samalJi as "the recog-
nized form of referring to a nun", and notes that "the equivalents of the terms bhikkhu and
bhikkhunl have not been applied to Buddhist monks and nuns" in the early inscriptions.
86 For examples of participation of nuns, see Schopen 1988-89, pp. 159-163; Skilling
1993-94, pp. 31-32.
87 Liiders 1961, 150.
88 Marshall & Foucher 1983, Vol. I, 828-830.
89 Czuma & Morris 1985, 117.
260 PETER SKILLING
symbols (the nandyavarta)9o. In several cases what appear to be whole
families are lined up in homage
91
Pedestals from Gandhara show couples,
monks, or groups of men and women, standing or kneeling beside images
of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, or "fire altars". Examples from Zwalf's hand-
some study of Gandharan sculpture in the British Museum include:
2 monks and a couple worshipping a bodhisattva ( 1)
male figures worshipping a Buddha ( 6)
kneeling monks worshipping a Buddha
. ( 9)
men and women worshipping a bodhisattva ( 24)
parr of gods (?) or
bodhisattvas (?) with a parr
of monks worshipping a Buddha ( 26)
pair of monks worshipping 3 Buddhas and ( 31)
2 bodhisattvas
pair of men and
pair of women worshipping a bodhisattva ( 47)
men and women worshipping a "fire altar" ( 48)
man, woman, and girl worshipping a bodhisattva
( 52)92.
The exact relations between the devotional figures and the donative
inscriptions (when such exist), or between the miniature Buddhas or bod-
hisattvas on the base and the main image, are not clear
93
A comprehen-
sive study of the components of these reliefs would be instructive. It is
interesting that, while Gandharan reliefs show monks at worship, the
Mathura pedestals do not seem to do so, even though Mathura inscrip-
tions record the donations of monks and nuns
94
. One such image, a kapar-
din Buddha in the National Museum, New Delhi, was dedicated by a
90 See e.g. Sharma 1984, figs. 83-86, 89-91. A small child is present in fig. 90.
91 See e.g. Rosenfield 1967, figs. 33, 104. Similar scenes are depicted on the bases of
laina images: see e.g. Huntington & Huntington 1985, fig. 8.44.
92 Monks are also shown, in homage to a seated bodhisattva, on the base of a standing
Gandharan bodhisattva in Czuma & Morris 1985, 115
93 See Zwalf 1996, VoL I, p. 41, "Seats and bases". Zwalfremarks that "although an
iconographic programme often seems present, systematic relationships between an image
and the carving on its base remain to be established in detail".
94 As far as I have noticed, monastics are not depicted in the earliest reliefs of Bharhut
and Sand, whether in narrative or homage scenes. For two monks worshipping a
dharma-cakra on a tympanum described as from the 1st century CE see Czuma & Mor-
ris 1985, 7.
monk named ViraI,la; the base depicts four lay figures, of which at least
two are female, paying homage to a bodhi-tree
95

The examples given here make it abundantly clear that early Buddhist
building, monumental art, and iconography were joint projects, sponsored
by monastics and lay-followers, male and female. Nuns, laywomen,
queens, wives, and mothers played a significant role, and without their
participation the monuments would have been poorer places
96
Records
- inscriptions, or reliefs on caitya pillars or the bases of images - show
that couples and whole families participated joyously in the cult, paying
homage and making offerings at the shrines
97

Iv. Goddesses in text and stone
I have spoken above of the "paired texts" of the pari canon. One pair
that is missing concerns deities: there is a Devatii-saT(lyutta, but no * Devl-
saT(lyutta; a Devaputta-saT(lyutta, but no *Devadhitii-saT(lyutta; a Yakkha-
saT(lyutta, but no *Yakkhinl-saT(lyutta
98
And generally speaking, god-
desses figure rarely in the canonical pari texts.
I can think of two exceptions: the Itthi-vimiina of the Piili Vimiina-
vatthu, and the Sanskrit Mahiisamiija-sutra
99
The former (referred to
95 Czuma & Morris 1985, 15.
96 The role of women as donors remains strong today (except that the order of nuns is
no more): an observer at a temple ceremony in Siam will be struck by the fact that the
assembly consists largely of women, who present offerings of food and requisites to the
monks. On special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, or funerals, the whole (extended)
family usually participates in merit-making. Just as the components of the ancient caitya-
s were labelled by the donors, so the components and furniture - a kup, a gate, a bench,
an electric fan - of the modem monastery bear the names of the donor(s) and of those to
whom the merit is dedicated.
97 Male-female couples flanking caitya-s are a frequent theme in SlificI reliefs, and men
and women are shown worshipping at tree or footprint shrines. See also the worshipping
couples on the door-jambs in Czuma & Morris 1985, 11, and the giant couples at Karle
(Huntington & Huntington 1985; figs. 9.3, 9.4) and KaI}heri (ibid, fig. 9.20).
98 Devatii-s can be male or female, but in the Devatii-saf(lyutta they are all male. deva-
dhftii is rare in Pili: see PTSD 330a (not in PTC).
99 For a Sanskrit Sarvastivadin version from Central Asia see Waldschmidt 1932; for
a Miilasarvastivadin version in Tibetan translation see Skilling 1994b, Mahiisutra 8. Both
Sarvastivadin and Miilasarvastivadin versions bear the title M ahiisamiija-sutra. For the
Theravadin version, tqe Pili Mahiisamaya-sutta, see Dfgha-nikiiya 20; in this version there
are fewer female deities.
262 , PETER SKILLING
earlier in Part I) gives verse descriptions of the delightful floating palaces
or "mansions" (vimiina) enjoyed by goddesses (devr) as a result of mer-
itorious deeds performed in their previous lives as humans. According to
the commentary, and the occasional context, these goddesses 'belong to
the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (tiivatirJlsa).
In the Mahiisamiija-sutra, hosts of female deities are among the divine
assembly that gathers to pay homage to the Blessed One and 500 arhats
in the Kapilavastu Forest. The goddesses figure mainly .among the
"60 groups of deities" who illuminate the forest
lOO
Included in their ranks
are some whose names are known elsewhere, some whose nature is
straightforward (such as goddesses of the four elements), and many who
are otherwise unknown, whose sole claim to immortality rests in the
Mahiisamiija verses. Also present in the assembly is "Hand, most exqui-
site in complexion and shape, surrounded by her children" 101. Hand, with
her children, is mentioned in the Mahiimiiyurz and other texts,
and in the Suvan:wprabhiisa and Lalitavistara
102
.
Another early text, the A!iinii{zya-sutra, is available in Pati, Tibetan,
Chinese, and in Sanskrit fragments from Central Asia 103. The A{iiniitiya-
sutra does not catalogue female divinities by name, but does list super-
natural beings in gendered pairs: male gandharva-s and female gandh-
arva-s; senior male gandharva-s and senior female gandharva-s; boy
gandharva-s and girl gandharva-s; male gandharva attendants and female
gandharva attendants; male gandharva messengers and female gandh-
arva messengers: and so for pisiica, kumbhiilJq,a, preta, niiga, etc 104.
100 These are listed in six sets of verses, each of which names ten groups of deities:
Skilling 1994b, Mahiisutra 8, 20-26. The deities catalogued in 20, 22, 23, and 24
are all female. Fa-t'ien's Chinese translation of the Mahiisamiija describes the deities of
22 as "Giittermadchen", of 23 and 24 as see Waldschmidt 1932,
pp. 184-188.
101 Skilling 1994b, Mahiisutra 8, 28.
102 One version of her story is related in the Tsa-pao-tsang-ching: see Willemen 1994,
106. For further remarks and references see Zwalf 1996, Vol. I, pp. 44 and 48, n. 125.
103 I use here the title as given in the Miilasarvastivadin version. In the Central Asian
Sanskrit version the title is Atiiniitika, in Pili (Digha-nikiiya 32) it is Atiiniitiya.
104 Skilling 1994b, Mahiisutra 9, 3.7: for other beings see 4.2, 5.7, 6.2, 7.7, 8.2,
9.7, 10.2. Pali m.2 is less scrupulous. I do not know if it would be safe to conclude that
the (Miila)Sarvastivadin editors were especially gender-sensitive, since the context - pro-
tective invocation - requires comprehensiveness.
Other apotropaic (rak.yii) passages - such as those in the MahiimiiyurY,
Laftkiivatiira, and Mahiibala, also list powerful beings in gendered
pairs10
5

Goddesses playa significant role in other early texts. The Lalitavis-
tara lists in verse the goddesses who watched over the bodhisattva at
birth, and female deities play prominent parts in other chapters of that
text. The AsYrviidagiithii - a verse blessing bestowed by the Buddha
upon the merchants T r a p u ~ a and Bhallika, just after his enlightenment,
transmitted both independently and in the Lalitavistara, the Mahiivastu,
and other texts - invokes 32 devakumiirY-s, in addition to 28 constel-
lations, the four Great Kings, and a shrine for each quarter
106
In a story
related in the corrimentary to Maqceta's Satapafzciisatka, 700 Brah-
makayika goddesses (tshafts ris kyi lha mo) pay homage in verse to the
low-born Arya NYla10
7
A number of riik.yasY-s are named and summoned
with mantras in the annex to the Nagaropama-sutra
108
Local goddesses
are listed (alongside male deities) in the Candragarbha-sutra of the
M ahiisannipiita
l09

Elements common to the mantras of a wide range of texts - of
Sravakayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana - invoke the names of female
deities. Usually found in association, they include gauri, gandhiiri,
ca/;Ujiili, and miitaftgi, which feature in the mantras of the Atiiniityya-
sutra, the BhadrakariitrY-sutra, the MahiimiiyurY, the Mahiidm:ujadhiirm}Y,
the SaddharmapUl}qarYka, the MahiibaZa-sutra, the Arya-avalokiteSvara-
miitiiniima-dhiirm}l, and the Central Asian Nagaropama-vyiikaral}a
11O

For these phrases the editors drew on a common pool of mantra elements
that seem to have been connected with the cult of female deities.
Examples have been given above of the outstanding position of
women as teachers of the Mahayana in the Gal}qavyuha-sutra. Out of
the 52 spiritual guides consulted by Sudhana, a total of twenty are
105 See Skilling 1992, p. 147.
106 See Skilling 1992, pp. 133-134. For an edition, translation, and study of a
related Uighur text, see Radloff & von Stael-Holstein 1910; for the Sanskrit version,
the DiStisauviistika-sufra, see SHT (I) 660, (IV) (Erg.) 660, and Wille 1996, pp. 387-388.
107 Shackleton Bailey 1951, pp. 119,205.
108 See Bongard-Levin et al. 1996, pp. 82-87 (text), 96-101 (translation).
109 See Levi 1905, pp. 264-268.
110 For references see Skilling 1992, p. 155.
264 PETER SKILLING
women
ll1
. Out of these twenty, eleven are goddesses, who relate their
attainments and give instruction
112
Some recount their past lives, in
which they were also female: that is, as in the Itthi-vimana (see above),
female continuities across rebirths are presented in a positive light. God-
desses take the stage elsewhere, such as in Chapter 44, in which a city
goddess (nagaradevata) named Ratnanetra, surrounded by a host of sky
goddesses (gaganadevatagm;taparivrta) gives Sudhana a sermon on
guarding and adorning the "city of mind" (cittanagara)l13.
On the testimony of literature, we may conclude that reference to god-
desses - some local, some mainstream - was widespread in early Bud-
dhism. This is corroborated by evidence. The earliest sur-
viving Buddhist records - the great caityas of Bhfuhut and SancY, the
Bodh Gaya railings, the stone monuments of the Deccan, and the caitya
of Sanghol in the Punjab - swarm with female forms. Although they in
part reflect the perennial Indian fascination with the feminine form, with
the exuberance of existence, their function is not merely decorative
114

They are there to celebrate, to pay homage, and to protect, along with their
male counterparts. That many are divine is shown by the fact that they
perch upon lotus blossoms, or on a variety of "vehicles" (vahana), ani-
mal, mythological, and human. Divine mounts - including elephants,
horses, camels, bulis, buffaloes, rams, sheep, serpents, birds, men, women,
boys, and girls - are mentioned in the Atanatlya-sLitra
115
, as well as in
the Vimana-vatthu
116

Are these female figures anonymous, are they stereotypes, or are they
individuals, with their own names? Could some of them be the goddesses
enumerated in the Mahiisamaja-sLitra? They participate in a sacred com-
plex that represents the protective circle, the ma/:u:!ala, that is invoked in
111 Or 21, counting the "young maiden" (diirikii: see above, n. 73). A paper on this
subject was announced at the 35th International Congress of Asian and North African
Studies (Budapest, 7-12 July, 1997): Yuko Ijiri (Leiden), "The Role of Female Kalyfu).a-
Mitras in the Gal).Qavyiihasiitra".
112 Vaidya 1960, table, nos. 31-40, 43.
113 Vaidya 1960, p. 339.14 foIl.; Cleary 1987, pp. 306-307.
114 See Roth 1986 for a study of the motif of a woman bending down the branch of a
tree, the siilabhanjikii pose.
115 Skilling 1994b, Mahiisutra 9, 2.33-36.
116 E.g. stories no. 5, 41, 60-62.
the Mahiisamiija" and Ataniitfya SiUras, with the Four Kings standing
guard at the cardinat points. Unfortunately, few of the images seem to have
borne inscriptions, and in their present condition the monuments ---: with
fragments and sculptures scattered in dozens of museums - are difficult
to read and interpret. A narrative scene from Bhlirhut includes the apsara-
s (acharii) Subhada, Padumavati, Misakosi, and Alaxpbusa
ll7
- none of
whom are mentioned in the Mahiisamiija-siitra, although they are known
in other texts such as the Vimiinavatthu and the ASfrviida-giithii. Also
represented at the great caitya were the Cada and Sudasana, and
the goddesses (devatii) Culakoka, Mahakoka, and Sirima118. At Sand (and
elsewhere) SIi is ubiquitous
1l9
, while HaIitl is popular in Gandhliran sculp-
ture
120
. Other images, both free-standing and relief, represent unnamed
niigf-s and yak#1Ji-s.
The role of goddesses in early Buddhism has yet to be adequately
studied, whether from the point of view of archreology or of literature
- perhaps because it fits uneasily into the "original Buddhism" con-
structed over the last century121. This Buddhism is ethical, philosophical,
117 Barna & Sinha 1926, pp. 48-52. Padumiivati is placed in the northern quarter in the
ASfrviida texts (see e.g. Radloff & von Stael-Holstein, table, pp. 100-101). In the Atdndtfya
(Skilling 1994b, Mahdsutra 9, 2.43) she is a consort of Kuvera, guardian. of the north
(so the Sanskrit and the Tibetan: the Pili is different).
118 Barna & Sinha 1926, pp.72-78.
119 For an inscribed Gandbiiran Sri see Zwalf 1996, 95.
120 See Zwalf 1996, Vol. II, fig. 92; Czuma & Morris 1985, 74, 75, 80; Huntington
& Huntington 1985, pI. 5 and figs. 8.26, 8.27. For a later image from Ratnagiri see Snell-
grove 1987, pI. 21a.
121 It strikes me that many modem works attempt to rationalize the role of deities', and
to limit the discussion to cosmology (treated as a carry-over from earlier beliefs) - the
levels of rebirth as determined by karma and meditation - with a grudging recognition
of the role of gods (Sma, certain Brahmii-s) as interlocutors (treated as symbolic). On gods
in (early Theraviidin) Buddhism see Marasinghe 1974, EE IV 412-418, S.v. deva, and
Wagle 1985; (in general) Lamotte 1976, pp. 759-765. For deities in Gandbiira see Zwalf
1996, Vol. I, pp. 43-44. For goddesses in Jainism see Dundas 1992, pp. 181-183. For
female deities from Hindu contexts, see Danielou 1964 (especially part 4) and Kinsley
1988. (On the HindulBuddhist distinction, Sylvain Levi's remarks with reference to Nepal
at the beginning of this century may be fairly applied to the India of the centuries after the
Buddba: "A rigid classification which simplistically divided divinities up under the head-
ings, Buddhism, Saivism, and would be a pure nonsense; under different
names, and at different levels, the same gods are for the most part common to different
confessions [eglises)" [Le Nepal, Etude historique d'un royaume hindou, Vol. I, Paris,
1905, repro New Delhi, 1991, p. 319, as rendered in Gellner 1992, p. 76]).
266 PETER SKILLING
intellectual; it is austere and male, and it has no room for cults, no place
for gods, let alone goddesses
122
Beyond this, the reaction of early Euro-
pean scholarship to texts like the Mahasamiija and A!iinii!fya Sii.tras -
not to speak of the Paiicarak:jii and other mantra texts - was generally
unfavourable: the genre was regarded as peripheral, even beyond the pale
of "true" Buddhism. No connection seems to have been drawn between
the deities and the early monuments.
V. Conclusions
The testimony of inscriptions and other historical materials establishes
that the order of nuns was a socially active and influential institution dur-
ing the early centuries of Buddhism, into the Christian Era!23. We have
seen above that new female members of the order were instructed by their
preceptors, from the start of their careers. As they themselves advanced
in accomplishment and seniority, they would in turn train other nuns.
Nuns were taught by nuns, by monks, by the Buddha; nuns taught other
nuns, taught lay-followers and the public, taught kings. Nuns travelled:
this is known from inscriptions, from the monks' and nuns' rules
12
4, and
other records
125
Thus the order of nuns flourished not only in India, but
also abroad, for example in Sri Lanka, and in Khotan and Kucha in Cen-
tral Asia.
With the passage of time, the order declined and died out. Since Indian
society has never been monolithic - and the status of women would
never have been consistent throughout the vast and diverse continent -
the process must have been gradual and piecemeal, occurring at a differ-
ent pace, to a different degree, in different regions. The order may have
flourished in one place, and withered in another, or even have waned and
then waxed anew: surviving records are insufficient to determine what
122 For examples of colonial conceptions of Buddhism, see Scott 1994 and Almond
1988.
123 For further details see Skilling 1993-94.
124 See e.g. Hirakawa 1982, p. 337, or Theravadin bhikkhu pacittiya no. 27.
125 See above, references to Dfpavaf(lsa. As a boy KumarajIva travelled from Kucha
to India and back with his mother, who had become a nun: Watson 1993, p. xxv. In 429
and 433, nuns from Sri Lanka travelled by sea to China, where they assisted in the estab-
lishment of the nun's ordination lineage: see Tsai 1994, pp. 53-54.
happened. The factors that contributed to the decline, whether social
(a parallel decline seems to have happened in "Indian" society) or inter-
nal (assertion or usurpation by the male order or male elites) remain to
be defined.
In the early period, both nuns and laywomen were prominent sponsors
of caitya-s, caves, and images. With the Gupta period the nature of Bud-
dhist monument building changes: no longer do we meet with enduring
edifices like the early caitya-s and caves, with their wealth of donative
records carved in stone. Later monuments, constructed largely from brick
and stucco, succumbed to the ravages of impermanence and war, and sur-
vive(if at all) as ruined foundations. If the practice of cooperative spon-
sorship continued, there is little evidence for it: either the donations were
recorded on perishable materials, or the nature of sponsorship and record-
keeping had changed. Whatever the case, the body of available evidence
shrinks from the Gupta period onwards, and the role of female donors
becomes difficult to determine. We do know that women (laywomen more
often than nuns) continued to dedicate images and manuscripts into the
Pilla and Sena periods, but our records - scattered inscriptions and
colophons - are fragmentary.
Gods and goddesses may enjoy fabulously long lives in their heavens,
but on earth their cults rise and fall according to the whims of fickle
humankind. Many of the early female deities, such as those listed in the
Mahiisamaja-sutra, disappeared without trace, with a few exceptions,
such as HarIti and SrI. But in the Mahayana and Vajrayana new
goddesses and female bodhisattvas - such as Prajfiaparamita, Tara,
or the five deities - took their place, to play a vital role in
day-to-day cult and practice126.
The present paper has only scratched the surface of a vast and complex
topic. There is scope for much more research, investigation, and analysis,
which should amplify, improve, and correct these preliminary findings.
Dundas has noted that "female religiosity in south Asian religions is a
subject which up to comparatively recently has been inadequately treated
. .. as further ethnographic data about the role of women, both lay and
ascetic, starts to appear, there should be a partial readjustment away from
126 Cf. Snellgrove 1987, pp. 150-152.
268 PETER SKIILING
the standard exclusively male-oriented perception of Jain society"127.
The same holds for Buddhist society, history, religiosity. Texts - inscrip-
tions and monuments, and the vast and largely unindexed Buddhist liter-
ature - wait to be read and interpreted. We should not expect the result-
ant data on the status of women to be consistent, especially in literature,
since our texts belong to different periods and schools, and were com-
posed, revised, and edited in different social milieux. I hope the present
modest contribution to the social history of early India and early
Buddhism, to some aspects of gender studies, is a step towards the sort of
readJustment envisaged by Dundas for Jainism, and that it will inspire
others to investigate the roles of women in Buddhism more thoroughly.
References
Unless otherwise noted, references to Pili texts are to the roman-script editions
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texts are to D.T. Suzuki (ed.), The Tibetan Tripitaka, Peking Edition, Tokyo-
Kyoto, 1955-61 (Q), by folio and line.
Abbreviations and titles
BCE
BSR
CE
DipavaT(lsa
l)PPN
EB
JPTS
LL
PTe
PTSD
Q
Before Christian Era
Buddhist Studies Review (London)
Christian Era
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see above
127 Dundas 1992, p. 49.
SlIT Ernst Waldschmidt et al., Sanskrithandschriften aus den Turfan-
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ClllNESE NUNS AND THEIR ORDINATION
IN FIFTH CENTURY CHINA
ANNHEIRMAN
Introduction
According to the Pi-ch 'iu-ni chuan (It IT Ft:: f-', T.2063)1, a collection
of biographies of Buddhist nuns (bhik-!w:zf) compiled by Pao-ch'ang
between 516 and 519, the first Chinese nun was Chu Ching-chien ( ~ ~ t ~ ,
ca.292-361)2. When in the beginning of the fourth century, she wanted to
become a nun, she was told that in China the rules for nuns were not
complete
3
, but that in foreign countries these rules existed. Consequently,
Chu Ching-chien, and twenty-four other women with her, at first received
only the ten precepts for sriimal}erlS (novices)4 from a monk instructor.
Later, in the middle of the fourth century, Chu Ching-chien and four other
women were ordained before the bhik-!usarrzgha (community of monks)
on the basis of a karmaviicanii (list of procedures) and of a pratimok-!a
(list of rules) of the Mahasrup.gillka School. According to Z. Tsukamot0
5
,
however, there is no evidence of the spread of these Mahasrup.gillka works.
He hereby points to the fact that also after the ordination of the first nun,
the search for disciplinary rules for the bhik-!ulJlsarrzgha (community of
nuns) continued. Moreover, the fact that this ordination, contrary to what
is imposed in the vinaya rules, could not take place before a twofold com-
munity (nuns and monks) led to discussion, as also mentioned in the biog-
raphy of Chu Ching-chien
6
An important step for the bhik-!ulJlsarrzgha in
China was the translation of a Sarvastivada bhilG'julJfpriitimok-!a in 379-380
in Ch'ang-an. This (lost) text finally provided the bhik-!ulJlsarrzgha with
1 Translated by Tsai, 1994.
2 T.2063, pp.934c2-935a5.
3 On early sets of rules for nuns, see Tsukamoto, 1985: VoLl, 419, 423-430.
4 On the ten precepts, see Heirman, 2002: Part I, 66, 100.
s Tsukamoto, 1985: VoU, 424.
6 T.2063, p.934c24-25.
Volume 24 Number 2.2001
276 ANNHEIRMAN
a solid basis
7
. The question, however, whether an ordiriation only held
before the is valid, remained. This is clear from the biog-
raphy of the nuns Hui-kuo (1i:Jif!:, ca.364-433)8 and Seng-kuo ({1W:Jif!:,
408- ?? ?)9 that contain the story of the re-ordination of more than three
hundred nuns ca. 433, this time in the presence of an adequate quorum
of (Sinhalese) nuns able to assure a proper transmission of the rules for
women from the time of the Buddha. The permission for this ordination
was given by the monk GUIJavarman Among
other things, GUI;J.avarman is known for his translation of the Szu-fen pi-
ch'iu-ni chieh-mo-fa ([9 7t It li ffi m J!' $;, T.1434), a karmavacana
text for nuns of the Dharmaguptaka School. Therefore, S. Levi and
E. Chavannes
ll
are of the opinion that GUI;lavarman probably advocated
an ordination according to the rules of the latter school. A. Hirakawa
12
,
however, considers T.1434 to be based on a karmavacana text for monks,
entitled Chieh-mo (m J!', T.1433), that is itself a compilation based on
the Chinese Dharmaguptakavinaya (T.1428).
As is evident from the above, the nuns were anxious to be ordained
on a correct legal basis, as it was written down in the vinaya texts.
The discussion reached its peak in the first half of the fifth century. By
that time, four vinayas had been translated into Chinese: 1) the Mi-sha-
sai pu ho-hsi wu-Jen lU (iJIIa fa IE 7t T.1421), Mahfsasa-
kavinaya, translated by Buddhajlva, Hui-yen and Chu Tao-sheng
between 422 and 423; 2) the Mo-ho-seng-ch'i lU {j"
T.1425), Mahiisal'{lghikavinaya, translated by Buddhabhadra and
Fa-hsien between 416 and 418; 3) the Szu-Jen iii ([9 7tjl , T.1428),
Dharmaguptakavinaya, translated by Buddhayasas and Chu Fo-nien
between 410 and 412; 4) the Shih-sung lU (+ T.1435),
Sarvastivadavinaya, translated between 404 and 409 by Fu-jo-to-lo
(Punyatrata/puI;lyatara), Kumarajlva and Dharmaruci, and revised a few
7 On this text, see Tsukamoto, 1985: VoLl, 424-426; Heinnan, 2000: 9-1l.
8 T.2063, p.937b18-c7.
9 T.2063, pp.939c6-940a3.
10 For a biography, see Shih, 1968: 125-137, a translation of Kao-seng chuan ii {J!J:,
T.2059, pp.340a15-342blO).
11 Levi and Chavannes, 1916: 46.
12 Hirakawa, 1970: 202-218.
CHINESE NUNS AND THEIR ORDINATION IN FIFTH CENTURY CHINA 277
years later by In addition, a commentary on the prii-
of an unknown school
13
(P'i-ni-mu ching, ffi -B3: *'1.,
Vinayamiitrkii?, T.1463), translated at the end of the fourth or begin-
ning of the fifth century, is extant.
The present article aims at examining all the ordination possibilities
for women that are given in these texts, as well as the reactions upon
them, hereby also taking the earliest Chinese commentaries into account.
In this way, we can obtain a clear overview of all the data on the admit-
tance of women into the saT[lgha as they were known in fifth century
China. Also the Chinese attitude towards these different procedures
can be revealed. This analysis brings all the different versions of the
story of MahaprajapatI and of the Sakya women to light, gives us some
insight in the ordination of extraordinary women, and outlines the final
ordination ceremony as it is strictly regulated by the Buddhist jurispru-
dence.
For comparative reasons, I have also included six more texts: 1) the
Pali Vinaya
14
, the Chinese translation of which - made at the end of
the fifth century - was never presented to the emperor and was
subsequently 10st
15
; 2) the Vinaya (for nuns) of the Mahasatpghika-
Lokottaravadins
16
, preserved in an Indian language and never translated
into Chinese, but closely related to the MahiisiiT[lghikavinaya; 3) the
Millasarviistiviidavinaya
17
, translated by I-ching between 700 and 711;
4) text 116 Ch'u-t'an-mi ching, Sutra on Gautamf)18 of the
13 Demieville et aI., 1978: 125; Yuyama, 1979: 44. According to E. Lamotte (1958:
212), this text belongs to the Haimavata School. In the Pi-ch'iu-ni chuan, aPi' -ni-mu
ching is linked to the Sarvastivada School (T.2063, p.947b29-cl). The story of Mahapra-
japatI itself ressembles the one of the Dharmaguptaka School.
14 Edited by H. Oldenberg, The Vinaya Pitakaf!!, London, 1879-1883.
15 Still, some ideas of the Pili Vinaya became known to the Chinese when in 488-489
the monk Sa!p.ghabhadra made a partial translation of the PaIi Samantaptistidikti, a fourth
or fifth century commentary on the Pili Vinaya: Shan-chien lfj p'i-p'o-sha
T.l462).
For more details on Pili vinaya influence in China, see Heirman (forthcoming(a)).
16 Written in a transitional language between Prakrit and Sanskrit (Roth, 1970: lv-Ivi).
It has been edited by G. Roth, Patna, 1970.
17 Ken-pen-shuo-i-ch'ieh-yu pu p'i-nai-ye (m 2js:IDt-tiJ 1llllH'I. T.1442-T.1451).
Of the latter vinaya, a Tibetan translation as well as many Sanskrit fragments are extant.
18 A nearly identical text is T.60: Fo-shuo-ch'ii-t'an-mi-chi-kuo ching
Sutra on the story of Gautamf), translated by Hui-chien in the fIfth century.
278 ANNHEIRMAN
Madhyamagama
19
translated by Gautama Sarp.ghadeva and
between 397 and 398; 5) the Pi-nai-yeh T.1464, a vinaya
text belonging to the Sarvastivada School and translated by Chu Fo-men
in 383
2
, that contains the story of the ordination of an extraordinary
woman; 6) the Ta-ai-tao-pi-ch'iu-ni ching <* m It..IT. ffi *Jll:, Satra on
the Mahaprajapatf), T.1478, possibly translated in the first half
of the fifth century. 21
1. The ordination of Mahaprajapati
1.1. The basic story
According to tradition, the first nun ever ordained was the Buddha's
stepmother, MahaprajapatJ:. Her story appears in most vinayas, as well
as in text 116 of the Madhyamagama
22
In Table 1 below, I have listed
the main elements of the story of MahaprajapatJ: in order to point out
the differences or similarities between the several texts
23
The second
table gives an overview of the reactions on the ordination, recorded in
the same texts .
. )9 Chung-a-han ching (9) Iliif T.26), containing 222 siitras. The Chung-a-han ching
has been attributed to the Sarvastivada School (Waldschmidt, 1980: 136-139; Bechert,
1985: VoLl, 48).
20 Yuyama, 1979: 7-8.
21 Hirakawa, 1970: 273-274; Demieville et aI., 1978: 126.
22 Although MahaprajapatI is traditionally seen as the first Buddhist nun, it is not
unlikely that the story of her ordination arose when the community of nuns already existed
for some time (Homer, 1930: 102-103; Sponberg, 1992: 32, note 14; Harvey, 2000:
386-387; Williams: 2000).
23 For a comparison of the story contained in the Pali Vinaya and the one of a Sanskrit
vinaya text belonging to the Miilasarvastivada School (Schmidt, 1994: 156-162), see Spon-
berg, 1992: 13-18, 32-35; Htisken, 1993: 151-165. The Sanskrit text has been edited by
C.M. Ridding and L. de La Vallee Poussin in 1919 and was re-edited by M. Schmidt in
1993. In this paper, I have used the latter edition.
Table 1
Sources: Pali Vinaya: Vin II, pp.253-258
2
4; Mahfsiisakavinaya, T.1421, pp.185b19-
186b3; MahiisiiT(lghikavinaya, T.1425, pp.471a25-476b1l
25
; Vinaya of the
Lokottaravadins, Roth (1970), ppA-72, 2_110
26
; Dharmaguptakavinaya, T.1428,
pp.922c7-926b3; Sarviistiviidavinaya, T.1435, p.293b29-c9, p.345b29-c22, pAlOal0-
1127; Mulasarviistiviidavinaya, T.1451, pp.350blO-352a25; Vinayamiitrkii?, T.1463,
pp.803a22-b24; Madhyamiigama, T.26, text 116: Ch'ii-t'an-mi ching (Sutra on Gau-
taml), pp.605a8-607b17.
a) MahiiprajiipatI
28
asks for the going forth/ordination.
b) MahiiprajiipatI, her hair cut off and wearing the (monastic robe), is
grieved about the Buddha's denial, and follows him together with many/
500 Siikya women.
c) Ananda acts as a mediator.
d) Ananda asks the Buddha whether or not women who have gone forth
can attain the four fruitions: the fruit of stream-entering (srotaapattiphala),
of once-returning (sakrdagamiphala), of non-returning (anagamiphaZa), and
of arhat (arhattvaphala). The Buddha answers in the affrrmative
29

e) Ananda refers to the extensive merit of MahiiprajiipatI towards the Buddha.
She nursed and raised him.
f) Ananda refers to the fact that all earlier Buddha's had four groups of follow-
ers: monks, nuns, lay men and lay women
30
.
24 Translation: Horner, 1963 [1952]: 352-358.
25 T.1425 extensively discusses the eight fundamental rules (see note 31), but does
not report the story of MahaprajapatI's ordination. For this story, the text (p.471a26-27
and p.514b4) refers to a (non extant) sutra, namely the Sutra on the going forth of
Mahiiprajiipati
Translation: Hirakawa, 1982: 47-98.
26 Translation: Nolot, 1991: 2-58.
27 T.l435 only gives an enumeration of the eight fundamental rules (see note 31), and
states that MahaprajapatI received the ordination by accepting these rules.
28 Variant: MahaprajapatI, accompanied by 500 Sakya women in T.1425, in the Vinaya
of the Ma-L., in T.1428, and in T.1451.
29 In T.1451, also MahaprajapatI asks this question, but is given no answer by the
Buddha. In T.26, both MahaprajapatI and Ananda ask the same question without receiv-
ing an answer.
30 In T.1421, p.185b26-27, the Buddha says that earlier Buddhas never allowed women
to go forth. This is quoted by Tao-hsiian (M. VoL64, Szujen pi-ch'iu-ni ch'ao,
5HtE.fM'J>, Commentary on the [part for] of the Dharmaguptakavinaya,
p.113a13-16) as the reason why the Buddha refused to ordain women.
280 ANNHEIRMAN
g) The Buddha fonnulates eight fundamental rules (gurudharina)31. Their mam
aim is making the bhikifUl}'isaf!Lgha dependent upon the (superior) bhikifUSaf!Lgha:
1) even when a nun has been ordamed for one hundred years, she must rise up
from her seat when seemg a newly ordamed monk, and she must pay obei-
sance, 2) a nun may not revile a monk saymg that he has done somethirJg wrong,
3) a nun may not punish a monk, nor admonish him, whereas a monk may
admonish a nun, 4) after a woman has been tramed as a probationer for two
years, the ordirJation ceremony must be carried out m both communities (i.e. first
m the nuns' community, and then m the monks' community), 5) when a nun
has committed a saf!Lghiivaseifa offense (an offense that leads to a 'temporary
exclusion), she has to undergo the penance m both communities, 6) every fort-
night, the nuns have to ask the monks for mstruction, 7) nuns cannot spend the
sununer retreat (ramy season) m a place where there are no monks, 8) at the
end of the summer retreat, nuns have to carry out the pravarar:za ceremony32
(also) m the monks' community.
h) Mahaprajapau receives the ordirJation through the acceptance of the eight fun-
damental rules
33
.
i) The (500) Sakya women
i) are ordamed by the monks.
ii) are ordamedby a chapter of 10 monks, by means of a jftapticaturtha
karman
34
, with Mahaprajapau as upadhyayini (teacher).
iii) receive the ordmation through the acceptance of the eight fundamental
rules
35
.
j) Mahaprajapau requests that nuns should be greeted by monks accordmg to
seniority. She thus asks the Buddha to relent on one of the fundamental rules.
This request is denied because:
i) m heterodox groups36 men do not greet women.
ii) women are irIferior to men for various reasons (see below).
31 The eight rules differ only slightly from vinaya to vinaya. The rules here enumerated
follow the Dharmaguptakavinaya. The eight rules were formulated most probably after the C
community of nuns had already existed for some time. For a discussion see, among others,
Homer, 1930: 118-161; Nolot, 1991: 397-405; Hiisken, 1993: 154-164; Heirman, 1997:
34-43; Hiisken, 1997: 345-360; Heirman, 1998; Heirman, 2002: Part 1,63-65.
32 The praviirQ/}ii (or invitation) ceremony is held at the end of the summer retreat.
On this occasion, every monk (and nun) is expected to invite his (her) fellow-monks (nuns)
to point out his (her) wrongs, if any, whether seen, or heard, or suspected.
33 In T.1428 and T.145l, Mahaprajapan and the Sakya women accept the rules.
34 A jiiapticaturtha karman is a formal act consisting of one motion and three propo-
sitions that concern the acceptance of the motion by the assembly of monks or nuns.
Then follows a conclusion.
35 In T.1428 and T.1463 both Mahaprajapan and the 500 women accept the rules;
in T.145l the acceptance by MahaprajapatI is valid also for the 500 women.
36 Here probably a reference to the Jains (Sponberg, 1992: 34-35, note 24).
a b c d e f g h j
Pili 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8(i) 9(i)
T.1421 1 2 3 5 4 6 7 9(ii) . 8(ii)37
T.1425 1 2
Mli-L. 1 2 3 5 6 4 7 8
T.1428 1 2 3 5 4 6 7 8(iii)
T.1435 1 2
T.1451 2 3 4 5 X
38
6 7 8 (iii)
9(ii)39
T.1463 2 3 4 5 6 7(iii)
T.26 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 (ii)40
Table 2
a) The Buddhist doctrine will last for only 500 years instead of 1000
41

b) A Buddhist community with nuns is like a family with many women: it is
weak and vulnerable.
37 Reasons: points a, b, k and I of Table 2.
38 Although this idea is not included in the story of MahaprajapatI, A.nanda uses it as
an argument when he is admonished for having helped women to go forth. For his defense,
A.nanda in fact uses three arguments: he refers to the extensive merit of MahaprajapatI
towards the Buddha, to the family ties that link her to the Buddha and to the fact that ear-
lier Buddhas all had four groups of followers. These arguments are rejected because the
merit of the Buddha towards MahaprajapatI is, given the fact that he brought her the doc-
trine, much higher than vice versa; because family ties may never playa role in the sa1'(lgha;
and because at the time of the earlier Buddhas, people were all allowed to go forth because
they had less desire than it is the case now (T.1451, ppA04c23-405a13).
39 Reasons: points a and 1 of Table 2.
40 Reasons: points a, k and I of Table 2.
41 Although, like the other vinayas, T.1428 states that due to the presence of women
the doctrine will end sooner, it has different figures and says that without women the
doctrine would have lasted as long as 500 years (T.1428, p.923c9-1l). According to
J. Nattier (1991: 30, note 12), this has to be seen as an error in textual transmission.
On this prophecy of decline, see further Nattier, 1991: 28-33; Sponberg, 1992: 32-33,
note 15. According to J. Nattier, this idea of decline appears only in the Sthavira side
of the development of Buddhism, and not in the surviving literature of the Mahasarpghika
Schools. It seems, however, that she left unnoticed a passage of the MahasaIp.ghika-
Lokottaravada School that does contain a similar message, saying that the doctrine
will endure for only five hundred years now that women enter the monastic order
(Roth, 1970, p.16, 12). Still, the context is slightly different. In the Vinaya of the
MahasaIp.ghika-Lokottaravada School, the Buddha allows the ordination of women out
of compassion for A.nanda who intervened on the women's behalf. It is then that the
Buddha says: un vaut mieux que mon Saddharma ne dure que cinq cents ans" (trans-
lation, Nolot, 1991: 9).
282 ANNHEIRMAN
c) Women are like mildew in a paddy field.
d) Women are like red rust in a sugar-cane field.
e) Women are like an illness .in a grain field.
) Women are like damaging weeds in a paddy or in a grain field
42

g) Women are like hail or frost in a paddy field.
h) Women are like hail or frost;43 in a grain field.
i) The eight fundamental rules are like a dyke around a water tank, or a dam to
stop water44.
j) The eight fundamental rules are like a bridge/a boat to cross water:
k) There are five positions women can never attain
45
Thus women are inferior.
1) Lay people show more respect and offer more gifts to a community without
women.
a b c d e f g h j k I
Pili 1 2 3 4 5
T.1421 2 3 1 4
T.1425
Ma-L. 3 2 1 4
T.1428 4 1 2 3
T.1435
T.1451 6 1 3 X
46
2 4 5
T.1463 3 1 2
T.26 5 1 2 3 6
'4
As can be seen from table 1, the story of MahliprajlipatI, despite many
details, is essentially the same in all texts: MahliprajlipatI is given the
ordination after the mediation by Ananda, who emphasizes the great merit
of the Buddha's stepmother, and who refers to the fact that women can
atti).in the four fruitions, just as men can. Each text also contains a very
. .
42 Although T.26 and T.60 are two very similar texts, they differ on this item. Accord-
ing to T.60, p.856c3-6, women are like hail in a paddy or a grain field.
43 As well as wind and rain (T.1451).
44 Just as the ocean is stopped by the shore (Mii-L.).
45 T.1421: I) Sakra devendra 2) Mara (1J17i:.:EJ, 3) Brahmii 4) Sover-
eign of the world Cakravartin), 5) King of the three realms (=:",rt..3:): Buddha.
T.26: I) Tathiigata, The one without fetters, The one who is fully enlightened (:liD * l\
PIi' 'I' 1 Tathiigata, Arhat, SamyaksaIp.buddha), 2) Sovereign of the world ($$fi\.3:,
3) Sakra devendra 4) Mara (1Il.3:), 5) Brahmii
For a discussion, see Harvey, 2000: 371-373.
46 This item is not included in the story of MahiiprajiipatI, but appears when Ananda
is being admonished for having helped women to go forth (T.145I, pA04c26-27).
CIllNESE NUNS AND THEIR ORDINATION IN FIFTH CENTURY CHINA 283
similar list of eight fundamental rules to be accepted by MahaprajapatI
as a condition for her ordination. It is remarkable that four texts also indi-
cate that MahaprajapatI later tried to alleviate one of these rules, by
requesting that monks and nuns should greet one another according to
seniority.
Table 2 further shows that also the reaction to the ordination of
MahaprajapatI is similar in all the texts examined. Three of the four
attitudes distinguished by A. Sponberg (1992) in his article on gender
roles in Buddhism, clearly appear. A. Sponberg defines a first attitude
as 'soteriological inclusiveness': women and men can both attain
the highest Buddhist goal. Indeed, none of the above texts denies
that women can become arhats, just as men can. Also a second atti-
tude, 'institutional androcentrism,' is clearly recognizable. All texts enu-
merate eight fundamental rules that make nuns inferior to and totally
dependent upon the monks' community, just as women were expected
to be inferior to and dependent upon men in the illdian society. This is
clearly exemplified by the fact that even a very experienced nun still has
to pay respect to an only recently ordained monk, even after the explicit
request of MahaprajapatI to alleviate this rule. This request is denied for
three major reasons. First, women are inferior members of the commu-
nity, as can been seen from the fact that they are excluded from five high
positions in the world, open to men (T.1421, T.26). Secondly, lay
people show more respect to a community without women (T.1421,
T.1451, T.26). Since lay people are the benefactors of the community,
the community tries not to offend them
47
ill this sense, it was already
a risk or even a mistake to have accepted women. The very least one
could still do, was giving them an inferior position. The third reason
emphasizes the danger of women. Women weaken the community so
that it lastsless long (T.1421, T.1451, T.26). This brings us to the third
attitude distinguished by A. Sponberg, 'ascetic misogyny'. A. Sponberg
hereby indicates that this misogynist view is often found in discussions
on ascetic purity. ill the story of MahaprajapatI, however, the danger of
47 Although this attitude is prominent in the story of Mahaprajapati, we should not for-
get that many patrons of the community were women and that their support was signifi-
cant. See Sponberg, 1992: 5-7.
284 ANNHEIRMAN
women for the community is emphasized, without indicating what this
danger exactly is. The only danger mentioned is the one of less income
due to the lack of respect lay benefactors have for women. Women are
thus not seen as a danger for the ascetic life of monks, but as a poten-
tial danger to the community, a danger that can only be guarded off by
the eight fundamental rules, that imply the inferiority of nuns towards
monks, or, the control of the monks' community over the nuns' com-
munity. This is clearly stressed as fundamental, and is illustrated as a
dyke around a water tank. Two texts offer a more balanced view: T.1428
and T.26 not only present women as a dangerous, weakening factor in
the community, but also picture them as beings who are themselves
more vulnerable to danger than men are. In these texts, the eight fun-
damental rules are not seen as a dyke to protect the community for
women, but as a bridge or a boat to help women to overcome the dan-
gers of the world.
In conclusion, the story of Mahaprajapati tells us that soteriologically
women are not inferior to men. Socially and institutionally, however, they
are. This also seems to be the main reason why, according to the story
of Mahaprajapati, women are to be seen as a danger to the community.
They weaken the community, and thus the doctrine, by making it less
respected. This danger can only be countered if the monks strictly
control the nuns' community. Two texts add a more positive note to the
latter theme. Monks do not only fight the danger of a less respected com-
munity by supervising the but they also offer the nuns
a way to get across the dangers of the world.
1.2. MahaprajapatI re-written
bfthe three attitudes mentioned above, it is the last one, misogyny, that
is emphasized in the Ta-ai-tao-pi-ch'iu-ni ching (* j'f 3![ It li IE *ilL
Sutra on the Mahaprajapatf), T.1478, a later vinaya text. It is
uncertain when and by whom the text has been translated
48
, but it was
48 Although the text has been classified as a translation by the earliest catalogues (see
note 51), A. Hirakawa points out (1970: 273-274) that it cannot be totally excluded that
it is a Chinese compilation.
extant in the first half of the fifth century49. From several references to
and quotations of this text found in early Chinese vinaya commentaries
50
,
it is further clear that it attained a certain popularity. Although classified
among Hinayana vinaya translations by the earliest catalogues
51
, many ele-
ments in the text refer to Mahayana ideas: the wish to instaure Mahayana
(p.950a4-5), the wish of a sriimalJeri to save her parents and all human
beings (p.947a18), the references to bodhisattvas (p.945c21, p.948b10,
25), to the three kinds of prajftii
52
(p.952c7 -17), and to prajftiipiiramitii
as the only relevant study object that nuns can consult monks about
(p.946c13). The first part of the text is the story of MahaprajapatI' s ordi-
nation (T.1478, pp.945b25-949cll). Compared to the earlier versions,
we see that, although the essential framework is still there, many ele-
ments have been significantly changed:
49 See note 21.
50 Szu-Jen /il shan-Jan pu-ch'ueh hsing-shih ch 'ao (lZ!l5T $IIIHlIHiIi 1M IT &1>, An
abridged and explanatory commentary on the Dharmaguptakavinaya), compiled by Tao-
hsiian (596-667), references: T.1804, p.137a18, p.151b28; quotation: p.153b5-6 (abridged
from T.1478, p.952b15-17). The same quotation in Szu-Jen /il shan-pu sui-i chieh-mo
(lZ!l5T 1* fflIiHiiHJ!lli't m m, An abridged and explanatory karmaviicanii oj the Dharmagup-
takavinaya), T.1808, p.498c21, and in Szu-Jen pi-ch'iu-ni ch'ao Com-
mentary on the [partJor] bhik:jUlJls oJ the Dharmaguptakavinaya), M. VoL64, p.1l4b5-
7, both equally compiled by Tao-hsiian. In the latter text also: p.67 a13 (although indicated
as a quotation, it is not in T.1478), p.1l4a17-18 (corresponds to T.1478, p.946c9-11),
p.158bl-2 (not in T.1478). See further also Fan-wang ching p'u-sa-chieh pen-shu
Commentary on the bodhisattva rules oj the Brahma's net sutra),
compiled by Fa-tsang (643-712), quotation: T.1813, p.636bl-9 (corresponds to T.l478,
p.947b25-c3).
51 Li-tai san-pao chi (llHI;;::::JUc), compiled by Fei Ch'ang-fang in 597, T.2034,
p.1l9c4; Chung-ching mu-lu (1UHl compiled by Fa-ching et al. in 594, T.2146,
p.140b22; Chung-ching mu-lu (*MJl. compiled by Yen-ts'ung et aL in 602, T.2147,
p.155b28; Chung-ching mu-lu U/i:MJl. compiled by Ching-fai et al. in 664, T.2148,
p.188alO; Ta-t'ang nei-tien lu compiled by Tao-hsiian in 664, T.2149,
p.300b26 et passim; Ta-chou k'an-ting chung-ching mu-lu (*)lij ftl;iE *MJl. compiled
by Ming-ch'iian et al. in 695, T.2l53, p.433b27 et passim; K'ai-yuan shih-chiao lu
compiled by Chih-sheng in 730, T.2154, p.695a14 et passim; Chen-yiian
hsin-ting shih-chiao mu-lu compiled by Yiian-chao in 800, p.1042c26
et passim.
52 This refers to lHlli!lt1l', prajfzii (wisdom) in its essence or reality;lil!!\\liJlt1l', prajfzii
of perceiving the real meaning of the last; )( "" iJlt 1l', prajfzii of knowing things in their tem-
porary and changing condition (Soothill, 1987 [1937]: 75).
286 ANNHEIRMAN
Table l'
a) MahaprajapatI asks for the 'ordination because she has heard that women can
attain the four fruitions.
b) MahaprajapatI follows the Buddha together with several old mothers. She is
very sad because women are hindered by so many bad attitudes: women con-
stantly endanger and delude men.
c) .Ananda acts as a mediator.
d) .Ananda reminds the Buddha that women (mothers) can attain the four fruitions.
He therefore asks for their ordination. This is refused because women endan-
ger high-principled (male) members of the order, just as they weaken a fam-
ily, like calamities or thorns that destroy a paddy or a grain field.
e) .Ananda refers to the extensive merit of MahaprajapatI towards the Buddha.
She nursed and raised him. This is acknowledged by the Buddha.
f) (.Ananda refers to the fact that all earlier Buddha's had four groups of fol-
lowers: monks, nuns, lay men and lay women): not in T.1478.
g) The Buddha formulates eight fundamental rules (gurudharma), that are com-
pared to a dyke stopping water. These rules totally deviate from the rules in
the above texts. Only the rule that a nun can never be greeted by a monk is
preserved. The rules ofT.1478 are less technical and generally intend to form
a barrier against allegedly feminine bad habits: 1) nuns must receive the doc-
trine from monks, and they should not ridicule it or make fun of it, 2) a nun
must always honour and certainly never detract a young monk, 3) nuns and
monks should never stay in each other's company, since this will unevitably
enlighten the desires, 4) nuns themselves should check the nuns' community
for bad habits (without the help, and thus without the presence, of monks),
5) nuns cannot demand justice of a monk; if a monk accuses a nun, the nuns
themselves should examine the case, without shouting or without reviling the
monk, 6) if there is any doubt among the nuns, they can ask the monks for
help, but only on prajfuiparamita; they should not consult monks on trivial
matters, 7) a nun cannot on her own follow the path; if she offends against a
. rule, she has to confess it at the fortnightly meeting and reject her arrogant
and contemptuous attitude, 8) even when a nun has been ordained for one
hundred years, she must rise up from her seat when seeing a newly ordained
monk, and she must pay obeisance to him.
h) MahaprajapatI receives the going forth through the acceptance of the eight
fundamental rules. After this, the Buddha enumerates forty rules to be fol-
lowed by a novice (pp.947a9-948c25). The first ten rules are partially based
on the ten rules for novices of the above vinaya texts
53
. The forty rules aim
at restraining all kinds of bad behavior, and at promoting a pure and asce-
tic life, and respect towards the teacher. MahaprajapatI then proves that she
53 See note 4.
is able to strictly keep up all these rules. Thereupon, she receives the full
ordination.
i) (No reference to the (500) Sakya women.)
j) MahaprajapatI requests that nuns should be greeted by monks according to sen-
iority. The answer is negative because:
* people show more respect and offer more gifts to a community without
women.
* due to women, the doctrine will last for only 500 years instead of 1000.
* women are inferior; proof: there are five positions
54
that women can never
attain.
* women are like venomous snakes. People kill them. But even when a snake
is dead, people still fear it. In the same way, people still fear women even
when they are sramalJas. The venom is still there. Therefore women should
pay respect even to a male novice of only eight years old.
* the arhat-ship of women is much less valuable than the arhat-ship of men.
This ends the story of MahaprajapatI' s ordination. It is followed by many fur-
ther rules for women and by further proofs of inferiority:
* When MahaprajapatI asks whether women can be saved, the Buddha
answers that nuns who strictly follow all the rules can, in the present world,
first become men and then attain buddhahood (p.949c12-18). He also gives
a few examples
55
(pp.949c18-950a15).
* The Buddha then adds many other rules that aim at destroying all bad atti-
tudes (pp.950a22-952b7). If a woman strictly follows these rules, she can
become a man and attain buddhahood (p.950b3-6, p.951b20-23
56
).
* As for the question whether a woman can become a teacher, the Buddha
answers that she can, provided all the monks agree. He then gives some
details on the carreer of a nun (p.952b8-c25).
* The last part of the texts states that women are a threat to all living beings,
including plants. This is because they all have 84.000 bad attitudes. Only
if they can get rid of these attitudes, they can become arhats (pp.952c25-
955a13).
54 1) Tathagata, The one without fetters, The one who is fully enlightened
Tathagata, Arhat, SamyaksaJTlbuddha), 2) Sovereign of the world
Cakravartin), 3) Brahma 4)lIH'f j! according to H. Nakamura
(1985 [1981]: 1127), this is an old term for" *ii Cakravartin; variant readings of
T.1478 instead have Sakra devendra 5) Mara (ll\I:x.:E). See also note 45.
55 He refers to the story of Sumati (see further Paul, 1985 [1979]: 199-211) and to the
story of seven royal daughters (see further Paul, 1985 [1979]: 15-25).
56 This passage also indicates that a woman first has to become a man before she can
attain the four fruitions.
288 ANNHEIRMAN
a b c d e f g h j
T.1478 1 2 3 5 6 7 8
As we can see from the above, the main framework of the story is still
there, but the content has significantly changed. The possibility of women
attaining the four fruitions is only briefly hinted at. Also the fact that
nuns are institutionally inferior to men only gets little attention. The main
emphasis is now on femininity itself, the basic characteristic of women
being that they spread destruction among men. Although, just as in the
earlier texts, women are still seen as a danger, the reason why has sig-
nificantly changed. They are no longer seen as a threat to the community
because they make it socially less respected, but are now considered as
an unevitable threat to the goals of Buddhist men personally. Femininity
itself is the cause of failureS? This is also the main message quoted from
T.1478 by Tao-hstian (596-667) in his commentaries on vinaya5
8
: since
women only want to be lustful and to take advantage of disciples, and
since they do not want to study and only know trivial things, women will
never be able to become religious mendicants (sramar;a) without a
bhilqusarrzgha. T.1478 further also warns that even as religious mendi-
cants, women remain viciously dangerous, just as snakes are. It is, in this
view, only logical to claim that women first have to become men before
they can attain the final goal of liberation
s9
In this sense, this story of
MahaprajapatI shows to be a good example of severe 'ascetic misogyny'
as distinguished by A. Sponberg6o. Women are responsible for constantly
trying to debauch men
61
According to A. Sponberg, this kind of misog-
ynist attitude probably gained importance by the fact that some factions
57 For instance, one of the thoughts women always have to keep in mind is: 'if one has
received a female shape, one is bound to lust and one cannot constrain oneself' (p.951b14-
15); or 'women impede $emselves (on the way to liberation), (p.952c24"25), or 'women
cannot straighten their mind, how could they straighten the mind of other people; women
cannot save themselves,how could they save other people; women live in sin, how could
they free other people' (p.953c1 0-12).
58 Corresponding to T.1478, p.952b15-17. See also note 50.
59 For further discussion, see Harrison, 1987: 76-79; Harvey, 2000: 373-376, Harvey,
2001: 70-72.
60 Sponberg, 1992: 18-24.
61 For instance: 'they confuse men and detract them from the path, from virtue [ ... J.
There is no man in the world who has not been misled by women' (p.946a8-1O).
in the community were seeing liberation more and more in terms of asce-
tic purification, im attitude typical of later Mahayana texts.
1.3. MahaprajapatI as an example to the Chinese nuns
Although the reactions on the ordination of MahaprajapatI were not
positive, in fifth century China, women candidates for. ordination still
refered to her as the example to follow. When the discussion on the
validity ofa nun's ordination that was only held before the
reached its peak, the Chinese nun Hui-kuo asked whether Chinese women
could receive the ordination in the way that MahaprajapatI did
62
.
She too did not receive the ordination from the As men-
tioned in the Pi-ch'iu-ni chuan
63
, the central Asian monk GUl).avarman
was of the opinion that there was no difference between MahaprajapatI
and the Chinese women. The Pi-ch'iu-ni chuan is not clear as to why
GUl).avarman accepted MahaprajapatI's ordination as a precedent, but it
seems to suggest that he put the absence of a at the time
of the first ordination in China at the same level as the absence of nuns
at the time of MahaprajapatI's ordination. In both countries, the ordina-
tion of the first nun necessarily had to be carried out without a
However, when the nun Hui-kuo insisted on the case,
GUl).avarman added that according to the vinaya rules, a candidate must
receive the ordination from a minimum quorum of ten fully ordained
nuns, except in border areas where five nuns are sufficient. When asked
what exactly a border area is, he seems to consider also China as belong-
ing to it, in which case a minimum quorum of five nuns is needed
65

This explains why GUl).avarman says: "The correct view is that, if there
is an established assembly present, one carmot but go along with all the
requirements "66.
62 T.2063, p.937b25-27.
63 T.2063, p.937b27.
64 See also T.2063, p.941a18-19: "GUl).avannan said: 'Since China did not have both
sal!1ghas, the women were ordained by the bhikifUSal!1gha only.'"
65 T.2063, p.937c3-4: a border area is an area beyond a thousand Chinese miles or
where oceans and mountains create a barrier.
66 T.2063, p.937c2-3, translation by Tsai, 1994: 37.
290 ANNHEIRMAN
The consideration of the ordination of Mahaprajapafi as a precedent and
the validity of the nuns' ordination are again discussed in detail in the
biography of the nun Seng-kuo. Although she considered the ordination
of MahaprajapatI and the five hundred Sakya women as a precedent, she
too had some doubts and consulted GUI).avarman on the subject. GUI).avar-
man agreed with her understanding, but still did not object to a second
ordination, now in the presence of foreign nuns. Hereby, the first ordi-
nation was to remain valid. The second ordination only serves to enhance
the prestige of the
Although GUI).avarman thus allowed to extend the case of MahaprajapatI
to the Chinese nuns, such an extension is never permitted by the vinayas
or by the vinaya commentaries
68
The Sarvastivadavinaya explicitly says
that only one person could ever be ordained as MahaprajapatI (T.1435,
p.4lOa23). This statement is repeated in a commentary on the Sarvasti-
vadavinaya, the Sa-p'o-to p'i-ni p'i-p'o-sha
T.1440, p.5llb3-4. Another commentary on the Sarvastivadavinaya, the
Sa-p'o-to-pu p'i-ni mo-te-Ie-ch'ieh (iii , m ffi 1ji;!J fiJoFo, T.1441,
p.594b8, says that after the ordination by means of a jfzapticaturtha
karman 71 had been set up, an ordination based on the acceptance of the
eight fundamental rules was no longer possible.
2. The ordination of the five hundred Sakya women
Numerous Sakya women, often said to be five hundred, are recorded to
have accompanied MahaprajapatI on her way to the Buddha. While for
MahaprajapatI the acceptance of the eight fundamental rules equals an
ordination, this is not always the case for the Sakya women. On this point,
the vinaya texts differ. The Pilii Vinaya (Vin II, pp.256-257) states that the
women should be ordained by monks. They could in fact not yet receive
the ordination in both communities, since at that time there was no com-
67 T.2063, p.939c14-21. Also in his biography, GUJ;tavannan is said to express the same
ideas (Kao-seng chuan, T.2059, p.341b2-7).
68 See also Hiisken, 1997: 364-365.
69 Probably translated after the translation of the Sarviistiviidavinaya and before 431
(Yuyama, 1979: 8-9).
70 Translated by SaqIghavannan in 435 (Yuyama, 1979: 8).
71 See note 34.
munity of nuns yet, but only one nun, MahaprajapatI. A similar viewpoint
is expressed by the MahWlsakavinaya (T.l421, p.lS6a2S-b3): the Sakya
women have to be ordained before a chapter of ten monks by means of
a jftapticaturtha karman. MahaprajapatI is the upadhyayinf (teacher).
A maximum of three women can be ordained at the same time. The Dhar-
maguptakavinaya (T.142S, p.923cS-9; p.926a27-b3) sees it differently and
states that the acceptance of the eight fundamental rules is a valid ordina-
tion for both Mahaprajapau and the Sakya women72. The same idea is also
put forward by the MLilasarvastivadavinaya (T.1451, p.351c1-27).
In the Pi-ch'iu-ni chuan, the ordination of the five hundred Sakya
women is taken as an example for the Chinese women by the nun Seng-
kuo. On the question asked by some Sinhalese nuns on how the Chinese
bhik-!ulJzsaf(lgha came into being, she answers that they took Mahapra-
japatI and the five hundred Sakya women as a precedent. Just as Mahapra-
japatI received the ordination by accepting the eight fundamental rules,
and just as Mahaprajapau was then seen as the upadhytiyinz for the Sakya
women, in the same way can the Chinese women receive ordination
73
This
seems to imply that Seng-kuo considers MahaprajapatI to be the promi-
nent teacher, whose example was followed by both the Sakya women
and the Chinese women. As seen above, this kind of extension is not
allowed by the vinaya texts.
3. The ordination of an extraordinary woman
The P'i-ni-mu ching T.1463, a commentary on the pra-
timok-!asutra of an unknown school
74
and the Pi-nai-yeh Ol $), T.l464,
a vinaya text belonging to the Sarvastivada School and translated by Chu
72 This is confirmed by the karmaviicanii text for nuns Ni chieh-mo of the
DharmaguptakaSchool(compiled by Huai-su in 676, see Yuyama, 1979: 35-36), T.181O,
p.540cI9-20. This also seems to be the viewpoint of the Sa-p' o-to-pu p 'i-ni mo-te-le-ch'ieh
T.1441 (see note 70), p.594a22-23 and p.594b3: MahaprajapatI
and others presumably the Sakya women (compare the same expression in T.1428,
p.923c5) receive the ordination by accepting the eight rules. A similar idea also in the
P'i-ni-mu ching (f'I,ffiill:!ilO, T.1463 (see note 13), p.803bI2-24: all women present accept
the eight rules and consequently become nuns.
73 T.2063, p.939c17-18.
74 See note 13.
292 ANNHEIRMAN
Fo-nien in 383, both refer to the ordination accorded to an extraordinary
woman. The P'i-ni-mu ching (T.1463, p.803b26-c4) relates how once,
when the Buddha was in StavastI, a matmigf woman
75
came to see him.
When the Buddha explained the doctrine to her, she immediately under-
stood it and she obtained the fruit of stream-attainment. The Buddha then
gave her the ordination by welcoming her into the Buddhist order1
6
.
In the Pi-nai-yeh (T.l464, pp.863b16-864c12), we find a longer version
of this story. It is the story of the calJ4ala woman Pra1qti77 who at- fIrst was
attracted by the monk Ananda. In order to get him for herself she bewitched
him, but Ananda was saved by reciting the words of the Buddha. Pra1qti,
however, did not give up and followed Ananda wherever he went. Ananda
then asked the Buddha for help. The Buddha advised him to bring her
along. When Pra1qti heard the Buddhist doctrine from the Buddha, she at
once obtained the fruit of stream-attainment. Her parents, who accompa-
nied her, became lay followers and obtained the fruit of non-returning.
Finally, the Buddha ordered Ananda to bring Pra1qti to MahaprajapatI for
ordination. She received the ordination because she had already attained
the fruit of stream-attainment. Once ordained, she reached arhat-ship78.
The above story points out that it is possible for a woman of a low class
to be admitted into the Buddhist order on account of an extraordinary
capability to understand the Buddhist doctrine, even if before, she was a
tricky woman. This goes beyond the story of MahaprajapatI who was a
75 /ll!! mo-teng-ch'i: a phonetic rendering of miitatzgf, a woman of the lowest class,
a cal:ujiilii woman (Monier-Williams, 1990 [1899]: 806; Nakamura, 1985 [1981]: 1279).
76 the ordination by welcoming someone into the order.
77 chan-ch' a-Io, a phonetic rendering of cal:ujiilii, a woman of the lowest and
most despised of the mixed tribes (Monier-Williams, 1990 [1899]: 383; Nakamura, 1985
[1981]: 838). Further in the text, she is also qualified as a miitatzgf woman (/ll!!Wfim,
mo-teng-ch'ieh, see note 75). Her name was po-chi-t'i, Pra1qti (Akanuma, 1979
[1967]: 511-512).
78 Similar stories are told in T.551, Fo-shuo-mo-teng-nu ching, (Satra
on the miitatzgf girl), the translation of which is attributed to An Shih-kao (second century
AD) (Demieville et aI., 1978: 59-60), p.895a6-c13; in T.552, Fo-shuo-mo-teng-nu-chieh-
hsing-chung-liu-shih ching, q, (Satra on the miitatzgf girl and the six
senses), translated between 317-420 (Demieville et aI., 1978: 60), pp.895c21-896b25; in
T.l300, Mo-teng-ch'ieh ching, If! fhu (Satra on the miitatzgf girl), translated by Chu
Lli-yen and Chih Ch'ien in the third century (Demieville et aI., 1978: 114), pp.399c28-
401 b9; and in T.1301, She-t' ou-chien-t' ai-tzu-erh-shih-pa-su ching, = + J\
(Satra on Sardztlakan;za and the twenty-eight constellations), translated by
(ca. 265-313) (Demieville et al., 1978: 114), pp.410b28-411bI7.
member of one of the highest classes in society, and whose admittance
into the order was not based on her exceptional capability. She obtained
orily the opportunity to atttain the four fruitions. On the other hand,
Mahaprajapan, never seen as a tricky person, opened the way to all women
who want to become a nun, while the mtitangf!ca1Jr!tilti woman is pre-
sented as one exceptional case.
4. The ordination in both sarrzghas through a jiiapticaturtha karman
Once a had been established, the only way to receive
an ordination was through an ordination ceremony in both sarrzghas by
means of a jiiapticaturtha karman 79. This obligation is one of the eight
fundamental rules accepted by Mahaprajapan, and is never to be trans-
gressed. It assures the proper and uninterrupted transmission of the rules
for women from the time of the Buddha onward
so

As already mentioned above, this obligation created a major problem
in China. In the absence of a the first Chinese nun was
ordained in the presence of a chapter of monks only. At first, the vinaya
master GUI).avarman did not seem to consider this a problem, maybe
because he thought that China was that far away from India that it was
permitted to nuns to follow in Mahaprajapan's footsteps and to start all
over again. However, pressed by more questions, he agreed to a new ordi-
nation, this time in the presence of a chapter of Sinhalese nuns. Doing so,
he never said that the fIrst ordination was invalid, he only said that a sec-
ond ordination would augment the value of the first one
S1
In what fol-
lows, I examine all the criteria mentioned by the Pi-ch'iu-ni chuan to
have a legally valid (second) ceremony:
a woman candidate must have studied for two years (as a
probationer) before she can be ordained (p.937b28-29). This is in
accordance with all the vinayas
S2

79 For details on this ceremony,> see Heirman, 1997; Heirman, 2002: Part 1,75-79:
80 The survival of a community relies on an uninterrupted ordination tradition (Bechert,
1961: 45; Kieffer-Piilz, 1992: 28; Harvey, 2001: 71).
81 T.2063, p.939c20-21, p.941a21-22. See also the biography of GllI}avarman, T.2059,
p.341b2-5.
82 All the vinayas state that during the two years that precede her ordination, a woman
has to undergo a special training (for details see Heirman, 2002: Part 1,67-75).
294 ANNHEIRMAN
a woman candidate must be of sufficient age (p.941a22-bl)83, most
probably twenty as said in all the vinayas
84
.
a 'small district'85 (,ordination platform') has to be established
(p.939c23).
a chapter of at least ten (in border regions five) legally ordained nuns
must be present (p.937c1-3; p.939c21-22)86.
All the vinayas indicate a minimum number of monks and nuns to be
present at an ordination ceremony. To ordain a male candidate; ten monks
are needed in the ill border regions, a group of five monks
is sufficient
87
. To ordain a female candidate, most vinayas state that ten
nuns are required for the first ceremony in the and ten
monks for the second ceremony in the ill border regions,
83 After the ordination question of the Chinese nuns had been settled ca. 433, there is
only one reason put forward why an ordination can still be declared invalid, and a second
ordination can possibly be allowed, namely when at the fIrst ordination the candidate was
not of sufficient age. See also the biography of GUl).avarman, T.2059, p.341b3-4.
84 On the age of a candidate, see Heirman, 2002: Part T, 82-88.
85 Any formal act has to be carried out within a well delimited district (sima). In order
to have a legally valid formal act, every monk or nun present in that district has to attend
the ceremony. In case a formal act can be carried out without the presence of all monks/nuns
of the usual sima (valid, for instance, for the ceremony, see note 97), a small sfma
(in the Pali Vinaya, khalJl/asima; in the Samantapasadika, also sfmamalaka and
sfmamalJl/ala) can be delimited. This is the case for the ordination ceremony when a chap-
ter of ten monks/nuns is sufficient. See Kieffer-Piilz, 1992: 27-28, 192-194. To all proba-
bility, the Chinese term 1IJ'1. (T.2063, p.939c23) corresponds to this small district (cf. Naka-
mura, 1985 [1981]: 942, s.v. II: malJl/ala; Heirman, 2002: Part ill, 1046, s.v. sima: J'I.).
86 See also the biography of GUl).avarman, T.2059, p.341b5-7.
87 Pali Vinaya, Vin T, pp.58-59, 197, 319; Mahfsasakavinaya, T.1421, p.144b28-29,
p:162cl6-18; Mahasaf!lghikavinaya, T.1425, p.416a19-22, p.422b4-8; Dharmaguptaka-
vinaya, T.1428, p.846a4-6, p.886a25-27; Sarvastivadavinaya, T.1435, p.219c25-28;
M illasarvastivadavinaya, T.1447, pp.1052clO-1053a3.
88 Pali Vinaya, Vin n, pp.271-273 (fIrst ceremony in the bhik:tulJfsaf!lgha; the number of
nuns is not explicitly mentioned), pp.273-274 (second ceremony in the bhi4usaf!lgha; the num-
ber of monks is not explicitly mentioned); Mahfsasakavinaya, T.1421, p.187c7-8 (10 nuns),
p.188b3ff. (the bhikIfusaf!lgha is addressed; the number of monks is not explicitly mentioned);
Mahasaf!lghikavinaya, T.1425, p.473c24-26 (at least 10 nuns and 10 monks); Vinaya of the
Mahasfuylghika-Lokottaravadins, Roth (1970), p.50, 67 (at least 10 nuns and 10 monks);
Dharmaguptakavinaya, T.1428, p.763b24, p.763c28-29 (10 nuns), p.925a27ff., p.926a20 (the
bhikIfusaf!lgha is addressed; the required number of nuns (10, see note 89) and monks has to
be present; the number of monks is not explicitly mentioned); Sarvastivadavinaya, T.1435,
p.331b16-17, p.333a15-16, a29-b1, 8-9, 17 (fIrst ceremony in the bhikIfulJfsaf!lgha; the num-
ber of nuns is not explicitly mentioned), p.331aI8-19ff., p.332c28-29ff. (second ceremony in
five nuns and five monks can presumably carry out the ordination.
The number of nuns to be present at the ceremony in the
is generally also ten.
89
These figures are confirmed by the Commentary
on the {part for] of the Dharmaguptakavinaya compiled by
Tao-hsiian: for the first ceremony in the ten nuns are
required. In border areas only five. For the second ceremony in the
there must be ten nuns and ten monks
90

In China, the presence of fully ordained nuns became possible when in
429, a foreign boat captain named Nan-t'i (it :m:) brought several
91
Buddhist
nuns from Sri Lanka to Nan-ching, the capital of the Southern Sung
dynasty92. Although GUIJavannan had agreed to a new ordination in the
presence of foreign nuns, the Chinese nuns still had to wait until a sufficient
number of Sinhalese nuns had arrived in China
93
This was the case ca.
433
94
By that time, however, GUIJavannan had died and the ceremony was
guided by another monk, Smp.ghavannan9
5
. He was well acquainted with
vinaya and translated a commentary (T.l441) on the Sarviistiviidavinaya.
the bhikeusarrzgha; both communities have to be present; 10 monks are required); Mi1lasar-
viistiviidavinaya, Schmidt (1993), p.256 (at least 12 nuns and 10 monks) (see also T.1451,
p.352a26-27: for nuns, there are formal procedures that require four, five, or twelve nuns; in
addition, there are formal procedures carried out in both sarrzghas).
89 PaIi Vinaya, Yin n, pp.273-274 (nuns accompany the candidate; the exact number
is not mentioned); Mahfsiisakavinaya, T.1421, p.l88a23-24 (10 nuns accompany the can-
didate); Mahiisiil!lghikavinaya, T.1425, p.473a28 (the upiidhyiiyinl (and maybe other nuns,
see the Vinaya of the Mahasfup.ghika-Lokottaravadins) accompanies the candidate); Vinaya
of the Mahiisfup.ghika-Lokottaravadins, Roth (1970), pp.43-44, 57 (the bhik
e
UlJIsal!lgha
accompanies the candidate); Dharmaguptakavinaya, T.1428, p.925a25-26 (the
bhikeUlJIsarrzgha accompanies the candidate); Sarviistiviidavinaya, T.1435, p.332c27 (the
bhikeUlJIsarrzgha accompanies the. candidate); Mulasarviistiviidavinaya, Schmidt (1993),
p.256 (the bhikeUlJIsarrzgha accompanies the candidate).
See also Kieffer-Piilz, 2000: 377-380.
90 M. Vo1.64, Szu-fen pi-ch'iu-ni ch'ao, 1Z!l5Htliffiti>, p.72a3, p.73a3-4, p.79al-6.
91 Maybe eight, see the biography of GUI).avarman, T.2059, p.341a29.
92 T.2063, p.939c12-14.
93 See the. biography of GUI).avarman, T.2059, p.341 b5-7. The latter passage also points
out that the first Sinhalese women were not of sufficient age. This possibly refers to the
minimum seniority of twelve years that is requested by all the vinayas for the upiidhyiiyinl
(teacher) ofthe candidate (see Heirman, 2002: Part 1,89 and 110-111, notes 113 and 114).
94 432: p.937c4-5; 433: p.939cc21-22; 434: p.941a20-21, p.944c3-5.
95 Seng-chia-pa-mo (i!t{hDJlj()lji!). For a biography, see Shih, 1968: 138-140, a transla-
tion of Kao-seng chuan (i'Ilii!t1l., T.2059, p.342b11-c7).
296 ANNHEIRMAN
As can be seen from the above, one certainly tried to avoid any fur-
ther discussion on the validity of the second ordination. In this context,
it is striking that no attention whatsoever went to recording which vinaya
text was used at the ceremony. This is remarkable since the vinayas known
to the Chinese in the fifth century all state that a legal procedure (karman)
has to be carried out by a harmonious sal[lgha (samagrasarrzgha)96.
The terms samagra and sarrzgha imply that there has to be unity in legal
procedures and unity in the recitation of the precepts, this is unity in the
recitation of the at the ceremony98; that all monks
and nuns who are present in the legal district (sfmii)99 have to attend the
ceremony; and that there have to be enough monks or nuns in order to
carry out a formal act in a legally valid way. Only then do we have a har-
monious sarrzgha. This implies that this kind of sal[lgha is only possible
within one and the same school (nikiiya), defined by a cornmon vinaya
100

Consequently, the chapter of nuns or monks and the candidate for ordi-
nation naturally have to rely on the same vinaya. Was this the case for
the first ordinations in China? The texts do not give any hint about the
vinaya text for this ceremony. We only know that the two monks who
96 Pali Vinaya, Vin I, p.316; MahfSiisakavinaya, T.1421, p.161c17; MahiisiiY(lghika-
vinaya, T.1425, p.422b9-14; Dharmaguptakavinaya, T.1428, p.885c14-15; Sarviistivii-
davinaya, T.1435, p.220a13-14, c3-5.
97 A ceremony held every fortnight and attended by all monks/nuns of the district
(simii), so that the unity of the order is reaffirmed. At this ceremony, the priitimok.ra
(list of precepts) is recited.
98 Pilii Vinaya, Vin ill, p.173 (see also the defInition of 'not to live in the community'
(asaY(lviisa) in Vin ill, p.28); Mahisiisakavinaya, T.1421, p.20c6-7; MahiisiiY(lghikavinaya,
T.1425, p.282c23-25; Dharmaguptakavinaya, T.1428, p.595aI5-16; Sarviistiviidavinaya,
T.1435, p.266c18-24.
See Tieken, 2000: 2-3, 10-11, 13,26-27, who points out that 'unanimous' is the promi-
nent meaning of 'samagra'. See also Hu-von Hiniiber, 1994: 219-226; Heirman, 2002:
Part II, 244, 262, 271, 282 (notes 53-55), 327 (notes 290-292).
99 A district in which the formal acts are carried out by an entire order in a legally
valid way (see note 85).
100 Schools (nikiiya) are defined by the recognition of a common vinaya, and thus of a
common priitimok$a. Only then can they commonly perform legal procedures. See Bechert,
1982: 67-68; Bizot, 1988: 13; Bechert, 1993: 54: 'As a rule, monks belonging to differ-
ent Nikayas do not conduct joint Sanghakarmas [formal acts]. Though they may not always
dispute the validity of each other's ordination, they do not recognize it as beyond dispute
either. If there were doubts about the validity, the Sanghakarma would be questionable.
If the validity of ordinations is called into question, the legitimation of the Sangha is endan-
gered."
CHINESE NUNS AND THEIR ORDINATION IN FIFfH CENTURY CHINA 297
played an important role in the realization of the ceremony, GUIJavarman
and Sarp.ghavarinan, were probably acquainted with respectively the
Dharmaguptakavinaya and the Sarwistiviidavinaya. We also know that in
the fifth century, three vinayas were popular: in the south mainly the
Sarviistiviidavinaya, and in the north the Mahiisiif(lghikavinaya and to a
lesser extent the Dharmaguptakavinaya
lOl
Since the ordination ceremony
was held in the present city of Nan-ching, it is not unlikely that the
Sarviistiviidavinaya has been used. However, another vinaya can certainly
not be excluded. In any case, it is highly improbable that the Pali Vinaya
was the basic text. Not one ordination based on the latter text is found in
the biographies of Chinese monks or nuns. That the Sinhalese nuns were
most probably ordained in the Pali tradition
102
does not seem to have
caused a problem to the Chinese. First of all, in the fifth century the ques-
tion of using only one vinaya was not an issue for vinaya masters
103
Sec-
ondly, the Pi-ch 'iu-ni chuan tells us that the first group of Sinhalese nuns
had already mastered Chinese before the ordination ceremony was held
104

The Kao-seng chuan adds that GUIJavarman even explicitly asked them
to study Chinese
105
It is therefore possible that they did not only learn
Chinese, but that they also studied a Chinese vinaya. In that case, even
when the Sinhalese nuns had been ordained in a different tradition, the
Chinese ordination ceremony itself can have been based on one and the
same vinaya. Since no vinaya explicitly says that all the participants to
an ordination ceremony have to be ordained in the same tradition, but
only that a sarrzgha that carries out a formal act has to be unanimous as
to the ceremony, the conditions for a valid ordination ceremony
can have been fulfilled: the required number of nuns was present, and the
participants all referred to the same legal procedures and the same prii-

The second ordination ceremony closed the debate on the validity of
the ordination of Chinese nuns. However, in 474, a group of nuns again
asked a new ordination after having listened to an exposition on the
Sarvastivada vinaya rules by the vinaya master Fa-ying. This request was
101 See Heinnan, forthcoming(b).
102 Tsai, 1981: 8; Bartholomeusz, 1996 [1994]: 20-22.
103 See Heinnan, forthcoming (a) and (b).
104 T.2063, p.939c22-23.
298 ANNHEIRMAN
refused. It is not clear why the nuns wanted another ordination. Accord-
ing to the Pi-ch'iu-ni chuan, it was because unorthodox practices were
widely spread. The text does not say what kind of unorthodox practices
these were, but the nuns were told that the only reason to receive another
ordination was that a nun was not of sufficient age at the time of the first
ordination
lo6
. After this incident, no further discussions on the validity of
the ordination are mentioned.
5. The ordination through a messenger
Finally, a particular ordination ceremony is allowed when it is too dan-
gerous for a woman candidate to go to the after her ordi-
nation in the i.e. when her chastity might be violated.
In such cases, the permission to ordain through messengers is given in all
vinayas 107:
Pali Vinaya, Yin II, pp.277-278: first allowed to the courtesan
A<;lqIlakasl. A competent nun goes to the bhikkhusaT[lgha on her behalf.
The ordination ceremony takes place in the bhikkhusaT[lgha. Back in
the bhikkhunfsaT[lgha some rules are explained to the newly ordained
nun108.
Mahfsasakavinaya, T.1421, p.189a26-b15: first allowed to the cour-
tesan ArdhakasI. A group of ten nuns goes to the on her
behalf. Back in the the candidate is told about the
ceremony that took place. Finally, some rules are again explained to
her.
o MahiisaT[lghikavinaya, T.1425, p.474a3-b29: first allowed to a disci-
ple of the nun Dharmadinna. The upadhyayinf of the candidate goes
to the and asks for messengers. Two or three monks
then go back with her to hear the woman candidate. Thereupon the
ordination is carried out in the in the presence of the
105 T.2059, p.341b6.
106 T.2063, p.941a22-bl.
107 Also T.1463 (P'i-ni-mu ching, see note 13), p.807a7-11, refers to the possibility of
an ordination through a messenger. When the Buddha was still alive, it was allowed once
for a very beautiful girl. The same procedure can still be used for an equally beautiful girl.
108 Translation by Horner, 1963 [1952]: 383-384. See also Hlisken, 1997: 432-433.
. upadhyayinz.. Finally, the upadhyayini and the messengers go back to
the newly ordained nun to inform her about the ceremony 109.
Vinaya of the Mahasllip.ghika-Lokottaravadins, Roth (1970), pp.52-58,
70-82: similar to the MahrlsafTlghikavinaya except that now two dis-
ciples are in danger, and that the ordination ceremony is carried out
in the bhik,yusafTlgha in the presence of a chapter of at least ten nuns
among whom the upadhyayinz
1
!o.
Dharmaguptakavinaya, T.1428, p.926b7-c14: fIrst allowed to a group
a women candidates from the Sakya and the Koliya clans. A compe-
tent nun, accompanied by two or three other nuns, goes to the
bhik,yusafTlgha on behalf of the candidate(s). Thereupon, the ordination
ceremony is then carried out in the Finally, the nun
messenger informs the newly ordained nun(s) about the ceremony.
Sarvastivadavinaya, T.1435, pp.295b13-296a22: first allowed to the
courtesan ArdhakasI111. On her behalf, a nun messenger goes to the
bhik,yusafTlgha where the ordination ceremony is carried out. After-
wards, the messenger goes back to the newly ordained nun to inform
her about the ceremony, and to again explain her a few rules.
Mulasarvastivrldavinaya, T.1451, pp.368b2-369b16
112
; Dharmadinna
is ordained through a nun messenger both in the and
in the to save her from marriage. Thereupon Dhar-
madinna reaches arhat-ship.
Conclusion
Halfway the fifth century, through the translation of many vinaya texts,
the ordination rules for nuns were well known to the Chinese. As else-
where in the Buddhist world, the Chinese women wanted to rely on an
109 Translation by Hirakawa, 1982: 76-81.
110 Translation by Nolot, 1991: 37-42.
111 Although qualified as a commentary on the Sarvastivadavinaya, Sa-p'o-to-pu p'i-ni
mo-te-Ie-ch'ieh T.I441, p.594b4, states that the ordination through
a messenger was given to a woman called Dharmadinna (Ta-mo-t'i-na; j!,!J!!m!JIB).
112 Also T.1458 (Ken-pen-sa-p'o-to-pu Iii-she; iii 1f, llfl I< m), a commentary
on the Mulasarvastivadavinaya compiled by Jinamitra and translated by I-ching in 700
(Yuyama, 1979: 14), p.599a8, refers to the ordination through a messenger received by
Dharmadinna.
300 ANNHEIRMAN
uninterrupted, legally valid ordination tradition. Apart from a few unique
cases of ordination, such as the ordination of the first nun Mahaprajapati
who was ordained through the acceptance of the eight important rules, the
ordination of her Sakya followers, and the ordination of an exceptional
woman of the lowest class, the vinaya texts also prescribe all the rules
to be kept for a nun's ordination by means of a jfzapticaturtha karman.
The most important one of these is that the ceremony should be held first
in the presence of a chapter of nuns and then in the presence of a chap-
ter of monks. Since at the time of the fIrst ordination of a Chinese woman,
there were no fully ordained nuns in China, the latter rule could not be
applied, and the question was raised whether this invalidated the Chinese
nuns' ordination.
In this debate, the fust points of reference were Mahaprajapati and, to
a lesser extent, the Sakya women. In the fifth century, both the basic ver-
sion of their story as well as the misogynist re-writing of it were well
known, and, just as in India, it was pointed out that nuns should always
remain in a subordinate position towards monks. But could Mahapraja-
pati and the Sakya women also function as a precedent for the ordination
of Chinese women? If we strictly interpret the vinaya texts and com-
mentaries, the answer is in the negative: the texts emphasize that the
ordination of Mahaprajapati and of the Sakya women is a unique case
never to be repeated. Still, the vinaya master GUIfavarman accepted
Mahaprajapati's ordination as an example that could be legally followed
by the Chinese women. Herefore, he seems to argument that since China
is so far away from India, the ordination of Chinese women could start
i1). ,the same way as the ordination of Indian women had. When asked,
however, about distant regions that still have to apply all the vinaya rules
for ordination, the answer of GUIfavarman clearly implies that also China
belongs to these regions. This is probably the reason why he permitted a
second ordination. He considered it to be of a higher level in the hope that
it would calm down the discussion on the validity of the Chinese
bhik:fulJlsarrzgha.
This second ordination, now in the presence of a chapter of nuns,
became possible when more than ten Sinhalese nuns had arrived in the
capital of Southern Sung China. The ceremony was prepared very care-
fully. The participants strictly followed the rules in order to perform a
legally valid ordination that had to become the basis of the Chinese ordi-
nation tradition.' Given the importance of this moment, it is striking that
one issue is not documented: the basic text on which the ceremony relied.
In accordance with the vinaya rules, all participants to a formal act should
refer to the same text so as to establish the unity of the order. Although
we do not know what text was used at the ordination ceremony, it seems
highly improbable that it was the Pali Vinaya, while it is highly probable
that the Sinhalese nuns were ordained in the latter tradition. This does not
have to mean that there was a conflict between the Sinhalese and the
Chinese nuns. Since the Sinhalese nuns of the fIrst group that was brought
to China by the captain Nan-t'i, are said to have learned Chinese, it is not
impossible that in the four years that had elapsed between their arrival in
China and the ordination of the Chinese nuns, they had also mastered a
Chinese vinaya. In that case, the participants in the ordination ceremony
are likely to have used the same vinaya text, so that the ceremony itself
was harmonious. Later discussions on the validity of the Chinese nuns'
ordination were not accepted, and the debate was closed.
Abbreviations
M.
Ma-L.
T.
Yin
Manji zokuzokyo, fIrst edition Kyoto 1905-1912, reproduction Taipei
1968-1970
MahasilIp.ghika-Lokottaravada/-in
TaishO Shinsha Daizokyo I. Takakusu, K. Watanabe
(eds.), Tokyo, 1924-1935
The Vinaya PitakaJ?l, H. Oldenberg (ed.), London, Pali Text Society,
1964
2
-
3
[1879-1883]
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NOTES ON THE CONTRIBUTORS
Sarah LEVINE received her BA from Oxford University, her MA from the
University of Chicago and her PhD from Harvard University. She is
Research Associate in Human Development and Psychology in the Har-
vard Graduate school of Education. Her books include "Mother and
Wives. Gussii Women of East Africa" (University of Chicago press) and
"Dolor y Alegria. Women and Social Change in Urban Mexico" (Uni-
versity of Wisconsin Press). She is co-author of "Child Care and Culture.
Lessons from Africa" (Cmabridge University Press).
Kim GUTS CHOW is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Wesleyan University
in the Department of Religion. She works on gender and sexuality within
Buddhist monasticism and has published articles on Buddhism, gender,
merit making, Tibetan Medicine, and irrigation and settlement. Her manu-
script "Gendering Enlightenment" which is under review at Harvard Uni-
versity Press, is based on over three years of fieldwork in Zangskar and
Ladakh, Indian Kashmir.
Ann HEIRMAN (1968) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Eastern
Languages and Cultures (Chinese Languages and Culture) at Ghent Uni-
versity, Belgium. She received her PhD in 1998 from Ghent University.
Title of her thesis: The Discipline in Four Parts. Rules for Nuns accord-
ing to the Dharmaguptakavinaya. Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 2002. Her
main fields of interest are: Early Buddhist Monastic discipline and Early
Buddhist monastic history in China.
Peter SKILLING is Curator of the Fragile Palm Leaves for the preservation
of Buddhist Literature (Bangkok). Among his various contributions to
Buddhist studies, one may mention Mahasutras: Great Discourses of the
Buddha. Vol. I and II, Oxford: Pali Text Society 1994 and 1997.
Ivette M. VARGAS is a PhD Candidate in the Committee on The Study
of Religion at Harvard University and is a lecturer at Grinnell College
(2002-2003). Her interests include Tibetan Buddhism and South Asian
Studies, with a focus on the hermeneutics of suffering, illness and heal-
ing practices, ritual theories, and narrative studies.
The International Association of Buddhist Studies
Colette CaiUat
President
Gregory Schopen
Vice-president
Oskar v. Hinilber
General Secretary
Cristina Scherrer-Schaub
Treasurer
Regional Secretaries:
Janet Gyatso (Cambridge, MA, USA)
S. Katsura (Hiroshima)
Peter Skilling (Bangkok)
D. Seyfort Ruegg (London)
Members ofthe Board:
R. Buswell (Los Angeles), H. Durt (Kyoto), R. Gupta (Shantiniketan),
K. Kimura (Saitama), D.S. Lopez, Jr., (Ann Arbor), A. Macdonald
(Paris), D. Seyfort Ruegg (London), E. Steinkellner (Vienna),
T. Tillemans (Lausanne), A. Yuyama (Tokyo)
The International Association of Buddhist Studies, founded in 1976, is devoted to
promoting and supporting scholarship in Buddhist Studies in all its aspects, past and
present, around the world. Membership is open to scholars of all academic disciplines.
Membership dues are USD 40 for full members, USD 20 for student members,
USD 1000 for life members. Subscriptions to the JIABS for libraries and other institu-
tions are USD 70. Dues and sUbscriptions may be paid in the following ways:
1. by direct bank to bank transfers in US dollars or in the equivalent amount in
Euros, Swiss francs. The transfers shouls be to the IABS accounts at the Banque Can-
tonale Vaudoise, PI. St-Fran,<ois, Ch-1001 Lausanne, Switzerland (SWIFT CODE:
BCVLCH2L, clearing no. 7677), account numbers, 986.51.04 for US dollars and
983.51.02 for Swiss francs.
2. by Visa of Mastercard
3. by cheque payable to the "Association lnternationale d'Etudes Bouddhiques
(lABS)." There will be no supplementary charges for cheques drawn in Swiss
currency on Swiss banks. Otherwise, please add 10 dollars or 15 Swiss francs to cover
our processing charges.
4. by Eurocheque in Swiss francs.
Prospective members from developing countries may contact the Treasurer concerning
subsidized membership rates. Dues and sUbscripotions are payable per calendar year by
December 31 of the previous year. Payments other than direct bank transfers should
be sent to Professor Cristina Scherrer-Schaub, Section de langues et civilisations
orientales, Universite de Lausanne, BFSH 2, CH-I 015 Lausanne, Switzerland.

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