Buddhist traditions, Nivedita and Coomaraswamy
Prajapati
Prajapati joins the wives of newly ordained princes in requesting admission. After repeated refusals the women cut their hair, take humble garments and travel on foot to the Buddha’s residence. Ananda’s appeal asks whether women can attain release, and the Buddha answers that the way is open to women as well as men. The account then establishes the nuns’ order.
Also known as Mahapajapati Gotami · Mahāprajāpatī
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalPrajapati joins the wives of newly ordained princes in requesting admission. After repeated refusals the women cut their hair, take humble garments and travel on foot to the Buddha’s residence.
Further detail
TraditionalAnanda’s appeal asks whether women can attain release, and the Buddha answers that the way is open to women as well as men. The account then establishes the nuns’ order.
Context & interpretation
The entry follows the collection’s admission story and its portrayal of Prajapati. It does not replace examination of the differing canonical narratives or supply unreviewed rules of ordination.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
the queen-mother PrajapatIOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 339
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0339
- Original scan leaf
- 339
- Recorded leaf number
- 339
- Current Reader position
- 330
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
The way is open for women as for menOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 340
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0340
- Original scan leaf
- 340
- Recorded leaf number
- 340
- Current Reader position
- 331
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Figures in Sacred Narratives ↗
Ananda
The disciple who pleads for women’s admission and grieves at Buddha’s final departure.
Shared source pageDevadatta
The rival whose acquired powers fail to overcome hostility towards the Buddha.
Same subject and traditionChanna
The charioteer who explains the prince’s first encounters with suffering and accompanies his departure.
Same subject and traditionMahamaya
Siddhartha’s mother, whose conception dream announces the final birth of the Buddha-elect.