According to the later commentaries of the Southern tradition, after receiving full ordination Mahāpajāpatī paid homage to the Buddha, who taught her and gave her a method of meditation, and before long she attained with . The other five hundred nuns, after hearing the Nandakovāda Sutta, also attained arahantship with the six higher knowledges. Later, one day at the great Jetavana monastery at Sāvatthī, the Buddha named before the assembly the nuns foremost in each respect, and named Mahāpajāpatī foremost among those of longest standing.
Different Accounts
The occasion of the five hundred nuns' realization: the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say it was after hearing the Nandakovāda Sutta (Majjhima Nikāya 146 of the Southern tradition); the record only that the five hundred Sakyan women received full ordination together with Mahāpajāpatī, and do not record their realization.
Dating
Mahāpajāpatī's realization falls around Year 5 after the Awakening (the Buddha aged thirty-nine), “not long” after her going forth; the day on which she was named foremost is given only as “one day”; inferred from the sequence of events, the year is uncertain.
Related Entries
- Year
- Places
- People
- Discourses
Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
Not recorded in the early sutras and Vinayas of any school; found only in the commentaries or later Buddha biographies. Later addition.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Inferred from the sequence of events (neither the canonical texts nor the commentaries give the time; the year is worked out from the order of this event and those around it). Time precision: year uncertain.
Sources
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Thig-a，§156
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 AN-a
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 146Entire text
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 《難陀迦教誡經》，Thig-a §156
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.99 p.73c
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Thig-a，PTS 0.141