February 12, 2023
 
Queen Mahāmāyā, the Buddha’s Mother, is rarely mentioned in the suttas. This is because only seven days after the birth of the Bodhisatta, the queen passed away.
 
Mahāmāyā was the younger sister of King Suppabuddha in the Koliya kingdom, separated from the Sakya kingdom by the Rohiṇī river that we mentioned previously. King Suppabuddha, in turn, married Amitā Pamitā, the younger sister of King Suddhodana. As such, these two kingdoms were closely related, as inseparable as salt and pepper, like peas in a pod.
 
Mahāmāyā married King Suddhodana at the age of sixteen. She had the five beauties and sixty-four good qualities of a woman: Soft, gentle, dignified, benevolent, and full of kindness. Due to the accumulation of the Perfection (Pāramī) merits a hundred thousand eons ago, from then on, through countless lives, she always kept the five precepts. Her younger sister, Pajāpati Gotamī, also married King Suddhodana and became his second consort.
 
The old Koliya kingdom, the ancestral homeland of Queen Mahāmāyā, is now Devdaha, Rupandehi, Nepal. Devdaha has a small temple dedicated to the queen and a broken stone pillar marking the birthplace of Mahāmāyā. Half a day away is the abandoned brick foundation of the stupa dedicated to the Arahant Bhikkhunī Pajāpati Gotamī (Chief Nun), who became the step-mother of the Bodhisatta and raised Him after her sister, Queen Mahāmāyā, passed away.
 
The life of the Arahant Bhikkhunī Pajāpati Gotamī is indeed remarkable. She petitioned the Buddha for ordination for a long time, but He repeatedly refused her. Undeterred, bareheaded and barefoot, along with 500 royal women, she embarked on a long journey to reach where the Buddha was residing. These women had never walked barefoot, so their presence caused a stir wherever they went. She and the 500 women finally arrived at the destination with tiredness, swollen and burning legs, and stained clothes.
 
Despite many hardships and challenges, Pajāpati Gotamī and 500 friends eventually recieved their wishes. After living a homeless life, she diligently practiced and realized Nibbāna, becoming the first Arahant Bhikkhunī in Buddhism.
 
Throughout her renunciation, Bhikkhunī Pajāpati Gotamī performed flawlessly in her duties as a chief nun, and she was an embodiment of holy life and morality. The Buddha once praised her as “not only a great mother of the Tathāgata, an Arahant Bhikkhunī with many supernormal powers, but also a mother’s milk for the nuns, taking care of the nuns with a compassionate heart, tolerant, generous, and having the most experience in leading the nuns.”
 
During those days, Bhikkhunī Pajāpatī Gotamī uttered many verses. One of them was as follows:
 
– “Dear Blessed One, your body grew from my milk; thanks to these drops of milk, you quenched your thirst for a while; and my mind grew from the milk of your Dhamma; thanks to this milk, I ended all cravings forever.”
(See more about the history of Queen Mahāmāyā and Bhikkhunī Pajāpati Gotamī)
 
In the end, we went to pay our respects to the old Pakari Tree, where the Buddha is believed to have meditated many times. The great old Tree is green throughout the year, undisturbed by nesting birds and animals. Its canopy spreads over 82 feet wide and rises over 96 feet high, while the old and rough trunk and branches sway gently, captivating those who come to admire its beauty.

#chuahuongdao #chuahuongdaotemple #sbsstupas
#buddha #buddhism #Dhutanga #dhammajourney
 
Source: Dhammacetiya