One day the Great Lamp of the World,
the Caravan Leader for men,
dwelt in the Mahāvana Hall,
among Vesali’s gabled roofs.The Victor’s mother’s sister then,
the Buddhist nun Great Gotamī,
was dwelling in a nuns’ refuge,
built in that delightful city.This reasoning occurred to her,
thinking when she’d gone off alone
from liberated Buddhist nuns
numbering five times one hundred:“I will not be able to see
the Buddha’s final nirvana,
that of the two chief followers,
nor Rāhul, Ānanda, Nanda.Destroying life’s constituents
and letting go, I shall go to
nirvana, permitted by him,
the Great Sage, the Lord of the World.”That reasoning also occurred
to the five hundred Buddhist nuns;
that reasoning also occurred
to nuns beginning with Khema.At that time there was an earthquake;
the thunder of the gods did roar.
Weighed down by grief, the goddesses
who lived in that refuge for nuns,
piteously weeping at that,
shed their tears there in the refuge.And then all of those Buddhist nuns,
after approaching Gotamī,
placing their heads upon her feet,
spoke these words they addressed to her,:“Sister, gone off alone, there we
were sprinkled with drops of water.
The unshaking earth is shaking,
the thunder of the gods roaring,
lamentations are being heard:
what then does this mean, Gotamī?”She then told everything to them,
just as she had reasoned it out.
All of them too told Gotamī,
just as they had reasoned it out.“If it’s desired by you, sister —
nirvana, unsurpassed and pure —
we too will all reach nirvana,
with Buddha’s consent, Pious One.Along with you we have gone forth
from home and from existence too;
along with you indeed we’ll go
to nirvana, supreme city.”She said, “what is there to be said
to women who are going out?”
And then along with all of them
she quitted that Buddhist nuns’ nest.“May the goddesses forgive me,
who are dwelling in this refuge;
this will be my final vision
of this Buddhist nuns’ residence.I’ll go to unconditionedness,
where there’s neither death nor decay,
one doesn’t meet the unpleasant,
nor get cut off from pleasant things.”Hearing those words, not passionless,
those heirs of the Well-Gone Buddha,
overcome with grief lamented:
“Alas, we have little merit.Without those women this Buddhist
nuns’ nest now has become empty;
the Victor’s heirs now are not seen,
as stars disappear at daybreak.Gotamī goes to nirvana
along with the five hundred nuns,
like the Ganges flows to the sea,
with five hundred tributaries.”The faithful laywomen, having
seen her going along the road,
coming out from their houses then
bowing down at her feet said this:“Great-fortuned one, be satisfied.
Nirvana’s not proper for you,
abandoning us, destitute” —
distraught like that those women wailed.In order to dispel their grief,
Gotamī spoke this honeyed speech:
“Enough with your crying, children,
today, which is your time to laugh;I have understood suffering,
the cause of suffering’s allayed,
I’ve experienced cessation,
I have cultivated the path.(The First Recitation Portion)
The Teacher’s been worshipped by me,
I have done what the Buddha taught!
The heavy load has been laid down,
the ties to existence removed.The reason for which I went forth
from my home into homelessness —
I have now achieved that purpose:
destruction of all the fetters.While Buddha and his great Teaching
are still around, nothing lacking —
that’s the time for my nirvana;
do not grieve about me, children.Koṇḍañña, Ānanda, Nanda,
Rāhula, the Victor remain;
the Assembly’s cheerful and close,
the conceit of rivals is slain.The Famed One in Okkāka’s clan
is Exalted, the Death-Crusher;
children, isn’t it now the time
for me to achieve nirvana?My wish I’ve had for very long
is finally fulfilled today.
This is the time for drums of joy.
What then with all these tears, children?If you feel compassion for me,
and if you all appreciate
the great Teaching’s stability,
then strong and fervent you should be.Beseeched by me, the Sambuddha
gave ordination to women.
Therefore as I have shown myself,
you all should follow after him.”Having thus advised those women,
placed in front by the Buddhist nuns,
going up to and worshipping
the Buddha, she said this to him:“Well-Gone-One, I am your mother,
and you are my father, Hero;
Lord, who Gives the Good Teaching’s Joy,
O Gotama, I’m born from you.Your body, made of flesh and bones,
was reared up by me, Well-Gone-One;
my flawless body, made of Truth,
was reared up by you, Gotama.I suckled you with mother’s milk
which quenches thirst for a moment.
From you I drank the milk of Truth,
peaceful without interruption.Great Sage, you owe no debt to me
for protecting and rearing you.
To obtain such a son is what
women desiring sons desire.Mothers of kings, like Mandhātā,
are sunk into existence sea.
O son, through you I’ve crossed over
life, this ocean of becoming.Women can easily obtain
the name “King’s Mother” or “Chief Queen.”
The name, “Mother of the Buddha”
is the hardest name to obtain.O Hero, I’ve obtained that name!
I got my wish because of you.
Whether little things or big things,
all of that is fulfilled by me.Having abandoned this body,
I want to reach full nirvana.
Give me permission, O Hero,
O Dis-ease-Ender, O Leader.Stretch forth your feet, like lilies soft,
which are marked with wheel, goad and flag.
I shall make obeisance to you,
with a mother’s love for her son.Show me your physical body;
it resembles a heap of gold.
One last good look at your body,
then off I go to peace, Leader.”Marked with the thirty-two great marks,
it was adorned in radiance:
the Victor showed her his body,
a pale sun through an evening cloud.Then she laid her head down upon
the soles of his feet, marked with wheels,
which were like lotuses in bloom,
as brilliant as the dawning sun.“I’m bowing to the Sun for Men,
the Banner of the Solar Clan;
when I have died for the last time,
I will never see you again.Chief of the World, it is believed
that women make every error.
If there’s any error in me,
forgive it, Mine of Compassion.I begged you, over and again,
for ordination of women.
If I was in error in that,
forgive it, O Bull Among Men.O Hero, with your permission,
I instructed the Buddhist nuns.
If I gave bad advice in that,
forgive it, Lord of Forgiveness.”“What’s not forgiven to forgive
in one who’s adorned with virtue?
What more am I to say to you
when you’re going to nirvana?Those who are desiring escape from the world
in my pure and complete Assembly of monks,
are like the fading crescent moon at daybreak
after having seen the ruin of its grasps.”Like the stars and the moon around Mount Meru,
the other nuns circumambulated him,
Chief Victor, and after bowing at his feet,
they stood there gazing at the Blessed One’s face.“Formerly my eyes and ears weren’t satisfied
by the vision of you nor hearing your speech.
But now, having obtained perfection, my mind
is satisfied by the taste of the Teaching.When you roar forth amidst the crowd,
destroying the sophists’ conceit,
those there who are seeing your face,
are fortunate, O Bull of Men.Battle-Ender, fortunate too,
are they who worship your fine feet,
which have broad heels, extended toes,
and nails the color of copper.Fortunate too, O Best of Men,
are those who listen to your words,
imperfection-slaying, friendly,
honey-sweet and full of gladness.Fortunate am I, Great Hero,
intent on worshipping your feet.
The existential desert crossed,
I shine due to the good Teaching.”Then the pious one explained \[her
thoughts\] to the Assembly of monks,
and having worshipped Rāhula,
Ānanda and Nanda, she said:“I am weary of my body,
similar to a serpent’s den,
a sickness-house, heap of dis-ease,
pasturing in old age and death,
covered with varied flaws and drool,
dependent on others, actionless.
Therefore I desire nirvana;
give me your permission, children.”Nanda and lucky Rāhula,
who were griefless, without constraint,
wise and unshakingly steadfast,
reflected on the way things are:“Woe on greed for conditioned things:
as worthless as banana wood,
same as a deluded mirage,
fleeting and constantly changing.In flux are all conditioned things,
in so far as the Victor’s aunt,
the one who suckled the Buddha,
Gotamī, goes without a trace.”Ānanda was then still training,
fond of the Victor, but still sad.
Beseeching her there, shedding tears,
he was wailing piteously:“Gotamī is going, smiling;
surely then soon the Buddha too
will be going to nirvana,
like a fire whose fuel has run out.”Gotamī said to Ānanda
who was lamenting in this way:
“O son, keen on serving Buddha,
your wisdom’s deep as is the sea,and so you really should not mourn,
when the time for smiling has come!
Son, through your assistance to me,
I have realized nirvana.Being requested by you, dear,
Buddha gave us ordination.
Therefore do not be distressed, son;
your effort is now bearing fruit.That state unseen by the ancients,
and likewise by rival teachers,
is known by Buddhist young maidens,
when they’re only seven years old.So take your final look at me,
preserver of the Buddha’s word;
Son, I am going to that place
where one who’s gone cannot be seen.”Once when he was preaching Dhamma,
the Chief Leader of the World sneezed.
At that time, compassionately,
I spoke well-wishing words to him:“Live for a long time, Great Hero!
Remain for an aeon, Great Sage!
For the sake of the entire world,
do not grow old nor pass away!”The Buddha then said this to me
who had spoken to him like that:
“Buddhas are not to be worshipped,
as you’re worshipping, Gotamī.”“How then, O One with Omniscience,
should the Thus-Gone-Ones be worshipped?
How should Buddhas not be worshipped?
Being asked, tell all that to me.”“See my followers, united,
vigorously energetic,
constantly firm in their effort —
that is worship of the Buddhas.”Then, going back to the refuge,
gone off alone, I reflected:
“the Lord, who Reached the Three Worlds’ Ends,
likes a united retinue.Well then, I’ll reach full nirvana;
let me see no hindrance to that!”
I, contemplating in that way,
after seeing the Seventh Sage,announced to the Buddha, the Guide,
the time of my full nirvana.
And then he gave me his assent:
“you know the time, O Gotamī.”My defilements are now burnt up;
all new existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint.Being in Best Buddha's presence
was a very good thing for me.
The three knowledges are attained;
I have done what the Buddha taught!The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught!“There are fools who doubt that women
too gain dhamma-penetration.
To dispel that wrong view of theirs,
display miracles, Gotamī.”Then bowing to the Sambuddha,
and rising up into the sky,
with Buddha’s assent, Gotamī
displayed various miracles.Being alone, then she was cloned;
and being cloned, again alone.
Appearing then disappearing,
she walked through walls, walked through the sky.She traveled unattached to earth;
she also sank down into it.
She walked on water as on land,
leaving its surface unbroken.Cross-legged, she flew like a bird,
across the surface of the sky.
With her body she took control
of space right up to Brahma’s home.Taking Mount Meru as handle,
she made great earth her umbrella.
Carrying, twirling root and all,
she walked back and forth in the sky.And like the time when six suns rose,
she caused the entire world to fume.
As though it were the end of time,
she garlanded the earth in flames.She took mounts Meru, Mandāra,
Daddara, great Muccalinda —
all of them, in a single fist,
like they were tiny mustard seeds.She concealed with her fingertip
the makers of both day and night,
as though a thousand suns and moons
were a necklace she was wearing.In a single hand she held the
waters of the four great oceans;
she rained forth a torrential rain,
like an apocalyptic cloud.She made appear up in the sky
a wheel-turner with retinue.
She showed Vishnu as the boar and
roaring lion, and Garuḍa.Being alone, she conjured up
a boundless group of Buddhist nuns.
Making them disappear again,
alone, she said this to the Sage:“Your mother’s sister, Great Hero,
is one who’s done what you have taught.
An attainer of her own goal,
she worships your feet, Eyeful One.”Having shown varied miracles,
descending from up in the sky,
worshipping the Lamp of the World,
she sat down there, off to one side.“O Great Sage, I’m an old woman,
a hundred twenty years from birth.
That much is enough, O Hero;
I’m reaching nirvana, Leader.”Astonished, all the multitudes,
with their hands pressed together then,
said, “sister, you have great prowess
at supernormal miracles.”The Victor, Padumuttara,
the One with Eyes for everything,
the Leader of the World, arose
a hundred thousand aeons hence.I was born in Haṁsavatī,
in a clan of ministers then,
furnished with all kinds of servants,
rich, prosperous, very wealthy.Once, when tagging on with father —
attended by a group of slaves —
along with a large retinue,
I approached that Bull Among Men.The Victor, like autumnal son,
surrounded by garlands of rays,
without constraints, that Dhamma-cloud
rained forth like the king of the gods.Seeing him, being pleased at heart,
and having heard his lovely voice,
the Leader of Men placed his aunt
in the foremost place among nuns.Hearing this, for an entire day,
I gave the Neutral One large gifts
and lots of the requisites to
the Chief of Men with Assembly.Having fallen down at his feet,
I aspired to attain that place.
And then the Greatly Mindful One,
the Seventh Sage, said to the crowd:“This one who for a week has fed
the World’s Leader with Assembly,
I shall relate details of her:
all of you listen to my words:In one hundred thousand aeons,
arising in Okkāka’s clan,
the one whose name is Gotama
will be the Teacher in the world.Worthy heir to that one’s Dhamma,
Dhamma’s legitimate offspring,
the one whose name is Gotamī
will be the Teacher’s follower.She will be his mother’s sister,\
the Buddha’s wet-nurse his whole life.
She will attain the foremost place
among the senior Buddhist nuns.”Hearing that I was overjoyed,
and then as long as life, I served
the Victor with the requisites.
After that, having passed away,born among the Tāvatiṁsa
gods with all delights and riches,
in ten ways I was outshining
all the other gods who lived there:through shapes and sounds and fragrances,
through tastes and the things that I touch,
in terms of lifespan, complexion,
happiness and famousness tooand likewise through supreme power
I shone, having attained those ten.
There I became the beloved
chief queen of the king of the gods.Transmigrating in the cycle,
being blown on by karma-wind,
I was born in a slave-village,
in the realm of the Kāsi king.Every day there were five hundred
slaves dwelling in that very place.
I was the wife of he who was
best of all the slaves living there.Five hundred self-become Buddhas
entered our village seeking alms.
Along with all my female kin,
I was thrilled after seeing them.All of us having formed a guild,
we served those Buddhas for four months.\
Having given each the three robes,
we transmigrated with husbands.Fallen from there with our husbands,
we all went to Tāvatiṁsa.
And now, in my final rebirth,
born in Devadaha city,my father, Añjana Śākya,
my mother was Sulakhanā.
We left for Suddhodana’s house,
in Kapilavastu City.The other women born Śākyan
also came to the Śākyans’ house.
Distinguished among all of them,
I was wet-nurse of the Victor.After having gone forth, my son
became the Buddha, the World’s Guide.
Afterwards I renounced the world,
together with the five hundred.Along with the Śākyan heroes,
I witnessed the comfort of peace.
They were the men who formerly
had been born as our own husbands.Makers of merit together,
they’ve now seized the crucial moment.
Pitied by the Well-Gone-One, they
experienced arahantship.The rest of the Buddhist nuns there
then all rose up into the air.
Come together like bright stars
those women with great powers shined.They displayed their diverse powers
like different types of ornaments
might be displayed by a goldsmith,
who is well-trained in workmanship.After displaying miracles,
variegated and many,
having pleased the Fine Debater,
the Sage, and his retinue then,
having descended from the sky,
having worshipped the Seventh Sage,
permitted by the Chief of Men,
they sat down in that place again.“Hey, Hero, it was Gotamī
who showed pity to all of us.
Perfumed by your good karma, we
reached destruction of our constraints.Our defilements are now burnt up;
all new existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
we are living without constraint.Being in Best Buddha's presence
was a very good thing for us.
The three knowledges are attained;
We have done what the Buddha taught!The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
We have done what the Buddha taught!We are masters of miracles,
O Sage So Great, we are masters
of the “divine ear” faculty,
and knowing what’s in others’ hearts.We know all of our former lives;
“divine eye” now is purified.
All the constraints have been destroyed;
there now will be no more rebirth.It was in your presence, Great Sage,
that our own knowledge came to be,
knowing meaning and the Teaching,
etymology and preaching.Leader, you’re surrounded by us,
Buddhist nuns with hearts full of love;
O Great Sage, give your permission
to us to all reach nirvana.”The Victor said, “What can I say
to women who are telling me,
‘we are going to reach nirvana’?
Know that now is your time for it.”At that time all those Buddhist nuns,
starting with the nun Gotamī,
worshipping the Victor then rose
up from their seats and went away.The World’s Chief Leader, the Wise One,
with a large body of people,
followed his own maternal aunt
until she got up to the gate.Then Gotamī fell to the ground
at the feet of the World’s Kinsman,
and with all of the other nuns
performed a final foot-worship.“This will be my final vision
of you, the Lord of the Whole World.
Never again will I see your
face, the fountain of ambrosia.No more homage to your soft feet;
I won’t ever touch them again.
O Hero, Chief of the Whole World,
today I’ll go to nirvana!What’s your physical form or face,
with things being such as they are?
All conditioned things are like that,
providing no comfort, trifling.She, having gone along with them
back to her own refuge for nuns,
sat in half-lotus position
in her own superior seat.At that time the laywomen there,
fond of Buddha’s dispensation,
hearing her proceeding ahead,
those foot-worshippers approached her,pounding on their chests with their fists,
loudly howling piteous cries.
Grieving they fell down on the earth
like creepers cut off at the root.“Refuge-Bestower, Lord, do not
leave us to go to nirvana.
Bowing down our heads, all of us
are begging you, O Gotamī.”One laywoman, faithful and wise,
was striving the most among them.
While gently stroking that one’s head,
Gotamī spoke these words to her:“Enough with this depression, child,
twisted up in the snares of Death;
impermanent is all that is,
ever-shaking, ending in loss.”Then having sent them all away,
she entered the first altered state,
the second and also the third,
and then she attained the fourth one.In order, moving higher still:
the plane of space-infinity,
the plane in which perception’s pure,
and that where nothingness is seen.In reverse order, Gotamī
entered all of those altered states,
from the last back down to the first,
and then back up to the fourth one.Rising up, she reached nirvana,
like the flame of a fuel-less lamp.
There was an enormous earthquake;
bolts of lightening fell from the sky.The thunder was rumbling loudly;
the deities gathered there wailed.
A flower-shower from the sky
was raining down upon the earth.Even regal Mount Meru shook,
just like a dancer on the stage;
the great ocean was greatly grieved,
and he was weeping in distress.The gods, snake-gods and titans too,
even Brahmā, awed at that time,
said, “this one has now been dissolved;
in flux indeed is all that is.”The other nuns surrounding her,
who practiced the Buddha’s teachings,
they too attained nirvana then,
like the flames of lamps without fuel.“Alas! Attachments end up cut!
Alas! Conditioned things all change!
Alas! Life ends in destruction.”
In this way people were wailing.Then Brahmā and the deities
went up to him, the Seventh Sage,
doing what is appropriate,
according to worldly custom.Then the Teacher told Ānanda,
whose knowledge was deep as the sea,
“Go now, Ānanda, tell the monks,
my mother has reached nirvana.”Then Ānanda, who’d lost his joy,
whose eyes were filling up with tears,
announced, while choking on his words,
“Come together, O Buddhist monks,
who are residing in the North,
or in the east or south or west.
Let them all listen to my words,
monks who are the Well-Gone-One’s heirs.This Gotamī, who carefully
reared up the body of the Sage,
has gone to peace, no longer seen,
just like stars when the sun rises.She’s gone home, leaving behind her
designation “Buddha’s Mother,”
where even he, the Five-Eyed One,
the Leader, cannot see one gone.Each with faith in the Well-Gone-One,
and each of the Sage’s pupils,
ought now to come, that Buddha’s son,
to honor the Buddha’s mother.”Hearing that, the monks came with speed,
even those living far away.
Some came by Buddha’s majesty,
some were skilled in superpowers.Folks there raised a funeral bier
where Gotamī was now laid out,
in a good, lovely gabled hut,
excellent and made out of gold.The four gods called “World-Protectors”
hoisted the bier on their shoulders;
other gods starting with Śakra,
gathered inside the gabled hut.There were five hundred gabled huts,
the color of autumnal suns,
which were built by Vissakamma,
for all of those great Buddhist nuns.All those five hundred Buddhist nuns
were laid out on funeral biers,
hoisted up on shoulders of gods,
lined up in the proper order.A canopy up in the sky
was stretched out over everything.
The sun and moon and all the stars
were drawn on it in liquid gold.Flags of various types were raised,
a floral covering stretched out;
flowers rose up out of the earth,
like incense rising in the sky.Both the sun and the moon were seen,
and all the stars were twinkling;
and even when it was high noon,
the sun did not burn, like the moon.Gods made offerings of garlands,
perfumed with divine fragrances
and honored Gotamī with songs,
with dances and with discourses.The snake-gods, titans and Brahmās
according to powers and strengths,
made offerings to the laid-out
mother who was in nirvana.In front were led off all of the
Well-Gone-One’s heirs in nirvana,
Gotamī was led off after,
honored wet-nurse of the Buddha.With the gods and people out front,
the snake-gods, titans and Brahmās,
and next, with followers, Buddha,
processed to worship his mother.The Buddha’s final nirvana
was not of such a kind as this.
Gotamī’s final nirvana
was extremely miraculous.The Buddha and monks won’t be seen
at Buddha’s final nirvana.
The Buddha is at Gotamī’s;
so’s Sāriputta and so on.Then they built the funeral pyres,
made with all sorts of fragrant wood,
and sprinkled with perfumed powder.
Those great nuns were cremated there.The remaining portions and bones
were completely consumed by fire.
And at that time Ānanda spoke
this speech, which was very moving:“Gotamī’s gone without a trace
and her corpse has been cremated,
intimating that the Buddha’s
nirvana too will soon occur.”Ānanda, urged by the Buddha,
placed Gotamī’s sacred relics
in her begging bowl at that time,
and presented them to the Lord.Taking them up with both his hands,
the Seventh Sage, the Buddha, said:
“Just as the trunk of a standing,
gigantic timber-bearing tree,
impermanent, breaks into bits,
however massive it may be,
so Gotamī, who was a nun,
has reached her final nirvana.O! it is a marvelous thing!
My mother who’s reached nirvana,
leaving only relics behind
did not grieve and was not wailing.Grieving not for others left,
she’s crossed the sea of existence.
She’s cooled, she’s in nirvana.
her torment is now avoided.Know this about her, O you monks,
she was a very wise woman,
with wisdom which was vast and wide,
distinguished among Buddhist nuns.She’d mastered the superpower
called the “divine ear” element.
Gotamī was a master of
the knowledge stored in others’ hearts.She remembered her former lives;
her “divine eye” was purified.
All the defilements were destroyed;
she will not be reborn again.She had purified her knowledge
of meaning and of the Teaching,
etymology and preaching:
because of that she did not grieve.A rod of iron that’s beaten
when it is glowing due to fire
slowly cools off, leaving no ash:
like that it’s not known where she went.No rebirth place can be discerned
of the truly liberated,
who cross the flood of lustful bonds,
who’ve reached unshaking happiness.Therefore be lamps unto yourselves;
graze in the field of mindfulness.
With wisdom’s seven parts attained,
you all should end your suffering.
Thus indeed Bhikkhunī Mahāpajāpatīgotamī spoke these verses.
The legend of Mahāpajāpatīgotamī Therī is finished.