Buddhism and Female Monks

Lord Buddha not only preached a great Dhamma but displayed great qualities of equality, freedom etc when he created the Buddha sasana. One such great example is allowing females to become monks.

At the beginning of the sasana, it was all males who got ordained as monks. When Buddha visited the city of Kapilavastu to preach Dhamma to his father and family, his stepmother Queen Prajapati Gothami entered the enlightened path by becoming Sovan. She was very keen to become a monk.

One day she sought permission from Buddha to become a monk. He did not say no but said “this is not the correct time for it.” She asked him again but received the same reply.

A few years later Buddha visited the region again to prevent a war between the Sakyas and Koliyas over sharing of water from the river. Once they listened to Buddha and war was prevented thousands of princes and other males became monks. This left many females without their husbands and other without their fiancés and brothers. All of them looked up to Queen Prajapati Gothami for leadership to seek Buddha’s permission to become monks.

One day they decided to walk from Kapilavastu to city of Rajagaha where Buddha was residing at the time. They cut their hair short, wore simple dresses in yellow and started a walk. A total of around five hundred did this with hope, determination and great devotion to dhamma and desire to end the sansaric journey.

Upon arriving at the destination Queen Prajapati Gothami did not want to approach Buddha directly to avoid possible blame on him later that this permission was given due to his close relationship. Such was her devotion to the Buddha. They sought the help of Ven. Ananda for this.

Ven. Ananda approached Buddha and without asking him directly for permission he asked three questions:

1. Can a female attain Nibbana?

2. Can a female be a monk?

3. Were there female monks in previous Buddha sasana?

Buddha answered yes to all the questions. Ven. Ananda then praised Queen Prajapati Gothami and reminded Buddha of how she looked after him after his mother passed away and sought permission for the females who have arrived at the temple to be ordained as monks.

Buddha then instructed Ven. Ananda that females must agree to abide by six rules if they are to become monks. Ven. Ananda informed the group regarding the rules and when they consented they were ordained as the first female monks of this Buddha sasana. This happened on a Full moon day of September. This was followed by thousands of other females who joined the order later and many of them ended their long sansaric journeys with that.

It was a member of this order Rev Sangamitta, daughter of King Ashoka, who brought the sapling of sacred Bodhi tree to Sri Lanka. She started the Bhikkuni order (female monks) in Sri Lanka. This generation of female monks in Sri Lanka lasted for about 1000 years and came to a natural end with low numbers. Despite that there are females who observe higher precepts even today and follow a semi traditional female monk status in Sri Lanka and other countries in order to shorten their sansaric journey faster.