ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 11.10

11.10

descended and young Viśākha touched his head to her feet and asked her forgiveness, saying, “Of course you have my consent to go forth. I shall provide for all your needs. Whatever your needs, I shall provide for them all.” With this he sat before her to listen to the Dharma. After Dharmadinnā had instructed, encouraged, inspired, and delighted them with a Dharma teaching, she departed.

She proceeded to the nunnery, went forth, and the nuns conferred on her the precepts for female novices. Having been conferred vows for the precepts of the six factors,⁹⁵ she practiced them for two years, at which time she wished to receive full ordination. The nuns thus conferred on her the vows of the holy life and prepared to lead her to the garden of Prince Jeta for full ordination.

Dharmadinnā was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful, with an incomparably splendid complexion and an unmatched figure—the best in the land. As soon as she was born men had started asking for her hand, but since the householder Dinna had already promised her to someone, he would not give her to anyone else.

When she had gone forth, those men thought, “While she was living at home we could not have her. But now that she has left, we can do as we please. They then began to consider how they might trap her and take her by force. Someone went and alerted the nuns, and they thought, “We can no longer bring her to the garden of Prince Jeta for full ordination, nor can we keep her at the nunnery.” So they brought her back to her parents’ house, and there she stayed.

After that the nuns related her story in detail to the Blessed One, and asked, “Lord, how can we complete the nun