འཕགས་པ་གང་གའ་མཆག་གས་ཞས་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.4

intro.4

After Gaṅgottarā’s discussion with the Buddha has concluded, he smiles. When Ānanda asks him why, the Buddha states that a thousand tathāgatas of the past have already given this same teaching at this same location in the past to a thousand different laywomen, all named Gaṅgottarā, and that all of these women practiced the path and achieved parinirvāṇa. Skilling points out the remarkable nature of this statement, which has the effect of emphasizing not only that many laywomen have received profound teachings from the Buddha but also that they have achieved nirvāṇa, the goal of the path.