釋迦譜 2.5

2.5

(Extracted from the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya: Mahāprajāpatī's leaving home and receiving the practice of the eight dharmas of respect is in every matter the same. Mahāprajāpatī, through Ānanda, asked the Buddha: "Prajāpatī having received the eight dharmas of respect has thereby obtained the full ordination. I do not know how it should be for the five hundred Śākya women." The Buddha said, "Lead them to an assembly of ten within the Great Saṅgha. Mahāprajāpatī shall serve as the upādhyāyikā and perform the karmavācanā, giving them the full ordination. Three persons may receive it at one time; it may not be four persons." The *Da fangbian jing* says: "Māra Pāpīyān and those of various wrong views, in the long night of evil and heterodoxy, cling to false doctrines and slander the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha. Therefore the Tathāgata did not permit women to gladly enter the Buddha's Dharma. The Buddha's maternal aunt Gautamī made three requests and was not permitted; in sorrow, grief, and suffering, Ānanda pleaded on her behalf: 'The Buddhas of the past were fully endowed with the fourfold assembly; why should the Tathāgata alone not be fully endowed?' The Buddha said, 'Ānanda, if Gautamī arouses great vigor to cultivate the eight dharmas of respect, she is permitted to enter the Buddha's Dharma.' Gautamī's mind was greatly delighted. The Buddha said, 'In future ages, if there are bhikṣuṇīs and women, they should always with an utmost mind be mindful of Ānanda's kindness, invoke his name, and make offerings to him. Ānanda, through his great supernatural power, will respond to their voices and protect and assist them.'")