法苑珠林 58.27

58.27

如薩婆多論云。瞿曇彌比丘尼。是佛姨母。來見佛時。禮已不坐。為女人敬難情多。是故不坐。又不廣為尼說法故不坐。又為止誹謗故不坐。若坐聽法外道當言。瞿曇沙門在王宮時。與諸婇女共在一處。而今出家與本無異。欲滅如是諸譏毀故。是以不坐。又女人鄙陋多致譏疑。是以不坐。

As the *Sarvāstivāda-śāstra* says: When the nun Gautamī, the Buddha's maternal aunt, came to see the Buddha, she bowed and did not sit. Because women's reverence and constraint are great, she did not sit. Furthermore, because he did not expound the Dharma extensively for nuns, she did not sit. Moreover, to stop slander, she did not sit. If she had sat to listen to the Dharma, non-Buddhists would have said: 'When the śramaṇa Gautama was in the royal palace, he dwelt together in one place with palace ladies; now that he has gone forth, it is no different from before.' Wishing to extinguish such revilement, she therefore did not sit. Furthermore, women are considered lowly and invite much censure and suspicion; therefore, she did not sit.