法苑珠林 58.27

58.27

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.