Tathālokā Therī
February 14, 2022
Dear Venerables & Dhamma friends, this February Full Moon, leading up to and on the following lunar quarter (half moon ), we cordially invite you to join in commemorating together the Parinibbāna of our great awakened foremother Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī Therī and the Founding Bhikkhunī Sangha.
"Seeing the Sangha in Harmony, this is homage to the Buddhas."
"Samagge Sāvake passa, etaṃ Buddhānavandanaṃ “*
— the Buddha, from the story of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī Therī’s Parinibbāna, Gotamī Therī Apadāna & Therīgāthā
The Magha Full Moon is also known as "Sangha Day" in Theravāda Buddhism, and is commemorated for many special reasons related to the Buddha's transmission to and empowerment of his Sangha of disciples.**
According to ancient Buddhist texts, this day also marks the beginning of both the Buddha and his foster mother, the first bhikkhunī Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī*** offering final teachings to the Sangha of disciples before their Parinibbāna, or "great final Nirvāna"; the Buddha for three months, and Mahā Gotamī for the seven days leading up to the lunar quarter/half moon, this year from Feb 15th-16th to Feb 23rd-24th. A very special day.
This is one of three great days of the year to remember and commemorate the early great awakened women in Buddhism, direct disciples of the Buddha:
September Full Moon: International Bhikkhunī Day, commemorating the Founding of the Bhikkhunī Sangha
December Full Moon: Sanghamittā Day, commemorating enlightened Emperor Asoka's daughter Sanghamittā Therī's journey to Sri Lanka, and the full ordination and full awakening of the first Sri Lankan bhikkhunīs led by Anulā Therī
February Full Moon -> Eighth Day Lunar Quarter: Mahāpajāpatī Parinibbāna Day, commemorating the great final nirvāna of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī Therī with 500 members of the Founding Bhikkhunī Sangha (Māghamāsaṁ Kaṇhapakkhaṁ Aṭṭhamī - Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī saddhiṃ Mahārahantī Pañcasatabhikkuṇīparivārehi Parinibbāṇaṃ Aṭṭhamī Uposatha)
*from the Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī Therīgāthā:
Āraddhavīriye pahitatte,
Niccaṁ daḷhaparakkame;
Samagge sāvake passe,
Esā buddhāna vandanā.
161. Energetic from the start and resolute,
Constantly making effort
And unified – see these disciples:
Now that’s homage to the Buddha!
from the Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī Apadāna:
v 171. (VRI Vipassana Research Institute CST)
‘‘‘Āraddhavīriye pahitatte, niccaṃ daḷhaparakkame; Samagge sāvake passa, etaṃ buddhānavandanaṃ.
He said, "Look close at my disciples,
in harmony, and vigorous,
energetic, resolute,
that's how to bless a buddha." (72)
“'See the disciples all together, putting forth energy,'
[he replied,] resolute, always with strong effort.
This is homage to the Buddhas.' (75)
- translated by William Pruitt for the Pāli Text Society
**Learn about the great meaning of the Magha Full Moon Sangha Day here.
***Names she is known by:
Mahāpajāpatī, Mahāprajāpatī, Mahāprajāvatī, Mahāpriyapathī,
Gotamī, Gautamī, Mahāgotamī, Mahāgautamī
महाप्रजापती, মহাপ্রজাপতি
Indian Hindi/Marathi, Bengali:
Mahāprajāpatī
महागौतमी, মহাগৌতমী
Indian Hindi/Marathi, Bengali: Mahāgautamī or simply Gautamī
මහා ප්රජාපතී මහරහත් තෙරණිය
බුද්ධමාතා මහරහත් තෙරණිය
Sinhala: Mahā Prajāpatī Mahārahat Theraṇiya
Great Arahant Therī Mahā Prajāpatī
மகாபிரஜாபதி கௌதமி
Tamil: Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī
ਮਹਾਪਜਾਪਤੀ ਗੋਤਮੀ
Punjabi: Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī
ព្រះនាងមហាបជាបតិគោតមីថេរី
Khmer: Venerable Lady Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī
พระมหาประชาบดีโคตมีเถรี
Thai: Venerable Mahā Pajāpatī Gotamī Therī
大愛道瞿曇彌比丘尼
Dà ài dào qútán mí bǐqiūní
*Mahāpriyapathī Gautamī Bhikkhunī
摩訶波闍波提苾芻尼
Mó hē bō dū bō tí bì chú ní
*Mahāprajāpatī Bhikṣuṇī
鉢邏闍鉢底 (Xuanzang 舊云)
Bō luó dū bō dǐ
*Prajāpatī
波闍波提 (Xuanzang 舊云 as recording editor refers to this as an old erroneous transliteration)
Bō dū bō tí
*Pajāpatī
*indicates the re-Indicization of a word based upon the translation or phonetic transliteration of the word into classical Han Chinese characters.
སྐྱེ་དགུའི་བདག་མོ་ཆེན་མོ་གཽ་ཏ་མཱི།, སྐྱེ་དགུའི་བདག་མོ་ཆེན་མོ།
Tibetan: skye dgu’i bdag mo chen mo gau ta mI, skye dgu’i bdag mo chen mo
Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī, Mahāprajāpatī
Golden statuary Images of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī Therī and Bhikkhunī Sangha used here from the historical "Bhikkhunī Vihāra" at Wat Thepthidaram Woraviharn วัดเทพธิดาราม วรวิหาร in Bangkok, and are courtesy of Nonglak Ongsakorn and Venerable Anandajoti Bhikkhu on Photo Dharma.
May all beings be at ease, at peace, and happy.
Sabbe sattā bhavantu sukhitātta.
#Maghapurnima #maghapuja #mahaprajapati #mahagotami, #mahagautami #Parinibbana #womeninbuddhism #womenawake