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Yasodharā Parinibbāna

  • Mar 2
  • 2 min read
Tathālokā Therī
March 2, 2026

I would like to share with our venerable Sangha and dear Dhamma friends so that you can see and experience directly for yourself some of the devotion and appreciation of the Buddha's disciple and spiritual partner of many, many lives ~ back to the ancient Buddha Dipankara 'the Lamplighter' ~ known in her final life as Bhaddakaccānā 'the Auspicious Golden One', Bimbādevī 'Princess Bimbā,' Rāhulamātā 'Rāhula's mother,' and Yasodharā 'Bearer of Glory' ~ how she is being seen and her life is being shared among our Theravāda Buddhist friends and families of Sri Lanka, where her sacred relics still exists, where there are many statues of her, where the ancient Bhikkhuni Sangha lived for more than a thousand years, where her story is often told, and she is well known and deeply venerated.


With kindness, compassion and care, I would especially like all of my friends who were not born in a Buddhist country, or who were born in a Buddhist country where the Bhikkhuni Sangha had been long lost ~ just to get a sense and a feeling for the difference of ambiance and ease there there is in other contexts for the female body to be wrapped in the kāsāya cīvara saffron robes and to be a full and complete embodiment of what is held sacred in Buddhist cultures.


Together with the comfort, ease, normalcy and celebration that there is in ordaining and entering the robes - the great 'field of merit' - the great 'banner of the arahants' - even when one is just so tender and aspiring, when one is not yet fully awakened - how that is welcomed, how that is celebrated, for those who are clothed in and supported by this sacred opportunity faithfully, sincerely, with dedication, and energy for striving, those seeking to know the great and noble Truths for themselves.




Yasodharā Mahārahat Theraniyā Vandana Gātha

(short version, one verse (there is a longer version))


(Pāli) Yā abhirūpā dassanīyā - Bhikkhunī Saṅgha sōbhanī

Sā āsavā parikkhīṇā - vītarāgā mahiddhikā

Taṁ mahā puññavatiṁ parinibbutiṁ

Vandām Rāhulamātā Yasōdharā'ti.

(English) "Who, with excellent form and appearance

- adorns the Bhikkhuni Sangha?

She who has cut off afflictions

- who is free from passion, of great psychic power.

That embodiment of great merit and virtue,

attained to Parinibbāna -

Our homage to her, Rāhulamātā Yasodharā."


✍️ Tathālokā Therī, with the venerable bhikkhunī sangha at Dhammadharini, offering peace


(Pāli in Sinhala script)

රාහුලමාතා යසෝධරා වන්දනා ගාථාව යා අභිරූපා දස්සනීයා - භික්ඛුනීසංඝ සෝභනී සා ආසවා පරික්ඛීණා - වීතරාගා මහිද්ධිකා තං මහා පුඤ්ඤවතිං පරිනිබ්බුතිං වන්දාමි රාහුලමාතා යසෝධරා'ති.


(Sinhala translation)

තුන් ලොව අනුත්තරීය කාන්තා රත්නය වූ රාහුල මාතා යශෝධරා මහරහත් තෙරනින් වහන්සේට මාගේ නමස්කාරය වේවා 🙏

යා අභිරූපා දස්සනීයා -භික්බුනීසංස සෝභනී

සා ආසාවා පරික්භීණා - විතරාගා මහිද්ධිකා

තං මහාපුඤ්ඤවතිං පරිනිබ්බුං

වන්දාමි රාහුලමාතා යශෝධරා තී🙏

ඉතා මනහර රූ ඇති - දැකුම්කලු වූ පෙනුමැති

යම් තෙරනියක් භික්ෂුණි - සගරුවන හොබනී ද

කෙලෙසුන් නසා ඕ - වීතරාගී මහා ඉර්ධිය ඇත්තී

මහා පිං ඇති පිරිනිවන් වැඩී ඒ

රාහුලමාතා යශෝධරා - සාදරයෙන් වදිමි මම🙏


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