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You made yourself a bridge

  • 3 days ago
  • 6 min read
Tathālokā Therī
February 13, 2026


Original post by Dao Siam
Original post by Dao Siam

🙏 A Bhikkhunī's Offering 🙏 The Bodhisattva's Heart-transforming Gift of Compassionate Sacrificial Leadership & the Dhamma Gift of Bhikkhunī Cuḍatilakā

. . .

"The Dhamma Donation of the Samanā, Bhikkhunī Cūḍathilikā Carved in Stone at Barhut Stupa"

The amended text below is translated from Dao Siam (Thai, shared here) and Rakeshh Y Gajbhiye (Hindi, link below). After the translation, I offer comments on some points of interest.


"The Bharhut Stupa is located in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, India. Located at the foot of a hill, it is an ancient Buddhist site, built [more than 2000 years ago, and developed around the year 100 BCE*] during the Shunga [and/or Shuga*] dynasty, shortly after the Mauryan period. During its heyday, approximately 100 monastics lived here. After around 1700 CE, this Buddhist site fell into ruins.


"In 1873 CE (Buddhist Era 2416 BE), Alexander Cunningham, then Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India, conducted excavations here. The excavations uncovered stone vedikas (railing pillars) surrounding the stupa, bearing exquisite carvings and inscriptions containing the names and stories of the donors. By then, some of the stupa pillars were repurposed by locals as house pillars or fences.


"Due to the remote location, Cunningham had these stone pillars moved to the Asiatic Society in Kolkata. Later, when the Indian Museum, Kolkata, was established, they were displayed there, where they remain today.


"The story of the Mahākāpī Jātaka or 'Great Monkey Jātaka' is engraved on one of the pillars on the circumambulatory wall of the stupa.


"In this Jātaka, the Buddha was born as the king of monkeys in his previous life. According to the story, King Brahmadatta of Varanasi was out sporting. A large, fragrant, ripe, sweet mango drifted down the Ganges River and got caught in the king's net. The king was delighted and ordered an investigation to find out which tree the mango came from. Unfortunately, the mango was from a tree inhabited by a herd of monkeys.


"When the king arrived, he ordered the monkeys to be hunted [thinking to eat roast monkey with mango]. The monkeys began to flee. The Bodhisattva then took immediate action. He loosely tied a vine to his body and leaped with all his might to a tree on the other side of the river. Then he pulled the vine tightly [held in place by his own suspended body] and instructed his companions to cross over him quickly. Most of the monkeys crossed safely, [but one resentful, jealous monkey rival jumped hard on his neck, breaking his back.]"


[This gravely injured the monkey king, who still persevered with the last of his strength until the very last of his monkey community had crossed over. Seeing this, the astonished human king, deeply moved, experienced a profound change of heart. He ordered a golden cloth placed below the monkey king to catch him as he fell. After falling, the human king inquired with him: "You made yourself a bridge..." and the monkey king explained his leadership ethic. The king was deeply moved and ordered all medical treatments to save him. The monkey king died on the spot. The human king ordered a royal cremation for him, raised a stupa at that spot, and saving the monkey king's skull bone, he offered another stupa to enshrine it].**


"Above this medallion carving on the railing pillar there is an inscription in Dhammalipi [aka Brahmi] script in an Indian Prakrit language akin to Pāli –


𑀲𑀫𑀡𑀸𑀬𑀪𑀺𑀔𑀼𑀡𑀺𑀬𑀸𑀘𑀽𑀤𑀣𑀺𑀮𑀺𑀓𑀸𑀬𑀤𑀸𑀦𑀁


the text of which is as follows:


'Samanāya Bhikkhuniyā Cuḍathilikāya Dānaṁ'


In other words:


“This is the donation of samanā (sāvikā/sannyasī) Bhikkhunī Cuḍathilikā (or Cuḍatilakā).”


"Special Note:

The Indian word 'bhikṣuṇī' or 'bhikshuni' is often written as "bhikkhuni" (𑀪𑀺𑀔𑀼𑀡𑀺) in the Bharhut inscriptions, while the same word is often written as "bhichhuni" (𑀪𑀺𑀙𑀼𑀡𑀺) in the Sanchi inscriptions.


"We appreciatively acknowledge and rejoice in (anumodana) the donation of the bhikkhunī (or her supporters) who donated an entire railing pillar and had this Jataka tale engraved on it. It is not certain whether the bhikkhunī herself was specifically associated with this Jātaka tale, or whether she simply had her name inscribed as the donor of the pillar, leaving the decision of which Jātaka tale would be engraved to the sculptor."


✍️✍️✍️ Originally written in Thai copyright Dao Siam

Hindi translation by Rakesh Gajbhiye with credit also to Nag Anurak Eshin Divijata

IMAGES ABOVE

  • the Barhut railing pillar inscription discussed

  • railing pillars and eastern gate of the Barhut Stupa in the Kolkata museum

  • the original site of the Barhut Stupa as it is today


NOTES

*I have changed the dates given in the original text (4th century CE and 4th century BCE) as neither matched the narrative. Most online write-ups i found in English suggest the Barhut stupa was originally established at the time of the Indian emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE, and then greatly developed during the reign of Shunga or more likely Shuga King Vatsiputra Dhanabhūti, whose name appears engraved as donor on the magnificent stupa gateways. The pillar railings themselves are dated to approximately 100BCE.


**I have added a summary of the end part of the Jātaka depicted on the medallion here, with the cloth held below the monkey king for his fall, and his sitting and speaking with the human king.


Years ago, I shared an English translation of the final verses of this Jātaka which i favored, and would like to share again - I will hope to do so when i find them.


COMMENTS

  • The explicit use of 𑀲𑀫𑀡𑀸𑀬 Samanā for a Bhikkhunī.

Time by time it has been questioned, in various inscriptions preserved in both India and Sri Lanka whether "Samanī" or "Samanā" (or the equivalent Sinhala "Meheni" in Sri Lanka) when not accompanied by the word "Bhikkhunī" could be referring to a bhikkhunī or not. Here we have one example where it clearly does.

  • The Indic use of both Prakrit (ordinary language) spellings of 𑀪𑀺𑀔𑀼𑀡𑀺 (bhikkhunī) and 𑀪𑀺𑀙𑀼𑀡𑀺 (bhichhuni), correspond phonetically with the Chinese transliterations 比丘尼 (bhikkhunī) and 苾芻尼 (bhichuni); the latter does not necessarily only correspond with the Sanskrit 'bhikṣunī'.


RESOURCES


CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

Call for volunteer Wikipedia editors

I repeatedly come across Wikipedia pages where it would be suitable and appropriate to include reference to ancient bhikkhunis, whether the pages of the places of birth or awakening or parinibbāna of the arahant therīs, or the sites (like Barhut) of their recorded inscriptions.


Our dear humans are often using AI searches to learn these days, and

Wikipedia is often being drawn on by AI.


If you would like to offer something relatively fast, simple and easy to see that bhikkhunīs are more included where they should be, rather than effectively 'disappeared' through non-mention, and you have Wikipedia editing skills, or you know someone who does, please consider this offering.


LAST WORD

The Mahākāpī 'Great Monkey' Jātaka was immensely popular for millennia, featured in the Ajanta Cave paintings, at Sanchi, and in innumerable collections of Buddhist temple paintings throughout Asia, and now in both museums, temples and private collections in the West.


The human king's desire and quick readiness to violence is contrasted with the Bodhisattva's self-sacrificial ethic of wise and compassionate leadership. This example changes the heart of the king profoundly. While the Bodhisatta monkey king becomes the Buddha; the privileged and entitled human king, attached to sense pleasures and quick to violence, who experiences the change of heart, becomes Ānanda, thanks to whom we have the Suttas - the Teachings of the Buddha. 'Aniccam, dukkham and anattam' - we should never be to quick to judge to harshly and think that anyone's 'bad character' is permanent.


And we should also never be too quick to think that worldly gains that accord with our values are permanent, or necessarily even long lasting. In the backstory, the Buddha was able to stop King Pasenadi's humiliated son's massacre of the Sakyans more than once - which is the kind of 'end' we all like to see and feel so heartened by. And yet, it was not the end, and the massacre of the Sakyans happened. Not the end we wished to see. And yet, without the diaspora of the remaining Sakyans, would we have Ashoka? - would we have Ashoka's first 'love marriage' partner, out of which came Sanghamittā and Mahinda? If we didn't have them, would we even have the Buddha Dhamma today? We can't say.


For now, I wish that such heart-changing greatly-compassionate effort and noble sacrifice not disappear from the world. And that Dhamma persevere through all the vicissitudes and not be lost.


I join in blessing the ancient samanā Bhikkhunī Cuḍatilakā and her supporters for their great gift - we need such heart-touching reminders.

I join in "Sādhu sādhu sādhu - anumodamī" together.

🙏 Tathālokā Therī, with gratitude to the Venerable Bhikkhuni Sangha and supporters of Dhammadharini

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