Mahāprajāpatī and Non-discrimination (EA18.8)

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying, together with a large number of bhikṣus, viz. five hundred persons altogether, among the Śākyans at Kapilavastu, in the Nyagrodha Park.

Then Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī went to the Exalted One. She bowed her head at his feet and said to him: “I hope for a long time the Exalted One will bring the ignorant and deluded to their senses, and may his life never be endangered!”

“Gautamī”, responded the Exalted One, “such words in regard to the Tathāgata are not appropriate. The Tathāgata can prolong his life-span which will not be short, and his life will never be really in danger.”

Now Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī improvised the following verses:

“How can one revere him who is foremost,
who is unparalleled in the world?
He is capable of removing all doubts—
That is why these words of veneration are uttered.”

The Exalted One in turn responded to Gautamī with these verses:

“Reverence for the Tathāgata implies
this effort and steadfastness.
A mind that is ever more courageous
and which looks upon Disciples as equals (tulya).”

In reply to the Exalted One Mahāprajāpatī declared: “Hence-forth the Exalted One should be revered for his the Tathāgata’s, insisting on regarding all living beings with a mind free from the discriminatory concepts of upper and lower (adhika-nyūna) classes. Among the heavenly beings, men … and Asuras, the Tathāgata is supreme.”

The Exalted One acknowledged what Mahāprajāpatī had said, and she rose from her seat, bowed down… and left.

The Exalted One said to the bhikṣus: “Among my disciples it is Mahāprajāpatī who is foremost in respect of broad-mindedness and extensive awareness.”

Having heard the Buddha’s words, the bhikṣus were pleased and respectfully applied themselves to practice.

Translated from Sanskrit to Chinese by Dharmanandi.

CBETA, T02, no. 125, p. 592, c10–28. This translation originally published as Ekottaragama XXI, Buddhist Studies Review 13.2, 1996, pp. 149–150. Translated from the Chinese version by Thích Huyên-Vi in collaboration with Sara Boin-Webb and Bhikkhu Pāsādika. Used with kind permission of the Buddhist Studies Review and Bhikkhu Pāsādika.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.