Ep.18 : The Buddha Stopped the Conflict | The Life of the Buddha

Ep.18 The Buddha Stopped the Conflict When King Suddhodana died, Lady Prajapati Gotami felt very sad. She and several other women decided to leave the worldly life and join the Buddha's group of monks to practice the Dharma. So she led the women to see the Buddha. She asked him to accept them as nuns, but the Buddha refused. The women felt very disappointed and cried. But they did not give up their wish to become nuns. When the Buddha was residing at the Mahavaha Monastery, Lady Prajapati Gotami and her group of women went to the monastery and told Ananda what had happened. Ananda felt compassion for them and promised to help them. He went to see the Buddha to ask him to be merciful and let the women join the monastic order. But the Buddha refused again. Ananda then said: "I beg you, Lord Buddha, please do a favour to Prajapati Gotami and accept her and other women as nuns, because she has done you great favours in the past. She brought you up as her own son." So finally the Buddha said: "Alright, if they are willing to follow the monastic rules I give them, they can leave home and become nuns and practise the Dharma." After leaving the Buddha, Ananda went to tell Lady Prajapati Gotami the good news. All the women were very happy and promised to observe the eight rules of conduct that the Buddha gave them. Ananda then went back to the Buddha and told him that the women were happy to follow the rules. So Prajapati Gotami became the first Buddhist nun.