Female Donors at Sārnāth: Issues of Gender, Endowments, and Autonomy Within a Single Religious Tradition—Buddhism

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Female Donors at Sārnāth: Issues of Gender, Endowments, and Autonomy Within a Single Religious Tradition—Buddhism International Review of Social Research 2019; 9(1): 6–17 Research Article Anand Singh* Female Donors at Sārnāth: Issues of Gender, Endowments, and Autonomy https://doi.org/10.2478/irsr-2019-0002 within a single religious tradition—Buddhism. Buddhism Received: February 28, 2019; Accepted: March 15, 2019 plays an enormous role in everyday life of monks, nuns Abstract: Buddhism has different threads of traits to be and lay persons, however, the importance and implications explored and scrutinized. One of the important aspects is of it may vary across different segments of women. In to know role and status of women in Buddhism through particular, people’s engagement in religious activities, its their visual representations in religious ceremonies, causes, practices, and consequences are highly gendered. donations of the images, etc. The role, rank and Thus, it is well-known that women are usually more implications of their participation in religious ceremonies religious than men and in surroundings where religious is matter of inquiry. In particular, it is quite stimulating presence is not controlled by gender, women have higher to know that their engagement in religious activities are levels of religious participation. Though descriptions for egalitarian or highly gendered. Sārnāthwas intentionally gender imbalance in religious activities, and more broadly chosen by the Buddha as the place of his first sermon and for the gender variances in ritualistic participation are still its importance in Buddhism became unforgettable till a matter of debate. It has been argued that the Buddha it was finally destroyed in the medieval period. The role was one of the precursors whose teachings is a source of of women in religious activities started in the age of the transformation of gender relations and empowerment of Buddha.This sacred complex shows the gender variances women. Yet, the influence of Buddhism on women’s in ritualistic participation and donations. Here, the autonomy in religious participation in the early India is influence of Buddhism on women’s autonomy in spiritual/ still a source of inquiry. It is a matter of investigation that sacredengrossment is a subject of contemplation. how women’s autonomy fluctuates across different Buddhist denominations; and how women’s autonomy Keywords: Vajrayāna, Visual representations, religious and decision making links to women’s religious autonomy, donations, gender imbalance. participation and understanding of inter-organization movement. For it the socio-economic fabric of the society, ethnocultural spectrum, and religious contexts are Women’s participation in sacred/ritualistic matters has inquired. The considerable attention has been given to frequently been linked with the opportunities and introspect the transformation of the relationship between autonomy given to them in the society. The association Buddhism and women’s status as a replication of both between women’s autonomy and Buddhism has been social changes, especially women’s entry into the formal acknowledged in inscriptions, literary evidences and a rituals, as well as monastic responses to these changes. few sources give comparisons across major Buddhist The first such kind of woman’s role started in Buddhism traditions and sects. Women participated in numerous even before its foundation as a religion. Siddhārtha was religious activities and their names have been found in offered madhu-pāyasa by Sujātā just before his various donative records. The votive epigraphs credited to enlightenment. Sujātā was the daughter of a householder females, unravels a magnificent relationship between the in a village Senanigama at Uruvelā. She had prayed to a Buddhism and its female adherents. Here the focus is on certain banyan tree near Niranjanā river for an upright variations in levels of female decision-making autonomy husband and for a son. When she had obtained what she desired for, she was enormously happy and decided to fulfil her vow to the tree-god for giving her all that she had *Corresponding author: Anand Singh, School of Buddhist Studies, wished for. As she was preparing milk-rice (madhu- Philosophy and Comparative Religions, Nalanda University, Rajgir, pāyasa), she was surprised to see Punna, her maid running India back from the place where she was sent to choose the © 2019 Anand Singh published by Sciendo. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. Female Donors at Sārnāth : Issues of Gender,Endowments, and Autonomy 7 suitable place of worshipping at the foot of the banyan tendencies could harm Buddhism and he tried to stop it. tree. She was very delighted and thrilled because she The donations by the queens to the Buddhist saṁgha is misunderstood that the vṛakshadevatā (tree god) himself already known in the age of Aśoka. The Queen’s Edict at is meditating at the foot of the tree. Sujātā too was happy Allahabad mentions Karuvākī, the second chief queen listen this. She prepared the milk-rice and poured it into who is the first Buddhist woman to figure by name in a golden bowl to offer it to him. She did not know that he Indian inscriptions. She inscribed her donations as a was in fact Siddhārtha. She bowed with respect and command from the emperor to his mahāmāttas in not only offered milk-rice.1 In Sārnāth-Vārānasī region many such Kauśāmabī but also in other parts of his empire.5 With the donations by the bhikkhus, bhikkhunīs, and lay followers establishments of new dynasties just after the the Mauryas, have been found in literary sources. Suppiya was a lay- the evidences are found in all important Buddhist woman living in Vārānasī. While visiting the monastery in monasteries including Sārnāth, where the bhikkhus and Isipattana, she met a monk who looked-for meat soup to bhikkhunīs were engaged in votive donations to recuperate from his sickness. She instructed her servant monasteries. Such donative practices may be developed in to buy meat but he was unable to find it because of non- the period of Aśoka or earlier but cultivated in period of slaughter day. She cut a piece of flesh from her thigh and the Kuṣānas, Śakas and Śātvāhanas. Two votive gave it to servant to prepare soup for the monk. The inscriptions in Sārnāth are found engraved on two stone following day the Buddha was invited for a meal at her railings which show that donations to monasteries by the place. When he reached there, he came to know about the bhikkhunīs was in process. The first inscription is in incident. After this incident the Buddha made the rule not Brahmī character of second century BCE with legend to eat human flesh even in dire need.2 Suppiya was ‘bhikhunīkāye Saṁvāhikye dāṅaṁ alambanaṁ’ (The lower declared foremost of women who had provided amenities horizontal stone of rail was donated by bhikkhunī for the sick persons and whole humankind.3 The edicts of Saṁvāhika).’6 The second inscription belongs to same Aśoka found at Sāncī, Sārnāth, and Kauśambī are earliest date and mentions the gift of Jāteyika together with epigraphic records mentioning bhikkhunīs and their role Bhārini. The legend is ‘Bhāriniye saham Jāteyikayé’. 7 The in the saṁgha. The Edicts say that if they will create Second Buddhist Council held at Vaiśalī suggests monk’s fissiparous tendencies in the saṁgha, they will be white involvement in corporeal matters which may be increased robed and expelled.4 These inscriptions suggest many in the Mauryan period. The problem arises when the new dimensions of Buddhism prevalent there. One aspect bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs appeared as a donor, evidenced is that warning to bhikkhunī saṁgha indicates existence in the votive inscriptions found at Buddhist locations of of separate nunneries in all these places, not only within early phases, as their main task was to be the dhamma the monastic set up but also outside as royal officials were educator. Sometimes these donations were accepted as a instructed to spread this message to saṁgha of bhikkhus skillful mechanism to support the comfortable living of and bhikkhunīs and get it implemented through various the bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs. But the argument which is means in their respective territories. The main cause of missed here is that the monastic community was not just issuing of these inscriptions by Aśoka was deviation by as passive recipient but an active participant in the act of bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs from original path of Buddhism. dāna, they endeavored to make themselves gift-worthy, to The leading section of the edict emphasizes the adherence demonstrate themselves as the spiritual guide of the of rules and practices that was not followed due to society and at times they also put in their efforts towards intrusion of outsiders and unfaithful who were living the prolongation of faith by contributing to the formation luxurious life out of saṁgha expenses. The bhikkhus and of permanent icons. Indeed, the patrons and lay followers bhikkhunīs who were adherent of Buddhism may also be were too liberal and Buddhist monasteries have always deviated from the original path advised by the Buddha. It been endowed with wealth and prosperity.8 In the age of might be suggested that votive donations on behalf of the Aśoka these tendencies may be looked as divisive but in bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs existed in the age of Aśoka which he did not like. He could foresee that such 5 E. Hultzsch, Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, pp.158-59 6 J.H. Marshall and Sten Konow, ‘Sārnāth’ ASIAR, 1906-07, Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 1908, p.95 1 Dīgha Nikāya, II.135, Dhammapad Aṭṭhakathā, 1.71 7 Marshall and Konow, ‘Sārnāth’, pp.95-96 2 Vinaya Pitaka, I, 216ff 8 Sushma Trivedi, ‘Ascetic Donations at early Buddhist Sites, Trans- 3 Aṅguttara Nikāya, I.26 gression of Monastic Code or Case of Reciprocity Redirected’ in Dāna, 4 E.
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