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thought both were the first women disciples of their respective masters, and both headed the orders of nuns in the two orders.
Two things in the life of Gautami are deserving of special attention. She not only induced the Buddha to accept women in his monastic order, but also suggested that the nuns should be given equal status with the monks. But in accepting Gautami in his monastic order, the Buddha imposed a number of conditions. One such condition was that even a fresh monk would be entitled to homage and obeisance from a veteran nun. Gautami agreed, but very soon after her initiation, she took the matter up with the Master. She submitted,
"Bhante! Why do you insist that a veteran nun must pay homage and obeisance even to a newly initiated monk? Why should it not be to the contrary that a newly initiated monk should pay his homage and obeisance to a veteran nun"?
On this, the Buddha said,
"Gautami! Such is not the practice even in religious orders which are lesser than mine; and, you know, mine is a very superior religious order "(21).
The question raised by Gautami about the status of women in the Indian society at a distance of about 2500 years has not lost its significance even now. In contrast with the importance of the issue, the reply given by the Buddha would appear to be very evasive. The reply would give the impression that even among the great men, there are few who are prepared to give recognition to fresh values; most of them prefer to adhere to established practices and conventions. It is true that even now women are fighting to improve their status in a society which is dominated over by men; but the fact remains that even 2500 earlier, there was a woman in this country who had made it an important issue with no less a man than the Buddha himself.
Gautami apart, a number of other nuns, notably Khema, Utpalavarna, Patacara, Bhadra, Kuṇḍala kesa, Bhadra Kapilayani and many others, became famous in the Buddhist order. In naming the eta dagga vagga (foremost among the
