Women in the Buddhist Legends

This title is a vast collection and compiliation of 97 important legends relating to nature and character of women in Buddhist canonical and non-canonical literature which produced a marvellous impact on ethical values of women of all classes, who were moved by the attractive spiritual power of the Buddha’s dhamma and renounced the world to lead a pious life in the expectation of a happy rebirth or in order to amiability of rebirth altogether. There were a number of courtesans who led saintly lives after listening to Buddha. Ladies of the Sakya family were naturally the earliest women to come under the influence of the new creed. The women appear to have enjoyed a greater amount of independence and free thinking among the Sakyas than among the peoples of the plains perhaps owing to the same scarcity of women that forced them to enact a law prohibiting multiple marriages. The Therigatha and its commentary tell us in what light the monastic life presented itself to women in the days of Gautama Buddha.