Khema (
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...
: Khemā;
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
: Kṣemā) was a Buddhist
''bhikkhuni'', or nun, who was one of the top female disciples of
the Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
. She is considered the first of the Buddha's two
chief female disciples, along with
Uppalavanna
Uppalavanna (Pali: Uppalavaṇṇā; Sanskrit: Utpalavarṇā) was a Buddhist ''bhikkhuni'' (Pali; Sanskrit: Bhikshuni), or nun, who was considered one of the top female disciples of the Buddha. She is considered the second of the Buddha's two ...
. Khema was born into a royal family in
Sagala
Sagala, Sakala ( sa, साकला), or Sangala ( grc, Σάγγαλα) was a city in ancient India, which was the predecessor of the modern city of Sialkot that is located in what is now Pakistan's northern Punjab province. The city was the ...
, modern day
Sialkot
Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...
in
Punjab, Pakistan
Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...
. She was the wife of
King Bimbisara
Bimbisāra (in Buddhist tradition) or Shrenika () and Seniya () in the Jain histories (c. 558 – c. 491 BCE or during the late 5th century BCE) was a King of Magadha (V. K. Agnihotri (ed.), ''Indian History''. Allied Publishers, New Delhi 2 ...
of the ancient Indian kingdom of
Magadha
Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled ...
. Khema was convinced to visit the Buddha by her husband, who hired poets to sing about the beauty of the monastery he was staying at to her. She attained enlightenment as a laywoman while listening to one of the Buddha's sermons, considered a rare feat in Buddhist texts. Following her attainment, Khema entered the monastic life under the Buddha as a ''bhikkhuni''. According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha declared her his female disciple foremost in
wisdom
Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowle ...
. Her male counterpart was
Sariputta.
Background
In Buddhist belief, when a fully enlightened
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
appears in the world, he always has a set of chief disciples. For the current Buddha,
Gautama
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
, his chief male disciples were
Sariputta and
Moggallana
Maudgalyāyana ( pi, Moggallāna), also known as Mahāmaudgalyāyana or by his birth name Kolita, was one of the Buddha's closest disciples. Described as a contemporary of disciples such as Subhuti, Śāriputra ('), and Mahākāśyapa ( pi, ...
, while his chief female disciples were Khema and
Uppalavanna
Uppalavanna (Pali: Uppalavaṇṇā; Sanskrit: Utpalavarṇā) was a Buddhist ''bhikkhuni'' (Pali; Sanskrit: Bhikshuni), or nun, who was considered one of the top female disciples of the Buddha. She is considered the second of the Buddha's two ...
.
According to Theravada commentaries, in a previous life Khema was born a woman in the time of
Padumattara Buddha and encountered Padumattara Buddha's chief male disciple foremost in wisdom. The woman then makes an offering to the monk and makes a
resolution
Resolution(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate
* Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body
* New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...
to have wisdom like his under a future Buddha. Ānandajoti Bhikkhu notes that this commentary story stands out compared to stories of other nuns because she makes the wish after seeing a chief male disciple rather than a chief female disciple. However, in the
Apadāna
The ''Apadāna'' is a collection of biographical stories found in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Pāli Canon, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. G.P. Malalasekera describes it as 'a Buddhist Vitae Sanctorum' of Buddhist monks and nuns who lived du ...
texts the woman is described as having made the resolution after seeing Padumattara Buddha appoint a nun his chief female disciple. This wish came true in the time of Gautama Buddha, when she was reborn as Khema.
Biography
Early life and marriage
According to Buddhist tradition, Khema was born in the city of
Sagala
Sagala, Sakala ( sa, साकला), or Sangala ( grc, Σάγγαλα) was a city in ancient India, which was the predecessor of the modern city of Sialkot that is located in what is now Pakistan's northern Punjab province. The city was the ...
as the daughter of the king of the
Madra Kingdom
Madra Kingdom (; ) was a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata. Its capital was Sagala in Madra region, modern Sialkot in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The Kuru king Pandu's (''Pāṇḍu'') second wife was from M ...
.
Her name means "security" and is sometimes used as a synonym for
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
.
Khema was described as being immensely beautiful and having a radiant golden complexion.
When she came of age she married
King Bimbisara
Bimbisāra (in Buddhist tradition) or Shrenika () and Seniya () in the Jain histories (c. 558 – c. 491 BCE or during the late 5th century BCE) was a King of Magadha (V. K. Agnihotri (ed.), ''Indian History''. Allied Publishers, New Delhi 2 ...
of the kingdom of
Magadha
Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled ...
and became one of his chief royal consorts.
Meeting the Buddha
As a chief consort of the king, Khema developed a strong attachment to her beauty and became very vain. As a devout Buddhist himself, King Bimbisara tried multiple times to get his wife to visit the Buddha but Khema always refused. Khema had a strong attachment to her looks and knew the Buddha found fault with physical beauty. Knowing Khema loved beautiful things, King Bimbisara hired poets to recite poems in front of Khema describing the beauty of the monastery the Buddha was staying at in order to entice her to visit.
Hearing about the beauty of the monastery, Khema became curious and went to visit the monastery.
In order to ensure that Khema encounter the Buddha, King Bimbisara ordered the guards accompanying her to guide the Queen to the Buddha.
As Khema toured the monastery and approached the main hall the Buddha was staying in, the Buddha read her mind and used
psychic powers
This is a list of alleged psychic abilities that have been attributed to real-world people. Many of these abilities pertain to variations of extrasensory perception or the ''sixth sense''. Superhuman abilities from fiction are not included.
Psyc ...
to conjure up an image of a woman even more beautiful than her to appear fanning him.
Stunned by the beautiful woman, Khema thought she was mistaken about the Buddha disparaging beauty.
As Khema fixated on the image of the beautiful woman, the Buddha aged the image before her eyes, from youth, middle age, old age and then death. Seeing the image of the beautiful woman age and die, Khema realized she too must share the same fate.
The Buddha then preached to her about the impermanence of beauty until she attained
stream-entry, a level of enlightenment. The Buddha then continued to preach to her about the problems of attachment to worldly desires until she attained
arahantship
In Buddhism, an ''arhat'' (Sanskrit: अर्हत्) or ''arahant'' (Pali: अरहन्त्, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana'' and liberated ...
.
Following the attainment she joined the Buddha's monastic community and became a ''
bhikkhuni''.
Buddhist writer Susan Murcott notes that the story of Khema's enlightenment is a rare case of a laywoman attaining enlightenment ''before'' becoming a monastic.
Chief disciple
After going forth as a ''bhikkhuni'', Buddhist texts state that Khema became known for her
wisdom
Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowle ...
. In the ''Khema Sutta'', she famously preached to
King Pasenadi on the issue of the existence of the Buddha after death, explaining that the Buddha is
unfathomable and that defining him as existing or not existing after death is impossible. King Pasenadi later asks the same questions to the Buddha himself who, to the king's amazement, answers the same way Khema did.
Khema taught her friend Vijayā, leading her to become a nun as well, after which she soon became an arahant. At one point after her ordination,
Mara attempted to guide Khema away from the monastic life. Mara takes the form of a young man and attempts to seduce her, but in a drastic shift from her previous conceit, Khema describes her disgust for the human body and explains that she has moved beyond any attachment to the senses.
She is also associated with several figures in a variety of
jataka
The Jātakas (meaning "Birth Story", "related to a birth") are a voluminous body of literature native to India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, th ...
tales and stories set in the time of the previous Buddhas, where her previous existences are often shown as being kind and wise.
In one jataka tale, she is even the wife of the
bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
who would become Gautama Buddha, a role in the jataka tales that is rare for figures other than
Yasodhara.
The Buddha designated Khema the female disciple foremost in wisdom (
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...
: ''etadaggaṁ mahāpaññānaṁ''). The Buddha also praised her for her teaching and leadership skills, declaring Khema and
Uppalavanna
Uppalavanna (Pali: Uppalavaṇṇā; Sanskrit: Utpalavarṇā) was a Buddhist ''bhikkhuni'' (Pali; Sanskrit: Bhikshuni), or nun, who was considered one of the top female disciples of the Buddha. She is considered the second of the Buddha's two ...
his chief female disciples that other nuns should take as their model. Uppalavanna and Khema share the title of chief disciples with their male counterparts,
Maha Moggallana and
Sariputta.
Legacy
Khema is regarded as an accomplished disciple of the Buddha, holding the same position among the nuns as Sariputta did among the monks. Sanskrit and Pali scholar Gisela Krey notes that Khema spiritually surpassed her husband, King Bimbisara, who got no farther than
stream-entry. According to German
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...
scholar Hellmuth Hecker, Khema's unusually fast attainment of ''arahantship'' was no accident, but was something she earned from the great
merit
Merit may refer to:
Religion
* Merit (Christianity)
* Merit (Buddhism)
* Punya (Hinduism)
* Imputed righteousness in Reformed Christianity
Companies and brands
* Merit (cigarette), a brand of cigarettes made by Altria
* Merit Energy Company, ...
that she accumulated over numerous lifetimes, as described in the
jatakas.
Anthropologist Ranjini Obeyesekere notes that of the Buddha's two pairs of chief disciples, each pair had one disciple that was dark-skinned (
Maha Moggallana and
Uppalavanna
Uppalavanna (Pali: Uppalavaṇṇā; Sanskrit: Utpalavarṇā) was a Buddhist ''bhikkhuni'' (Pali; Sanskrit: Bhikshuni), or nun, who was considered one of the top female disciples of the Buddha. She is considered the second of the Buddha's two ...
) and one disciple that was light-skinned (
Sariputta and Khema). Obeyesekere argues that this pairing is meant to symbolize the inclusiveness of the Buddha's teachings, that the Dhamma is meant for people of all colors and classes.
Murcott argues that Khema's exchange with a powerful king such as King Pasenadi in the ''Khema Sutta'' shows how well respected she was, given that society at the time did not even allow female nuns to teach male monks.
Krey makes a similar argument, stating that of the scenarios involving women in Buddhist texts, the scenario where a woman is teaching a man is the most rare. In the ''Khema Sutta,'' King Pasenadi's servant talks about reports spreading of Khema's great wisdom and King Pasenadi himself acknowledges Khema's superiority to him by paying respect to her. Krey argues that Khema's mastery of the Dhamma as shown in teaching the ''Khema Sutta'', as well as the acknowledgment of her wisdom by contemporary figures, provides evidence that women could reach the same level of spiritual development as men.
See also
*
Sravaka
*
Paññā
*
Sariputta
*
Uppalavanna
Uppalavanna (Pali: Uppalavaṇṇā; Sanskrit: Utpalavarṇā) was a Buddhist ''bhikkhuni'' (Pali; Sanskrit: Bhikshuni), or nun, who was considered one of the top female disciples of the Buddha. She is considered the second of the Buddha's two ...
Notes
References
External links
Khema Sutta– The exchange between Khema and King Pasenadi on the subject of the existence of a Buddha after death.
{{authority control
Foremost disciples of Gautama Buddha
Arhats
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
Ancient Indian women
Buddhist nuns
6th-century BC women
6th-century BC Indian people