Introduction

In the present chapter I study the Ekottarika-āgama version of a past life of the Buddha as a princess. I begin with some general observations on the gender of the Buddha's past lives, reported in jātaka narratives, before translating the relevant section from the Ekottarika-āgama. Then I compare this Ekottarika-āgama version to three other versions of this tale preserved in Pāli and Chinese, in particular in relation to the way they deal with the dictum that a woman cannot receive a prediction of future Buddhahood.

Jātakas in Pāli Discourses

In what follows I first survey jātakas found among the early discourses, arguably the earliest strata of jātaka tales attested in Buddhist literature, in order to provide a background for evaluating the Ekottarika-āgama discourse that reports a past life of the Buddha as a woman. Besides noting indications for the early development and significance of the jātaka genre through comparative study, my main focus is on the gender of the Buddha in his past lives.

My survey is restricted to jātakas that are found as discourses in the four Pāli Nikāyas, the only complete set of Nikāyas/Āgamas from a single tradition at our disposal. Moreover, I focus on jātakas found in Pāli discourses that have parallels in the discourse collections of other traditions, as these tales stand a good chance of reflecting a very early stage in the development of the jātaka genre. Such probably quite early specimens cover two cases where the Buddha in a former life had been a wheel-turning king and four cases where he had been a brahmin.

The two jātakas found in Pāli discourses that feature a wheelturning king are the Mahāsudassana-sutta and the Makhādeva-sutta. In both instances the Pāli versions agree with their parallels in identifying the respective wheel-turning king of that time to have been a past life of the Buddha.[n.1] [3] DN 17 at DN II 196,11 and its parallels in Sanskrit fragments, Waldschmidt 1951: 354,9 (§34.166) and Matsumura 1988: 48,3, as well as DĀ 2 at T I 24b22 (which mentions six past lives as a wheel-turning king in general, a reference also found in the Sanskrit fragment version), T 5 at T I 171a19, T 6 at T I 186c7, T 7 at T I 203a6, and MĀ 68 at T I 518b8. MN 83 at MN II 82,22 and its parallels MĀ 67 at T I 515a8, EĀ 50.4 at T II 810a26, and D 1 kha 56a2 or Q 1030 ge 51b6.

Regarding the narrative function of the motif of the wheelturning king, elsewhere I have argued that its description of the acme of worldly power serves to highlight the superiority of renunciation and of undertaking the Buddhist path to liberation over any kind of secular happiness or dominion.[n.2] [4] Cf. above p. 113ff. This would apply to both the Mahāsudassana-sutta and the Makhādeva-sutta, as well as their parallels.

One tale from the other group of four jātakas found in Pāli discourses concerns a brahmin student (māṇava) who, in spite of his initial resistance, is convinced by a friend to visit the Buddha of that time and eventually decides to go forth as a Buddhist monk. This tale is found in the Ghaṭikāra-sutta and its parallels, which agree that this brahmin student was a past life of the Buddha.[n.3] [5] MN 81 at MN II 54,18 and its parallels MĀ 63 at T I 503a5, the Mahāvastu, Senart 1882b: 335,5, and the Saṅghabhedavastu, Gnoli 1978: 30,14 and D 1 ga 10a3 or Q 1030 nge 9a7. Another tale in the Velāma-sutta features a brahmin who makes a lavish offering. The merit accrued in this way does not match the act of taking refuge in the Buddha, since at the time of this offering there were no truly meritorious recipients of the brahmin's gifts. The Velāma-sutta and nearly all of its parallels agree in identifying the brahmin donor as a past life of the Buddha.[n.4] [6] AN 9.20 at AN IV 394,11 and its parallels MĀ 155 at T I 678a7, T 73 at T I 879c19, T 74 at T I 882a13, and EĀ 27.3 at T II 645a9. Another parallel, T 72 at T I 878c11, gives the tale without identifying its protagonist as a past life of the Buddha, perhaps reflecting an earlier version of the story.

Another two tales concern brahmin purohitas. One of these tales, found in the Kūṭadanta-sutta, is again concerned with the superiority of taking refuge in the Buddha compared to the performance of a sacrifice.[n.5] [7] DN 5 at DN I 145,32, which here forms part of a series of undertakings that are superior to the great sacrifice of the past. These are offering a building for the Buddhist monastic community, taking refuge, undertaking the precepts, and going forth under the Buddha and becoming an arahant. In this case the parallel versions differ as to whether the Buddha was the brahmin purohita or the king himself.[n.6] [8] According to DN 5 at DN I 143,26 the Buddha was the brahmin purohita, whereas according to DĀ 23 at T I 100b26 he was the king. A Sanskrit fragment parallel then comes out with the rather puzzling indication that the Buddha had been both, fragment 408r4, von Criegern 2002: 35: ubhayam apy ahaṃ bhāradvāja samanusmarāmi api rājā kṣatṛyo mūrdhābhiṣikta evaṃrūpasya yajñasya yaṣṭā api brāhmaṇaḥ purohitaḥ evaṃrūpasya yajñasya yājitā. The other tale, found in the Mahāgovinda-sutta, concludes by indicating that the path to communion with Brahmā practised and taught by the brahmin purohita who is the protagonist of this tale did not lead to true dispassion and realization, unlike the path now taught by the Buddha.[n.7] [9] DN 19 at DN II 251,12. Nearly all of the parallel versions agree that the brahmin purohita was a past life of the Buddha.[n.8] [10] DN 19 at DN II 251,9 and its parallels DĀ 3 at T I 34a10 and the Mahā-vastu, Senart 1897: 224,5. Another parallel, T 8 at T I 213c14, just concludes by noting that the Buddha told this story about the past and thus without providing any identification, which could reflect an earlier version of the tale.

The narrative functions of the four tales involving brahmins seem to be closely related to the need to demarcate the superiority of the early Buddhist tradition over contemporary brahmins. One way in which this tendency expresses itself is by depicting the actual conversion of a brahmin, as in the case of the Ghaṭikāra-sutta and its parallels. Another manifestation of the same tendency evident in the tales involving sacrifices and/or purohitas proceeds by showing that brahminical offerings cannot compare to going for refuge to the Buddha, who teaches a path of practice superior to communion with Brahmā.

Similarly to the two tales involving wheel-turning kings, these four tales concerned with brahmins of the past would have been able to fulfil their narrative function even without being considered stories of a past life of the Buddha. The fact that the identification of a past life of the Buddha is not invariably reported, or at times even different identifications can be found, gives the impression that these tales need not have been a jātaka from the outset.[n.9] [11] Cf. in more detail Anālayo 2010b: 55–71. Whether parables or jātakas, however, for these stories to make sense and appeal to the ancient Indian audience, their protagonists must be male.

In the two cases involving a wheel-turning king, according to a dictum to which I come back later in the course of this chapter a woman is considered incapable of fulfilling the role of a wheelturning king, presumably reflecting ancient Indian notions of what it takes to be a king.[n.10] [12] According to the Mahāvastu, Senart 1890: 70,1, in the ancient Indian setting kings in general were male, na ca kahiṃcit istriyo rājā, sarvatra puruṣā rājā, "nowhere females are kings, everywhere males are kings." Megasthenes, however, reports that in a part of India a ruling queen could be found; cf. Mc- Crindle 1877: 147, 156, and 158 as well as the discussion in Altekar 1956: 186 and Scharfe 1989: 121f. Similarly, in the ancient Indian setting it is only natural that the brahmins in the other four cases should be males, since males were the standard students of Vedic lore and had the leading role in the performance of sacrifices and offerings. Besides the role to be played in a sacrifice, a brahmin purohita also had a central role in the political sphere, acting on behalf of the king.[n.11] [13] As noted by Gokhale 1980: 71, the way the purohita is described in Pāli discourses clearly reflects involvement in political administration and warfare. On the role and functions of the purohita in the commentarial Pāli Jātakas cf. Fick 1897: 107–117; on the purohita in general cf., e.g., Scharfe 1989: 112– 118 and Schetelich 1997/1998.

In sum, the role of a brahmin purohita just as much as that of a king in the ancient Indian setting makes it natural that the protagonist should be male, independent of whether the story is perceived by its audience to be a parable or an historical account.[n.12] [14] My survey only covers jātakas in Pāli discourses of which parallels from other transmission lineages are extant, consequently I have not taken up AN 3.15 at AN I 112,27, a past life of the Buddha as a king's wheelwright of which no parallel is known. Inasmuch as the gender of the Buddha's lives is concerned, however, in the case of a wheelwright who works for the king it seems also natural that the protagonist should be male. Another tale I have not taken into account is the story of Sunetta, since this is not a jātaka in AN 7.62 at AN IV 103,24 (nor in AN 6.54 at AN III 371,16 or AN 7.69 at AN IV 135,9, where he is also mentioned), but only in the parallels MĀ 8 at T I 429b28 and T 30 at T I 812c17, as well as in a discourse quotation, Pradhan 1967: 472,3 and Dietz 2007: 98,32 (for further quotations cf. Lamotte 1944/1981: 520 note 5). In this case, too, since the protagonist is a brahmin teacher, it is natural that he should be presented as a male.

So in the above jātakas in Pāli discourses the maleness of their respective protagonist, whether or not identified as a past life of the Buddha, is a requirement of the narrative setting. The story would probably not have worked in the ancient Indian setting with a woman taking on these roles.[n.13] [15] Stories from the past narrated in the early discourses rarely involve human female protagonists in exemplary roles, presumably reflecting the need for these tales to take into account the beliefs and expectations of the ancient Indian audience, given that Indian women rarely had the opportunity to occupy an exemplary position, apart from being the ideal housewife. As a result of this, there would have been few chances for a narrative to become a jātaka in which an exemplary woman features who could then have been identified as a past life of the Buddha. One of the few stories from the past involving women illustrates this. This story depicts a housewife reputed for her patience who is being tested by her female slave, with the result that she is shown up for being in actual fact quite irritable and prone to anger; cf. MN 21 at MN I 125,3 and its parallel MĀ 193 at T I 744c12. Such a tale would stand little chance of becoming a jātaka, as this would require presenting the Buddha as having been either an irritable housewife or else a slave. Neither protagonists would concord with the tendency in the early strata of jātakas to identify the Buddha consistently with positive and high-ranking human personalities.

Tales in the Pāli Jātaka Commentary

Another type of jātaka tale can be found in the Pāli Jātaka commentary. This Jātaka commentary purports to provide the narrative background for the delivery of stanzas preserved in the Khuddaka-nikāya of the Pāli canon. The tales themselves are strictly speaking not "canonical", [n.14] [16] For reflections on the notion of the Pāli canon cf. some of the publications mentioned below p. 503 note 17. although such distinctions may have been of little relevance for the audience of these stories.[n.15] [17] Derris 2008: 31 comments that "it is important to note that the medieval audience would be unlikely to categorize jātakas as either apocryphal or canonical. When women and men heard any … jātaka they would receive it as part of the Buddha's biography." Nevertheless, the indication that the bulk of narratives in the Jātaka collection is not canonical does serve to highlight the fact that these pertain to a distinctly later level than those found among the Pāli discourses.[n.16] [18] As pointed out by von Hinüber 1998: 187, such "Ur-jātakas" found among the Pāli discourses share as a distinct characteristic that they are entirely in prose (in contrast to the Jātaka collection, which is in verse).

The tendencies for stories to turn into past lives of the Buddha can be illustrated with the example of the simile of a quail that is caught by a falcon. Found in a discourse in the Saṃyutta-nikāya and its Saṃyukta-āgama parallel, this tale serves to exemplify the need to avoid being caught by Māra.[n.17] [20] SN 47.6 at SN V 146,17 and SĀ 617 at T II 172c25; cf. also T 212 at T IV 695a12. What in the discourse versions is clearly just a parable, in the Jātaka commentary has become a past life of the Buddha, who is believed to have been the quail.[n.18] [21] Jā 168 at Jā II 60,23; Rhys Davids 1903/1997: 195 comments that "there can be no question as to which is the older document; for the Jātaka quotes as its source, and by name and chapter, the very passage in the Saṃyutta in which the fable originally occurs."

In line with the example provided by this story, the Jātaka commentary abounds in past lives of the Buddha as an animal, in contrast to the jātakas found among Pāli discourses, where he is a human being.

As already noted by several scholars, the tales found in the Pāli Jātaka commentary draw on an ancient Indian narrative heritage.[n.19] [19] Cf., e.g., Franke 1906, Norman 1983a: 79, Laut 1993: 503, Kulasuriya 1996: 10, and Ohnuma 2004b: 401. Needless to say, this involves a development that would have been of pan-Buddhist significance and not confined to the Theravāda tradition.

The tendency of turning popular tales into jātakas had the result that at times rather worldly narrations became records of the Buddha's past lives.[n.20] [22] Winternitz 1920/1968: 90 observes: "so konnte jede noch so weltliche, dem buddhistischen Ideenkreise noch so ferne stehende Geschichte zu einer 'buddhistischen' werden." As a result of this, in some past lives he is shown to engage in quite objectionable conduct.[n.21] [23] Appleton 2007: 117 note 16 notes that at times he "lies, steals, murders, and commits sexual impropriety"; cf. also De 1951: 59 and Skilling 2006b: 54. Compassion is also notably absent from many tales.[n.22] [24] Schmithausen 2000: 438 note 8 notes that "in den (meist vorbuddhistischen) Geschichten, die von den Buddhisten auf frühere Leben des historischen Buddha (als Bodhisattva) projiziert worden sind, spielt das Mitleid oft gar keine Role." Clearly such stories did not come into being as illustrations of the future Buddha's cultivation of the qualities required for Buddhahood,[n.23] [25] Cone and Gombrich 1977: xvii point out that the idea that "the Bodhisattva is throughout these lives developing … [the] prerequisites for Buddhahood … certainly postdates most of the stories" in the Jātaka collection. In fact, according to Cummings 1982: 20, "most Jātakas at the time of Bhārhut were simply used as parables in illustration of the Doctrine, and did not yet carry any specific significance as stories of the Buddha's previous incarnations"; cf. also Sarkar 1990: 5. but were instead put to this use when they had already acquired the basic elements of their narrative plots.[n.24] An example is the Vessantara tale, Jā 547 at Jā VI 479,1; for studies of which cf., e.g., Fick 1926, Alsdorf 1957, Cone and Gombrich 1977, Norman 1981/1991, Gombrich 1985, Collins 1998: 497–554, Durt 1999, Shaw 2015, Shì 2015, Anālayo 2016g and the articles in Collins 2016. The basic plot builds on the motif of the begging brahmin whose requests have to be obliged; on this trope cf., e.g., Jamison 1996: 153ff. This plot must have originated in a setting imbued with brahminical values and stands in dialogue with that. The highly successful adoption of this tale in the Buddhist narrative traditions then comes with a Buddhist veneer, which accommodates the giving away of anything begging brahmins ask for, including wife and children, as instances of the practice of the perfections, which is clearly not the context within which the plot originated.

Now in the Pāli Jātaka commentary the Buddha's past lives are also consistently male. Here this is not a result of the narrative setting, but much rather would be a result of the way these stories came into being. When identifying one of the protagonists of a particular story taken from ancient Indian lore as a past life of the Buddha, it must have been natural, in fact perhaps even inevitable, that characters were chosen who were male.[n.25] [26] Appleton 2010: 96 points out that "the fact that the Bodhisatta always happens to be male in his jātaka stories is simply because he is male in his final birth."

This not only follows the precedent set by the jātakas found in Pāli discourses, but also conforms to the general notion that gender tends to remain the same across different lives.[n.26] [27] Consistency of gender would have been a natural notion in the Indian setting. Doniger 1999/2000: 298 points out that "in Hindu texts … very few, if any, gender changes occur in reincarnation … this dearth of gender transformations in Hindu stories of rebirth stands in strong contrast to the frequent changes of species that take place in reincarnation in texts like The Laws of Manu"; cf. also Appleton 2011: 43f on the consistency in sex across lives in Apadāna narratives. In this context, maleness would naturally have become a characteristic capable of providing some degree of constancy among otherwise widely different characters from the human and animal worlds. From a narrative perspective, maleness would naturally have stood out among the unceasing variations in these tales as an easily identifiable marker of continuity.

In sum, in jātakas found among the Pāli discourses the previous lives of the Buddha are male due to the narrative requirement of the respective stories; in the commentarial Pāli Jātaka collection maleness serves to string together diverse stories as past lives of the Buddha.[n.27] [28] Appleton 2011: 47 sums up: "that women cannot be bodhisattas was not, therefore, a careful considered doctrine designed to exclude women. It did, however, result in a great inequality, despite widespread recognition that women were capable of achieving arahatship."

Jātakas and the Bodhisattva Path

Once jātakas in general, be these found in the Pāli canon or elsewhere, came to be seen as exemplifying the conduct of a bodhisattva, the consistent maleness of the Buddha's past lives would have acquired a significance far beyond its original purposes. The fact that he was always male would have easily resulted in the notion that the path to Buddhahood, at least in its final stages, requires one to be male.[n.28] [29] As Appleton 2010: 96 points out, "after the association of the stories with the bodhisatta path, his consistently male character influenced the idea that a bodhisatta must be male."

This is in fact spelled out explicitly in the Bodhisattvabhūmi, for example, according to which an advanced bodhisattva has left behind womanhood for good and will not be reborn again as a female.[n.29] [30] Wogihara 1930: 94,4: bodhisattvaḥ prathamasyaiva kalpāsaṃkhyeyasyātyayāt strībhāvaṃ vijahāti bodhimaṇḍaniṣadanam upādāya na punar jātu strī bhavati; cf. also Har Dayal 1932/1970: 223f and Paul 1979/1985: 212 note 7. Romberg 2002: 164 notes that once "the aim was no longer to become an Arhat, but to become Buddha … this shift made, in fact, the situation for women worse, because a doctrinal foundation was laid for the necessity of changing the sex before being able to become enlightened"; cf. also Harrison 1987: 79, who aptly sums up that, "although both men and women can ride in the Great Vehicle, only men are allowed to drive it." According to the Mahāvastu, those who progress along the stages (bhūmi) leading to Buddhahood are males.[n.30] [31] Senart 1882b: 103,11: sarvāsu daśabhūmiṣu puruṣā bhavanti. In a similar vein, the Nidānakathā of the Jātaka commentary lists eight conditions that are required for being able to receive the prediction of one's future Buddhahood, thereby consecrating one's condition of being a bodhisattva, one of which is possessing a male genital organ.[n.31] [32] Jā I 44,20: liṅgasampatti; cf. also the discussion in Endo 1997/2002: 253f. Ps IV 122,12 and Mp II 15,7 precede such a listing by proclaiming that a woman is even unable to have the (fully fledged) aspiration for Buddhahood, paṇidhānamattam pi itthiyā na sampajjati.

It is against the background of this development, where maleness as the result of a narrative requirement becomes a requirement for actual practice, that the tale of the Buddha's past life as a princess is best evaluated. In what follows I translate a version of this tale found as part of a discourse in the Ekottarika-āgama and then study this version in comparison with these three parallels:[n.32] [38] The translated text is taken from EĀ 43.2 at T II 757a26 to 758a6, which is part of a longer discourse. The first part of EĀ 43.2 describes the eightfold uposatha and thus is a parallel to AN 8.41 at AN IV 248,18. The exposition of the eightfold uposatha in EĀ 43.2 leads to the topic of aspirations of the three yānas, where the aspiration to become a Buddha then leads to the topic of the future advent of Maitreya and his three assemblies of disciples.

• The Padīpadāna-jātaka, which is part of the Paññāsa-jātaka collection, a collection that is not part of the Jātaka commentary related to the verses found in the Khuddaka-nikāya.[n.33] Jaini 1981: 396,1 to 402,3; on this text cf. also Jaini 1989/2001; on other versions of this tale in Theravāda literature cf. Gombrich 1980: 70, Derris 2008, Skilling 2009a: 132f and 2010: 950, and Derris 2014; and on the whole collection or other parts of it Skilling 2006a, Unebe et al. 2007, Sheravanichkul 2008, Unebe 2009 and 2012.
• A version in the Scriptural Collection on the Six Perfections (六度集經), an assemblage of jātaka tales illustrating the Buddha's practice of the six pāramitās, preserved in Chinese.[n.34] T 152 at T III 38c5 to 39a7 (tale 73); on this collection cf. Shyu 2008; translations of tale 73 can be found in Chavannes 1910: 263–266 and Shyu 2008: 180–183.
• A version also preserved in Chinese and found in a collection known under the title of being the Scripture on the Wise and the Fool (賢愚經).[n.35] T 202 at T IV 371b13 to 371c22 (this is part of tale 20); for translations of the Mongolian and Tibetan counterparts cf. Frye 1981: 198f; on the textual history of this text as a whole cf. Mair 1993/1999.

The fact that a version of this story is part of a discourse in the Ekottarika-āgama reflects a recurrent feature of this collection in incorporating late material not found in other collections of early discourses in the Pāli Nikāyas or Chinese Āgamas.[n.36] Cf. above p. 391f. Neither the inclusion of this tale in the Ekottarika-āgama, nor differing times of translation when compared to the Collection on the Six Perfections and the Scripture on the Wise and the Fool, offer sufficient grounds for deciding which version should be considered earliest.[n.37] Needless to say, an early version may be translated relatively late and a late version comparatively earlier, depending on the vicissitudes of transmission, wherefore time of translation is not by itself a sure guide to assessing the earliness of a particular version (a situation further complicated by the fact that, during textual transmission and cross-fertilization, a late element may become part of an otherwise early text).

As far as I can see, it seems best to consider all four versions as different executions of the same basic plot, without attempting to identify one of them as the source text.

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Translation

In former times there was a king called *Ratnagiri, who governed by relying on the Dharma, without any crookedness, being in control over this realm of Jambudvīpa. At that time there was a Buddha called Ratnasikhin,[n.38] [39] My rendering of the name follows the indication in Akanuma 1930/1994: 543 (although given as the name of a prince); in the Padīpadāna-jātaka, Jaini 1981: 397,4, the Buddha's name is Porāṇadīpaṅkara. who was a Tathāgata, an arahant, fully and rightly awakened, endowed with knowledge and conduct, a well-gone one, a knower of the world, a supreme person, a leader on the path of Dharma,[n.39] [40] Cf. above p. 394 note 41. a teacher of gods and humans, called a Buddha, a protector of the world, who had emerged in the world.

That king had a daughter called Munī with an exceptional countenance,[n.40] [41] EĀ 43.2 at T II 758c4 reports that the Buddha Gotama identified Princess Munī as one of his previous lives. The corresponding type of identification can be found in the Padīpadāna-jātaka, Jaini 1981: 401,38, in T 152 at T III 39a6, and in T 202 at T IV 371c19. her face being of the colour of peach blossoms, which was all the result of having in previous lives made offerings to Buddhas.

At that time that Buddha also had three communal gatherings, [just as the future Buddha Maitreya].[n.41] [42] My supplementation is guided by the fact that the use of "also" seems to refer back to three communal gatherings under the future Buddha Maitreya mentioned a few lines earlier in EĀ 43.2 at T II 757a18. At the time of the first communal gathering of disciples there was a congregation of one hundred and sixty-eight thousand,[n.42] [43] Adopting the variant 初聲聞 instead of 聲聞初. at the second communal gathering there was a congregation of one hundred and sixty-eight thousand, and at the third communal gathering a congregation of one hundred and thirty thousand. All these were arahants who had eradicated the influxes.[n.43] [44] DN 14 at DN II 5,6 and its parallels in Sanskrit fragments, Waldschmidt 1956: 74, as well as DĀ 1 at T I 2b22, T 2 at T I 151c15, and T 4 at T I 160a10 similarly report that several former Buddhas had three such communal gatherings of disciples; as Waldschmidt 1956: 74 note 1 points out, EĀ 48.4 differs in this respect.

Then that Buddha gave a teaching to his disciples in this way: "Monks, you should mindfully sit in meditation, do not be negligent. Moreover, try to make an effort to study and recite the discourses and the precepts."

The attendant of that Buddha was called Puṇṇa, he was foremost in learning (just as now with me the monk Ānanda is most excellent in learning). Then the monk Puṇṇa said to the Buddha Ratnasikhin:

"There are monks whose faculties are dull, who have the energy neither for the task of meditative concentration nor for study and recitation. Wishing for these people to find peace, what category [of practice] would the Blessed One allocate to them now?"

The Buddha Ratnasikhin said: "Suppose there are monks whose faculties are dull and who are not fit for the task of practising meditation [or recitation]. They should cultivate [the third] of the three activities [that lead] to a superior human condition. What are the three? That is, they are sitting in meditation, reciting the discourses, and assisting the Saṅgha in its affairs." In this way, that Buddha gave such sublime teachings to his disciples.

At that time there was an old monk who also was not fit for the task of practising meditation.[n.44] [45] On the negative image of old monks unable to learn cf. von Hinüber 1997: 72–74. Then that monk thought in turn: "I have now grown up to be ripe in age, and I am also unable to cultivate the task of meditation [or recitation]. Let me now aspire to practise a task that assists [the Saṅgha]." Then that old monk entered the town of *Marīci to seek for oil to light lamps and come to worship the Buddha Ratnasikhin so as to make him be illuminated daily without interruption.

Then Princess Munī saw this old monk begging in the streets of the town. She asked that monk: "Monk, what are you now seeking for?" The monk replied: "Your royal highness,[n.45] [46] Adopting a variant that adds 王. please know that I am old and feeble with age, I am not fit for the task of practising meditation. Therefore I beg for oil to be used to worship the Buddha by continuously venerating him with illumination."

When that girl heard the epithet "Buddha", she was delighted and thrilled, unable to contain herself. She said to the old monk: "Monk, from now on do not try to beg at any other place. I will myself support and assist you with oil and lamp wicks, granting to you exhaustive offerings of each of these."[n.46] [47] In the Padīpadāna-jātaka, Jaini 1981: 398,31, the princess makes an aspiration for future Buddhahood when offering the oil to the monk, asking the monk to inform the Buddha of her aspiration. Notably, her aspiration involves a word play on the oil she has offered, siddhatthatela, where she proclaims that her name in future will be Siddhattha (Skilling 2009a: 132f notes that the word play involved in this proclamation comes in the company of another word play between the offering of lights, dīpa, and the monk's future name Dīpaṃkara). For the princess to be proclaiming her own future name is noteworthy as the revelation of a future Buddha's name is usually the task of the Buddha who gives the prediction, not of the one who aspires to future Buddhahood. Derris 2008: 40 points out that "with this revised etymology, the princess's presence is again asserted into the traditional biography insisting that the Bodhisatta's lifetime as the princess cannot be forgotten. Indeed, her meritorious actions and aspirations enabled Prince Siddhattha to accomplish his aim. And thus the total frame of the Buddha biography is reshaped by the events of this female lifetime, from supplanting the first prediction of Buddhahood by the princess's reception of the prediction of the prediction, to the resignification of the Bodhisatta's final birth name."

Then the old monk accepted the offering of that girl and came daily to fetch oil to worship the Tathāgata Ratnasikhin, keeping up this meritorious deed. He dedicated the offering for his supreme and true awakening, with his own mouth proclaiming:

"I am already feeble from age and my faculties are moreover dull, I have no wisdom for the task of practising meditation. Endowed with the merits of this deed, wherever I am reborn, may I not fall into evil destinies. May [this merit] cause me to meet a Buddha in future lives, just like now the Tathāgata Ratnasikhin, not different from [now]. May I also meet a noble assembly just like the noble assembly now, not different from [now]. May I also be taught the Dharma just as now, not different from [now]."

When the Tathāgata Ratnasikhin had come to know what that monk had been thinking in his mind,[n.47] [48] It seems that, although the monk had verbally only expressed a desire to meet a future Buddha, etc., in his mind he also aspired to become a Buddha himself eventually. he then smiled and from his mouth five-coloured lights emerged.[n.48] [49] On the smile of a Buddha cf. also Balbir 2013: 91–97. He said: "Now, monk, in the future, after innumerable aeons, you will become a Buddha called the Tathāgata Dīpaṃkara, an arahant, fully and rightly awakened."

Then the old monk was delighted and thrilled, unable to contain himself. His body and mind became firm with the intention not to retrogress and his facial complexion was superb and exceptional.

Then the girl Munī saw that the facial complexion of that monk was extraordinary. She came forward and asked: "Monk, now your facial complexion is very special and exceptional. What is the reason?" The monk replied: "Your royal highness, please know that the Tathāgata has earlier manifestly sprinkled me with ambrosia."

The girl Munī asked: "How has the Tathāgata manifestly sprinkled you with ambrosia?" The monk replied: "I have been given a prediction by the Tathāgata Ratnasikhin. He said that in the future, after innumerable aeons, I will become a Buddha called the Tathāgata Dīpaṃkara, an arahant, fully and rightly awakened. My body and mind have become firm with the intention not to retrogress. In this way, your royal highness, I have been given a prediction by the Tathāgata."

The princess asked: "Has the Buddha given a prediction about me?" The old monk replied: "Indeed I do not know whether or not he has given a prediction about you."

Then, having heard what the monk had said, the princess mounted a vehicle [adorned] with feathers and gems and approached the Tathāgata Ratnasikhin. She paid respect with her head at his feet and sat to one side. Then the princess said to the Buddha: "I am now the chief donor of the oil that was required,[n.49] [50] Adopting the variant 是 instead of 見. constantly supporting and assisting [the monk]. Yet, the Blessed One has now given a prediction to that monk, only [for me] he has not manifested a prediction."

The Tathāgata Ratnasikhin said: "The merit of the arousal of the mind with an aspiration [for Buddhahood] is difficult to measure. What to say about the bestowal of a material gift?"

The girl Munī replied: "If the Tathāgata will not give me a prediction, I shall myself cut off my life faculty." The Tathāgata Ratnasikhin replied: "Now one who occupies a woman's body and who seeks to be a wheel-turning king will never gain it, who seeks to be Sakka will also be unable to gain it, who seeks to be king Brahmā will also be unable to attain it, who seeks to be king Māra will also be unable to attain it, who seeks to be a Tathāgata will also be unable to attain it."

The girl said: "Is it certain that I will be unable to attain supreme awakening?" The Buddha Ratnasikhin replied: "You will be able, girl Munī, to accomplish supreme and true awakening. Yet, princess, you should know that in the future, after innumerable aeons, a Buddha will emerge in the world. He is your good friend [from nowadays]. That Buddha will give you a prediction."[n.50] [51] The actual giving of this prediction is reported later in the same discourse, EĀ 43.2 at T II 758b26: "Then the Buddha Dīpaṃkara, knowing what that brahmin was thinking in his mind, said: 'Rise up quickly, in the future you will become a Buddha called the Tathāgata Sakyamuni, an arahant, fully and rightly awakened.'" The prediction by Dīpaṃkara occurs also elsewhere in the Ekottarika-āgama; cf. EĀ 20.3 at T II 599b14. Other instances of this prediction can be found, for example, in the Divyāvadāna, Cowell and Neil 1886: 252,12, the Lalitavistara, Lefmann 1902: 415,20, the Mahāvastu, Senart 1882b: 239,6, the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, T 1428 at T XXII 785b25 (for another instance in the Dharmapada of this tradition cf. Skilling 1997a: 609 (16)), and the Buddhavaṃsa, stanza 2.60 at Bv 13,1; for further references cf. the survey in Lamotte 1944/1981: 248 note 2. According to Nattier 2004a: 72f, the story of the meeting between Gautama bodhisattva and Dīpaṃkara "is frequently depicted in art from the Gandhāra region … suggesting that it may have originated at the northwestern fringes of the Indian cultural sphere"; cf. also Biswas 2009: 98, who comments that "the distribution of Dīpaṅkara images … points to the likelihood that the story of Dīpaṅkara was first formulated on the further fringes of north-west India." On the Dīpaṃkara narrative(s) cf. also Matsumura 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Then the princess said to the Buddha: "[So] the recipient is pure, [but] the donor is dirty?" The Buddha Ratnasikhin said: "Regarding what I now said, you should make a firm resolve with a pure mind."

Then, having said this, the princess rose from her seat, paid respect with her head at the Buddha's feet, circumambulated him three times, and in turn withdrew and left.[n.51] [52] At this juncture, EĀ 43.2 at T II 758a6 continues with the advent of Dīpaṃkara Buddha.

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Study

The four versions of this tale, taken into account in the present study, show several noteworthy differences in their portrayal of this past life of the Buddha. One difference between the parallel versions concerns the main protagonist. The Ekottarika-āgama and the Scripture on the Wise and the Fool agree by introducing her as Princess Munī.[n.52] [53] T 202 at T IV 371b28. The Padīpadāna-jātaka differs in so far as it does not give her name.[n.53] [54] Jaini 1981: 398,10. According to the Collection on the Six Perfections, however, she was rather an unnamed poor widow who made a living by selling oil.[n.54] [55] T 152 at T III 38c5. The role of a poor widow in the Indian setting, ancient or modern, is not an enviable fate.[n.55] [56] Cf., e.g., Altekar 1956: 115–165, Upadhyaya 1968: 87f, Nandy 1980, Datta 1988, Sharma et al. 1988/2001, Leslie 1991, (the papers in) Hawley 1994, Courtright 1995, van den Bosch 1995, Wadley 1995, Weinberger-Thomas 1996, Garzilli 1997, Mani 1998, Adhya 2006, Jamison 2006: 205, and Brick 2010 and 2014, just to mention a few. Compared to being a princess, this is about as far down as one could get as a woman. Being a poor widow would probably signal to the audience of the Collection on the Six Perfections her lack of merits. At the same time, however, in the context of the present story it also conveys the message that even from the lowliest position in ancient Indian society one can rise to future Buddhahood.

The topic of the merits of the female protagonist comes up explicitly in the Ekottarika-āgama version and the Padīpadāna-jātaka, although in quite different ways. According to the Ekottarika-āgama presentation, her beauty was the result "of having in previous lives made offerings to Buddhas". The Padīpadāna-jātaka instead highlights that her birth as a woman was the result of previously performed unwholesome karma.[n.56] [57] Jaini 1981: 398,10: attano pubbakatena aparāpariyavedaniyanāmena akusalakammena itthi jāto.

Another difference is that, whereas in the Ekottarika-āgama account and in the Collection on the Six Perfections the monk is old and unlearned,[n.57] [58] T 152 at T III 38c7. according to the Padīpadāna-jātaka he was highly accomplished, having memorized the three piṭakas and attained the five higher knowledges (abhiññā) and the eight meditative attainments (samāpatti).[n.58] [59] Jaini 1981: 397,11. This makes it less of a surprise to find that the princess does not receive a similar prediction as this outstanding monk. In the Ekottarika-āgama the low-level monk whose mere maleness makes him fit to receive a prediction conveys more sharply the message that, however high-positioned a female may be, she cannot match the domain of males.

It is also worthy of note that the Padīpadāna-jātaka not only does not assign a name to the princess, but also portrays her with less agency than the other versions. After making the offering on behalf of the princess, in this version it is the highly accomplished monk who enquires as to why she cannot be given a prediction. Here is the part that ensues after the monk's enquiry:[n.59] [60] Jaini 1981: 399,14 to 399,20.

Having heard it, the Blessed One said to the Elder: "Monk, it is not possible for me now to give a prediction to that princess, who stays in the condition of a woman."

Having heard it, the Elder asked the Blessed One again: "Venerable sir, why is it not possible for you now to give a prediction to her, being in the condition of a woman?"

Then the Blessed One said this to the Elder: "Monk, it is not possible for me now to give a prediction to her, being in the condition of a woman, because that woman has not fulfilled the combination of eight conditions [for receiving a prediction]."

As mentioned above, eight conditions are according to the Nidānakathā of the Jātaka commentary required for being able to receive the prediction of future Buddhahood, one of which is the possession of a male genital organ.[n.60] [61] See above note 31. So the princess can only receive a prediction that in future she will be given a prediction.[n.61] [62] Derris 2008: 36 comments that "this 'predicted prediction' creates a space for a woman to be acknowledged as progressing along the bodhisatta path."

In this way in the Padīpadāna-jātaka the princess does not meet the former Buddha at all; everything is done on her behalf by men.[n.62] [63] Even the indication that the future Buddha Dīpaṃkara will give her the prediction is made to the monk who will become Dīpaṃkara, Jaini 1981: 400,12, followed by noting that by dint of her offering she will pass away from the condition of being a woman and be reborn as a devaputta in the Tusita heaven. In the Ekottarika-āgama discourse and the other versions she instead personally goes to meet the Buddha in order to find out why she did not receive a prediction.[n.63] [64] T 152 at T III 38c15 and T 202 at T IV 371c12. Hence in these versions the discussion about a woman's ability to receive a prediction of future Buddhahood takes place between the former Buddha and herself.

According to the Ekottarika-āgama account, what prevents her from receiving such a prediction is that for women it is impossible to be a wheel-turning king, Sakka, Brahmā, Māra, and a Tathāgata. The Collection on the Six Perfections mentions a sixth in addition to these five, adding the impossibility that a woman could be a Paccekabuddha.[n.64] [65] T 152 at T III 38c19; for a discussion of the stipulation regarding the positions a woman supposedly cannot occupy cf. Anālayo 2009b.

The addition of the impossibility of being a Paccekabuddha involves a shift in the presentation. The other impossibilities are related to the inability of women to take up leadership roles in ancient Indian society. Women are seen as not fit to occupy the heavenly rulership positions of a Sakka, Māra (a position not as attractive as the others), or Brahmā, or else the secular and spiritual leadership roles on earth of a wheel-turning king or a Buddha.

A Paccekabuddha does not occupy a leadership role comparable to a Buddha. The question of being a Paccekabuddha is solely a question of spiritual ability, not one of spiritual leadership. Whereas considering it impossible for a female to be a Buddha presumably reflects ancient Indian notions of leadership, to proclaim that a woman cannot be a Paccekabuddha amounts to proposing that a woman, by dint of her gender, is incapable of the degree of spiritual ability required for realizing awakening without the guidance of a teacher.[n.65] [68] Cooray 2004: 244 notes that according to the developed Theravāda tradition a woman can aspire to become a Paccekabuddha, but of course needs to change sex in order to become one.

Now the impossibilities mentioned in the Collection on the Six Perfections as well as in the Ekottarika-āgama discourse do not fulfil a purpose in the present context. The problem to be solved at the present juncture of events is to explain why a woman cannot be given a prediction of future Buddhahood. The impossibilities, however, are about a woman's inability to take up the office of a Buddha. They rule out that a Buddha could be female, but they do not imply that a woman cannot become a Buddha in a future life. Thus the impossibilities do not explain why the former Buddha could not predict that Princess Munī (or her counterpart in the poor widow) would become a Buddha in the distant future.

Notably, in the Ekottarika-āgama version the exchange with the former Buddha leads up to Princess Munī somewhat directly confronting him with the query "[so] the recipient is pure, [but] the donor is dirty?" This depicts her as having the courage to enquire about the notion of the inferiority of female birth right in front of the former Buddha, who replies by encouraging her to make a firm resolve with a pure mind. This reply in a way seems to point to purification of the mind as being beyond gendered notions of purity, although it does so without actually confronting such notions.

The same gendered notion of purity also comes up in the Collection on the Six Perfections, although here the poor woman takes the inferiority of female birth quite seriously. The relevant part proceeds as follows, beginning with the Buddha's indication regarding the six impossibilities for women.[n.66] [69] T 152 at T III 38c18 to 39a3.

The Buddha said to the woman: "With a female body one cannot be a Buddha, a Paccekabuddha, Brahmā, Sakka, Māra or a wheel-turning king; these dignities are very lofty and cannot be attained with a female body. As regards your wish to attain these, you should relinquish your dirty embodiment and acquire a pure body."[n.67] [70] This injunction by the former Buddha comes remarkably close to an encouragement to commit suicide, which according to a range of extant Vinayas is a pārājika offence; cf. T 1422 at T XXII 195a14, T 1426 at T XXII 549c12, T 1429 at T XXII 1015c13, T 1436 at T XXIII 471a13, T 1454 at T XXIV 501a17, and Vin III 73,11.

The woman paid respect with her head [at the Buddha's feet] and said: "I shall now relinquish it." She returned to her house and cleaned herself by taking a bath.[n.68] [71] Shyu 2008: 185 note 460 comments that "when she was told that a female body is filthy, the widow … took a bath first. It seems she strived for the purity of a body." From afar she bowed down and said: "As regards this body, made of the four elements, it is [anyway] not to be kept forever by me."

She climbed up a building and formulated the aspiration: "May my filthy body now be for the benefit of hungry and thirsty living beings. I seek to become a male myself and receive a prediction of Buddhahood.

"Whatever living beings in this troubled world are blind and have turned their back on what is right, are inclined towards what is wrong and do not know a Buddha, I shall rescue them."[n.69] [72] Adopting a variant without 世.

She threw herself down from up high. Those who saw it were chilled and shivered. Knowing her intention, the Buddha magically transformed the ground so that it became soft as if [receiving her with] a celestial net. Her body was visibly unharmed and had been transformed into a male one.

[The widow-become-male] became dizzy with infinite joy, quickly approached the Buddha, and said full of enthusiasm: "Receiving the kindness of the Blessed One, I already gained a pure body. I only wish that I would receive a prediction, out of compassion."

The Buddha expressed his praise: "Your courage is extraordinary in the world. You will certainly become a Buddha, do not harbour any doubt about it. When the one who keeps the lamps burning [Dīpaṃkara] has become a Buddha, he will predict your name."

In this way, in the Collection on the Six Perfections the poor widow actually attempts to commit the suicide which in the Ekottarika-āgama the princess had only threatened, saying that not being given a prediction she would cut off her life faculty. In the Collection on the Six Perfections this actual attempt to kill herself makes her acquire a male body.[n.70] [73] On the change of sex motif cf. above p. 382ff. Zürcher 1980: 103 notes a comparable tale in a Daoist text where a woman, wishing to attain a male body, throws herself on a pyre and thereby is transformed into a man.

Even though she has become male, the actual prediction given is the same as what the princess in the Padīpadāna-jātaka received: a prediction of a prediction. In both cases it is only when Dīpaṃkara has become a Buddha that a proper prediction of future Buddhahood can be given, including an announcement of the future Buddha's name.

Among the different versions of this jātaka, the account in the Collection on the Six Perfections takes the strongest place in denigrating the female body.[n.71] [74] This is noteworthy insofar as the same collection contains another two stories with past lives of the Buddha as a female, and these do not involve such an advocacy of the superiority of males. These two stories, noted by Shyu 2008: 163, are tale no. 19, T 152 at T III 13a5, which concerns a mother bird's willingness to sacrifice herself for the sake of her chicks, and tale no. 72, T 152 at T III 38a11, which records two lives as a virtuous wife. For another story of a past life of the Buddha as a virtuous woman by the name of Rūpyāvatī cf. the studies by Ohnuma 2000 and Dimitrov 2004, and on the theme of gender in relation to the bodhisattva ideal the reflections in Ohnuma 2001. At the same time, however, the widow is depicted as actually succeeding in transforming herself. Alongside the appalling depiction of her attempt to commit suicide, this story at the same time also conveys the message that even a woman who finds herself at the bottom of ancient Indian society is in principle capable of taking action and transforming her situation.

The Scripture on the Wise and the Fool brings up neither the impossibilities nor the eight conditions,[n.72] [75] Kajiyama 1982: 57 already noted that in T 202 the supposed impossibilities of women are not found. and it does not even resort to giving merely a prediction of a prediction. Instead it presents a simple solution for the perceived conflict between being female and receiving an actual prediction. Here is the relevant part:[n.73] [76] T 202 at T IV 371c10 to c17.

Princess Munī heard that her noble monk friend had been given a prediction of becoming a Buddha. She thought in her mind: "The material for the lamps for the Buddha are all my possessions. Putting them up, the monk has now received a prediction. Only I did not receive one." Having thought this, she approached the Buddha and personally told him what was on her mind.

The Buddha in turn gave her a prediction, saying to Munī: "In the future, after two incalculable aeons and ninety-one [regular] aeons you will become a Buddha, called Sakyamuni, endowed with the ten epithets." Then, hearing the Buddha give this prediction, the princess was thrilled within and was transformed into a male who paid respect at the Buddha's feet and requested to become a recluse. The Buddha in turn gave his permission.

This offers a rather simple and straightforward solution for the conflict with which all versions struggle, namely how to reconcile a past life of the Buddha as a female with the dictum that a woman cannot be considered a fully fledged bodhisattva. Even though this version also adheres to the doctrine of the superiority of a male body, it does so in a way that is considerably less offensive than its parallels.

Alongside the differences found between the four versions, their basic agreement in recording a past life of the Buddha as a female who meets the one who will become Dīpaṃkara Buddha is worthy of note. The narrative setting makes it clear that this tale is not a wholesale borrowing from ancient Indian narrative lore, but much rather a story that developed based on specifically Buddhist notions. The fact that the main protagonist is a female makes it safe to assume that the starting point of this tale would have been before the doctrine of women's inability to pursue Buddhahood was well established. Had this doctrine already been in vogue, the idea of showing the Buddha to have been a female would quite probably not have arisen in the first place.

This assumption finds confirmation in the fact that the parallel versions agree on the basic setting of a female aspiring to be predicted as a future Buddha, but disagree in the ways they accommodate the doctrinal restriction that only a male can be given such a prediction. This makes it to my mind clear that, when the need arose to solve the "problem" of a woman aspiring to Buddhahood, the basic story was already in place and had already started to move into different transmission lineages, each of which then had to find its solution for this problem.

Judging from the narrative denouement common to the parallel versions, the basic story might at first simply have been about the powerful results obtained by making an offering, dāna. This is of course a very common theme in the wider jātaka and avadāna genre to which this tale belongs.

In the present case, making offerings of light ensures that the monk donor will become a future Buddha by the telling name Dīpaṃkara. This offering is so powerful that even the woman who provided the raw ingredients for this offering will gain a similar reward, albeit some time later in reflection of the fact that her role in the actual offering is secondary. For the second donor to be a female could just reflect the actual experience of monks who on their begging rounds regularly receive supplies from housewives.

For the Buddha then to be able to relate this tale, he of course has to be identified with the housewife, since of the two characters this is the one whose gift comes to fruition later.[n.74] [77] As mentioned above in note 71, the pattern in Pāli jātakas where the Buddha is consistently a male in past lives does not hold for other jātaka traditions, so that it is not necessary to assume that this stricture must have influenced the present story from its outset. Had he been the monk, he would have become Dīpaṃkara Buddha and would no longer be around to tell the whole story now.

Once a restriction on the possibility for females to receive a prediction of future Buddhahood comes into existence, however, the in itself natural assigning to a female of the role of supplying the material requirements for an offering undertaken by a monk becomes problematic.

Whatever the last word on the coming into existence of this tale may be, the way the different versions struggle with the problem of a female being predicted as a future Buddha illustrates different modes of gender discrimination. Here the Collection on the Six Perfections in particular portrays how the feeling of worthlessness, just because of having a female body, can even result in suicidal tendencies.[n.75] [78] For a study of the notion that being born as a female is the result of bad karma cf. Anālayo 2014g; for a survey of studies of the Indian custom of selfcremation of women in response to the death of their husbands cf. above note 55.

The attitude of devaluing the female body has in later times found one of its perhaps most shocking expressions in the Discourse on the Blood-pool (血盆經), a text not included in the Taishō edition.[n.76] [79] 佛說大藏正教血盆經, found in the 續藏經, CBETA: Xuzang no. 23 at I 414a4; or else in the 嘉興大藏經, CBETA: Jiaxing no. 44 at XIX 164b9. According to this text, the pollution women cause with their birth and menstruation blood will lead to their rebirth in a hellish lake full of blood which they will be forced to drink at regular intervals.[n.77] [80] Cf. Takemi 1983. In other words, by dint of their female nature women are polluted and sinful, for which they deserve to be punished.

The Padīpadāna-jātaka can be seen to illustrate another form of discrimination by way of distancing women. This expresses itself in the princess being an unnamed person with little agency of her own who has no direct contact with the Buddha. Such distancing is a trait that recurs elsewhere in the Theravāda tradition. The Theravāda Vinaya reports fewer direct meetings between Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī and the Buddha than other Vinayas.[n.78] [81] This has already been pointed out for the Mahāsāṅghika-Lokottaravāda Vinaya by Roth 1970: xl; for the other Vinayas cf. the references in Anālayo 2008c: 139f notes 58 and 59. In the Nandakovāda-sutta the Buddha does not even speak to her, whereas in parallel versions of this discourse transmitted by other schools he personally gives her teachings.[n.79] [82] MN 146 at MN III 270,21 in contrast to its parallels SĀ 276 at T II 73c18, T 1442 at T XXIII 792a25, and D 3 ja 51b3 or Q 1032 nye 49a7; cf. also SHT VI 1226 folio 5Rb–c, Bechert and Wille 1989: 22. Such distancing does not only take place in relation to Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī. The nun protagonist of the Cūḷavedalla-sutta does not have any direct contact with the Buddha, whereas in the parallel version she personally speaks to him.[n.80] [83] MN 44 at MN I 304,26 in contrast to its parallels MĀ 210 at T I 790a23 and D 4094 ju 11a3 or Q 5595 tu 12a7.

Instead of such distancing, the Scripture on the Wise and the Fool shows that there are alternative ways of working with the basic tension underlying the plot of the Buddha's past life as a female. The solution offered in this discourse is considerably less drastic and its effect on a female audience can be expected to be less harmful than the distancing of the Padīpadāna-jātaka or the denigration of the female body in the Collection on the Six Perfections. Although the Scripture on the Wise and the Fool arrives at giving an actual prediction of future Buddhahood, it nevertheless still hinges on the idea that the female body must be transformed into a male one. Even this idea is no longer evident in the Tibetan and Mongolian versions of the Scripture on the Wise and the Fool, where she remains a woman and is ordained by the Buddha, evidently becoming a nun.[n.81] [84] Cf. Frye 1981: 199 and Dhammadinnā 2015b: 493.

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Conclusion

In Jātakas found in Pāli discourses the Buddha's past lives are consistently male due to the narrative requirements of the respective tales. In the case of commentarial Jātaka narrations, the precedent set in this way would have led to selecting maleness as the characteristic that helps to string together a broad variety of protagonists featuring in a variety of stories, taken from ancient Indian narrative lore and transformed into records of past lives of the Buddha. Once these were seen as illustrating the path a bodhisattva has to follow, maleness could have easily come to be considered a requisite for progress to Buddhahood.

The tale of the Buddha's past life as a princess reflects a struggle, evident in each version, to reconcile the existence of such a story with the dictum that a bodhisattva should be male. The way each version goes about this reconciliation exhibits a range of different responses, reflecting the multi-vocality that is so characteristic of the Buddhist traditions in relation to the gender issue.[n.82] On the same topic cf. also Anālayo 2016c.