imported>Marcocapelle at 14:39, 9 May 2021

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{{other people}}
{{Infobox religious biography
|name = Buddhamitrā
|image =
|caption =
|birth name =
|alias =
|dharma name =
|birth_date = ca. 60
|birth_place = [[Mathura|Mathurā]]
|death_date =
|death_place =
|nationality = [[India]]n
|religion = [[Buddhism]]
|school = [[Sarvāstivāda]]
|lineage =
|title =
|location =
|education =
|occupation = [[bhikkhunī]]
|teacher = Bala
|reincarnation of =
|predecessor =
|successor =
|students =
|spouse =
|partner =
|children =
|website =
}}
{{Buddhism}}
{{EarlyBuddhism}}
'''Buddhamitrā''' (born c. 60) was a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[nun]] from [[India]] during the [[Kushan Empire]].<ref name=Mohr-Tsedroen /> She is remembered because of dated inscriptions on images of [[bodhisattva]]s and [[Gautama Buddha|the Buddha]] that she erected in three cities near the [[Ganges|Ganges river]]. They mark her success in attracting money and patronage to the [[Sarvāstivāda]], the [[Early Buddhist schools|sect of Buddhism]] to which she belonged.<ref name=Skilling /><ref name=kushanorg />

==Life and work==
Buddhamitrā was born around 60 in [[Mathura|Mathurā]]. Her parents were wealthy [[Buddhism|Buddhists]]. She entered into the [[sangha]] and became a [[bhikkhuni|Buddhist nun]]. Her teacher was a monk named Bala, who belonged to the [[Sarvāstivāda]], an early school of Buddhism. Both teacher and student were educated in the entire threefold knowledge of Buddhism (the [[Tripiṭaka]]) and were noted for their efforts.<ref name=Skilling>{{cite journal|author=Skilling, Peter|journal=Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies|volume=24|issue=2|year=2001|page=14 (135 or 235)|format=PDF|url=http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ojs/index.php/jiabs/article/download/8921/2814|publisher=Open Journal System: University of Heidelberg|title=Nuns, Laywomen, Donors, Goddesses: Female Roles in Early Indian Buddhism|accessdate=July 31, 2013}}</ref>

Accompanied at first by a monk named Pushyavuddhi, beginning in about 117, Buddhamitrā and Bala built monuments at [[Shravasti|Śrāvastī]] and at [[Sarnath|Sārnāth]]. They had the help of two of the region's [[satrap]]s or governors, Vanaspara and Kharapallāna, the "great satrap".<ref name=Shrava-11 /> For the next six years, or until about 123, Buddhamitrā then went to [[Kosambi|Kosam]], where she built several monuments.

For example, one of the images at Kosam is a standing stone bodhisattva which today can be seen in the [[Allahabad Museum]].<ref name=Shrava-11 /> Satya Shrava gives a translation of the inscription, originally written in [[Brahmi script|Brāhmī]] characters in a mixture of the [[Sanskrit]] and [[Prakrit|Prākrit]].<ref name=Shrava-11 /> It reads, "In the year 2 of mahārāja Kanishka, in the 2nd month of hemanta, i.e., the winter season, on the 8th day, the image of Bodhisattva is set up by the nun Buddhamitrā, well versed in the Tripitaka, at the promenade of the Lord Buddha."<ref name=Shrava-11 />

Buddhamitrā and Bala were not interested in only converting others to their religion. To quote ''A Rough Guide to Kushan History'', "[P]atronage, not conversion was the goal of Buddhamitra." She sought, successfully, money from wealthy and powerful people to promote Buddhism, and specifically for followers of the Sarvāstivāda school. The prestige of each patron enhanced the legitimacy of Sarvāstivāda. Her desire was to reach the leaders of the Kushan Empire.<ref name=kushanorg />

Buddhamitrā lived at the time of the [[Fourth Buddhist council]] and it is likely given her political connections and learning that she was involved.<ref>"No women are mentioned in the sources. Yet the importance of women in inscriptions implies that some were probably involved." in {{cite web|url=http://www.kushan.org/essays/women/4buddhist.htm|title=The Fourth Buddhist Council|publisher=A Rough Guide to Kushan History (kushan.org)|accessdate=August 1, 2013}}</ref> She is a remarkable figure, because despite living in a [[patriarchy|patriarchal society]] she has left a mark in history where many male kings have been entirely forgotten.

Her niece, who was a nun named Dhanavati (or Dhanadevī<ref name=Shrava-11>{{cite book|author=Shrava, Satya|title=The Dated Kushana Inscriptions|publisher=Pranava Prakashan|year=1993|pages=10, 11, and memorial p. 67}}</ref>), in 148 built a memorial in honor of Buddhamitrā in the city of her birth.<ref name=kushanorg>{{cite web|title=Buddhamitra|url=http://www.kushan.org/essays/women/buddhamitra.htm|publisher=Rough Guide to Kushan History (kushan.org)|accessdate=July 31, 2013}}</ref> Shrava gives a translation of the inscription:
{{quote|In the year 33 of mahārāja, devaputra Huvishka, in the 8th day of the 1st grīshma or summer [month], a Bodhisattva was set up at [Ma]dh[u]ravaṇaka or Mathurā by the nun Dhanavatī, the sister's daughter of the nun Buddhamitrā, who knows the Tripitaka, a female pupil of the monk Bala, who knows the Tripitaka, together with her mother and father ......<ref name=Shrava-11 />}}

==Record==
The female gender of someone named Buddhamitrā has been known since at least the 1960s or 1970s.<ref name=Bracey-bib /> ''A Rough Guide to Kushan History'' says, "The evidence for Buddhamitra comes completely from inscriptions."<ref name=Bracey-bib>{{cite web|url=http://www.kushan.org/bibliography/buddhamitra.htm|title=Women and Religion (Bibliography)|accessdate=August 1, 2013|publisher=A Rough Guide to Kushan History (kushan.org)}}</ref> Just as other scholars have, [[:nl:Theo Damsteegt|Theo Damsteegt]] catalogs these inscriptions, in his case, in his 1978 doctoral dissertation, ''Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit'', which identifies Buddhamitrā as a nun.<ref>"...In Kosam III the donor is the nun Buddhamitrā; in Sārnāth I–II it is the monk Bala, with the same nun Buddhamitrā as one of the co-donors (Sārnāth I); at Set-Mahet it is the monk Bala. Both Bala and Buddhamitrā are, moreover, referred to in a Mathurā inscription which dates from the year 33 (I Ros., Pl.) and records a donation of a sister's daughter of Buddhamitrā, viz. M 24." in {{cite book|title=Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit: Orientalia Rheno-Traiectina volume 23|author=Damsteegt, Theo|author-link=:nl:Theo Damsteegt|publisher=Brill Archive|year=1978|page=178|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mf4UAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA178&lpg=PA178}}</ref> Including all of the known works by and about Buddhamitrā, in 1993, Satya Shrava published a book of the inscriptions of the [[Kushan Empire]] rulers of India that have dates, along with a photograph of each one.<ref name=Shrava-11 /> Peter Skilling refers to this historical record and to a female named Buddhamitrā in 2001, in "Nuns, Laywomen, Donors, Goddesses: Female Roles in Early Indian Buddhism".<ref name=Skilling/> Thea Mohr and Jampa Tsoedren give the female gender of someone named Buddhamitrā in a footnote in their book ''Dignity & Discipline: Reviving Full Ordination for Buddhist Nuns'' (2010), which identifies Buddhamitrā as a nun, one who had committed the entire ''Tripitaka'' to memory.<ref name=Mohr-Tsedroen>"Not only the Buddhist canonical scriptures, but also inscriptions in ancient India testify to the learnedness of Buddhist nuns. One of these inscriptions indicates that a nun had performed the impressive deed of memorizing the entire ''Tripitaka''." and part of the footnote: "Inscriptions no. 38 and 925 in Lüders 1973; 8 and 94 refer to the nun Buddhamitra as a ''trépitikå''...." in {{cite book|title=Dignity & Discipline: Reviving Full Ordination for Buddhist Nuns|year=2010|author1=Mohr, Thea |author2=Tsedroen, Jampa |name-list-style=amp |publisher=Wisdom Publications|isbn=0861715888|page=73}}</ref>

==Further reading==
*{{cite web|author=Bracey, Robert|title=Buddhamitra|url=http://www.kushan.org/essays/women/buddhamitra.htm}} and {{cite web|title=Women and Religion (Bibliography)|url=http://www.kushan.org/bibliography/buddhamitra.htm|publisher=A Rough Guide to Kushan History (kushan.org)|accessdate=August 2, 2013}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buddhamitra}}
[[Category:Indian Buddhists]]
[[Category:Kushan Empire]]
[[Category:60 births]]
[[Category:Buddhist nuns]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]
[[Category:Indian Buddhist nuns]]
[[Category:1st-century Buddhist nuns]]
[[Category:1st-century Indian people]]
[[Category:1st-century Indian monks]]

Buddhamitra - Revision history

imported>Marcocapelle at 14:39, 9 May 2021