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{{short description|Foremost female disciple of Gautama Buddha, Buddhist nun}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{use Indian English|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| religion = [[Buddhism]]
| birth_date = 6th century BCE
| teacher = [[Gautama Buddha]]
| spouse = [[King Bimbisara]]
| title = Chief Female Disciple
| birth_place = [[Sagala]] (Present day [[Sialkot]], [[Punjab, Pakistan]])<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thakur|first=Amarnath|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K3PLpwruJJQC&q=Sialkot&pg=PA81|title=Buddha and Buddhist Synods in India and Abroad|date=1996|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-317-5|pages=81|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Buswell|first1=Robert E. Jr.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EGmYDwAAQBAJ&q=khema+born+sagala|title=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism|last2=Lopez|first2=Donald S. Jr.|date=2013-11-24|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-15786-3|pages=447|language=en}}</ref>
}}
{{buddhism}}
{{Early Buddhism}}
'''Khema''' ([[Pali]]: Khemā; [[Sanskrit]]: Kṣemā) was a Buddhist [[Bhikkhunī|''bhikkhuni'']], or nun, who was one of the top female disciples of [[Gautama Buddha|the Buddha]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Nyanaponika|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PbfmHoSYVQAC&q=khema+disciple+buddha|title=Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy|last2=Hecker|first2=Hellmuth|date=2012-01-30|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-86171-864-1|pages=23|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Thera|first=Ven Narada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-sbEAAAQBAJ&q=Khem%C4%81&pg=PA275|title=Buddha and His Teachings, The|date=2017-06-10|publisher=Pariyatti|isbn=978-1-68172-060-9|pages=275|language=en}}</ref> She is considered the first of the Buddha's two [[Śrāvaka#Foremost disciples|chief female disciples]], along with [[Uppalavanna]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Emmanuel|first=Steven M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWPpk8eDPf4C&q=khema+disciple+buddha|title=A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy|date=2013-01-22|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-32388-5|pages=458|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Asaṅga|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_8ucGq5begC&q=khema+uppalavanna+first|title=On Knowing Reality: The Tattvārtha Chapter of Asaṅga's Bodhisattvabhūmi|date=2002|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers|isbn=978-81-208-1106-5|pages=64|language=en}}</ref> Khema was born into the royal family of the ancient Kingdom of [[Madra Kingdom|Madra]], and was the wife of [[Bimbisara|King Bimbisara]] of the ancient Indian kingdom of [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]]. 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 [[Paññā|wisdom]]. Her male counterpart was [[Sariputta]].

== Background ==
In Buddhist belief, when a fully enlightened [[Buddha (title)|Buddha]] appears in the world, he always has a set of chief disciples.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/A%20Companion%20to%20Buddhist%20Philosophy_Emmanuel.pdf|title=A companion to Buddhist philosophy|others=Emmanuel, Steven M.|date=22 January 2013|isbn=978-1-118-32391-5|location=Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom|pages=455|oclc=809845201|access-date=20 May 2020|archive-date=28 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828131053/http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/A%20Companion%20to%20Buddhist%20Philosophy_Emmanuel.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> For the current Buddha, [[Gautama Buddha|Gautama]], his chief male disciples were [[Sariputta]] and [[Maudgalyayana|Moggallana]], while his chief female disciples were Khema and [[Uppalavanna]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/buddha-teachingsurw6.pdf|title=The Buddha and His Teachings|last=Mahathera|first=Naranda|publisher=Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc|year=1998|location=Taiwan|pages=235|access-date=26 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826174309/http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/buddha-teachingsurw6.pdf|archive-date=26 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to Theravada commentaries, in a previous life Khema was born a woman in the time of [[Padumuttara Buddha|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 [[Adhiṭṭhāna|resolution]] 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]] 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.<ref name=":0" />

== Biography ==

=== Early life and marriage ===
According to Buddhist tradition, Khema was born in the city of [[Sagala]] as the daughter of the king of the [[Madra Kingdom]], located in modern day [[Sialkot]] in [[Punjab, Pakistan]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thakur|first=Amarnath|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K3PLpwruJJQC&q=Sialkot&pg=PA81|title=Buddha and Buddhist Synods in India and Abroad|date=1996|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-317-5|pages=81|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Jr|first1=Robert E. Buswell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EGmYDwAAQBAJ&q=khema+born+sagala|title=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism|last2=Jr|first2=Donald S. Lopez|date=2013-11-24|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-15786-3|pages=447|language=en}}</ref><ref name="dict_pali_names">{{Cite web |url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/ku/khemaa.htm |title=Dictionary of Pali Proper Names |access-date=30 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225030421/http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/ku/khemaa.htm |archive-date=25 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Krey|first=Gisela|date=2010-09-04|title=On Women as Teachers in Early Buddhism: Dhammadinnā and Khemā|url=https://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|journal=Buddhist Studies Review|volume=27|issue=1|pages=21|doi=10.1558/bsrv.v27i1.17|issn=0265-2897|access-date=28 March 2020|archive-date=6 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606020126/https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref> Her name means "security" and is sometimes used as a synonym for [[Nirvana (Buddhism)|Nirvana]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PbfmHoSYVQAC|title=Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy|last1=Nyanaponika|last2=Hecker|first2=Hellmuth|date=30 January 2012|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-86171-864-1|pages=263–269|language=en|access-date=30 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924124422/http://promienie.net/images/dharma/books/sutras_great-disciples-of-the-buddha.pdf#v=onepage&q&f=false|archive-date=24 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Khema was described as being immensely beautiful and having a radiant golden complexion.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Portraits of Buddhist women: stories from the Saddharmaratnāvaliya|last1=Dharmasēna|last2=Obeyesekere|first2=Ranjini|date=2001|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-5111-3|location=Albany|pages=202|language=en|oclc=46937658}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> When she came of age she married [[Bimbisara|King Bimbisara]] of the kingdom of [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]] and became one of his chief royal consorts.<ref name=":2" />

=== 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.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Bansal|first=Sunita Pant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kaBW8Ao-18oC|title=On the Footsteps of Buddha|date=2006|publisher=Smriti Books|isbn=9788187967736|pages=342|language=en|access-date=30 September 2019|archive-date=18 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318222954/https://books.google.com/books?id=kaBW8Ao-18oC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/English-Texts/Foremost-Elder-Nuns/Foremost-Elder-Nuns.pdf|title=The Stories About the Foremost Elder Nuns|last=Ānandajoti|first=Bhante|year=2017|location=Singapore|pages=23–33|access-date=1 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929035251/https://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/English-Texts/Foremost-Elder-Nuns/Foremost-Elder-Nuns.pdf|archive-date=29 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Hearing about the beauty of the monastery, Khema became curious and went to visit the monastery.<ref name=":3" /> In order to ensure that Khema encounter the Buddha, King Bimbisara ordered the guards accompanying her to guide the Queen to the Buddha.<ref name=":0" />

As Khema toured the monastery and approached the main hall the Buddha was staying in, the Buddha read her mind and used [[Abhijñā|psychic powers]] to conjure up an image of a woman even more beautiful than her to appear fanning him.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> Stunned by the beautiful woman, Khema thought she was mistaken about the Buddha disparaging beauty.<ref name=":2" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kaBW8Ao-18oC|title=Thailand: Buddhism, Society, and Women|last=Kapur-Fic|first=Alexandra R.|date=1998|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=9788170173601|pages=342|language=en|access-date=30 September 2019|archive-date=18 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318222954/https://books.google.com/books?id=kaBW8Ao-18oC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The Buddha then preached to her about the impermanence of beauty until she attained [[Sotāpanna|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]].<ref name=":2" /> Following the attainment she joined the Buddha's monastic community and became a ''[[Bhikkhunī|bhikkhuni]]''.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />{{refn|In some sources, such as the ''[[Apadāna]]'', she attains stream-entry and then becomes an ''arahant'' seven months after becoming a ''bhikkhuni''.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Walters |first1=Jonathan |title=Thi ap.18 |url=https://suttacentral.net/thi-ap18/en/walters |website=SuttaCentral |access-date=18 July 2020 |archive-date=18 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718184006/https://suttacentral.net/thi-ap18/en/walters |url-status=live }}</ref>|name=|group=note}} 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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XQ4bBAAAQBAJ|title=First Buddhist Women: Poems and Stories of Awakening|last=Murcott|first=Susan|date=14 February 2006|publisher=Parallax Press|isbn=978-1-888375-54-1|pages=78–80|language=en|access-date=30 September 2019|archive-date=6 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506231155/https://books.google.com/books?id=XQ4bBAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Chief disciple ===
After going forth as a ''bhikkhuni'', Buddhist texts state that Khema became known for her [[Paññā|wisdom]].<ref name=":5" /> In the ''Khema Sutta'', she famously preached to [[Pasenadi|King Pasenadi]] on the issue of the existence of the Buddha after death, explaining that the Buddha is [[The unanswered questions|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.<ref name=":2" /> Khema taught her friend Vijayā, leading her to become a nun as well, after which she soon became an arahant.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/vy/vijayaa_theri.htm|title=Vijayā Therī|website=www.palikanon.com|access-date=2020-03-28|archive-date=25 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125224432/http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/vy/vijayaa_theri.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Krey|first=Gisela|date=2010-09-04|title=On Women as Teachers in Early Buddhism: Dhammadinnā and Khemā|url=https://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|journal=Buddhist Studies Review|volume=27|issue=1|pages=20, footnote 12|doi=10.1558/bsrv.v27i1.17|issn=0265-2897|access-date=28 March 2020|archive-date=6 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606020126/https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref> At one point after her ordination, [[Mara (Buddhism)|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.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> She is also associated with several figures in a variety of [[jataka]] tales and stories set in the time of the previous Buddhas, where her previous existences are often shown as being kind and wise.<ref name="dict_pali_names" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Emmanuel|first=Steven M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_lmCgAAQBAJ|title=A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy|date=2015-11-23|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-119-14466-3|pages=458|language=en|access-date=18 October 2020|archive-date=23 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323185852/https://books.google.com/books?id=P_lmCgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> In one jataka tale, she is even the wife of the [[bodhisattva]] who would become Gautama Buddha, a role in the jataka tales that is rare for figures other than [[Yaśodharā|Yasodhara]].<ref name=":4" />

The Buddha designated Khema the female disciple foremost in wisdom ([[Pali]]: ''etadaggaṁ mahāpaññānaṁ'').<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Nyanaponika|url=http://promienie.net/images/dharma/books/sutras_great-disciples-of-the-buddha.pdf|title=Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy|last2=Hecker|first2=Hellmuth|date=2012-01-30|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-86171-864-1|pages=381|language=en|access-date=3 October 2019|archive-date=24 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924124422/http://promienie.net/images/dharma/books/sutras_great-disciples-of-the-buddha.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Buddha also praised her for her teaching and leadership skills, declaring Khema and [[Uppalavanna]] 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, [[Maudgalyayana|Maha Moggallana]] and [[Sariputta]].<ref name=":2" />

== Legacy ==
Khema is regarded as an accomplished disciple of the Buddha, holding the same position among the nuns as Sariputta did among the monks.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Krey|first=Gisela|date=2010-09-04|title=On Women as Teachers in Early Buddhism: Dhammadinnā and Khemā|url=https://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|journal=Buddhist Studies Review|volume=27|issue=1|pages=19|doi=10.1558/bsrv.v27i1.17|issn=0265-2897|access-date=28 March 2020|archive-date=6 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606020126/https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref> Supakwadee Amatayakul notes that Khema is mentioned in the [[Aṅguttara Nikāya|Anguttara Nikaya]] as one of the thirteen female disciples of the Buddha and in the [[Therīgāthā|Therigatha]] as one of the seventy three [[Bhikkhunī|bhikkhunis]], each to whom a set of verses is dedicated.<ref name=":5">{{Citation |last=Amatayakul |first=Supakwadee |title=Khema of Great Wisdom from India खेमा Circa 563 BCE–483 BCE |date=2023 |work=Women Philosophers from Non-western Traditions: The First Four Thousand Years |pages=103–114 |editor-last=Waithe |editor-first=Mary Ellen |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28563-9_6 |access-date=2025-11-01 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-28563-9_6 |isbn=978-3-031-28563-9 |editor2-last=Boos Dykeman |editor2-first=Therese|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Sanskrit and Pali scholar Gisela Krey notes that Khema spiritually surpassed her husband, King Bimbisara, who got no farther than [[Sotāpanna|stream-entry]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Krey|first=Gisela|date=2010-09-04|title=On Women as Teachers in Early Buddhism: Dhammadinnā and Khemā|url=https://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|journal=Buddhist Studies Review|volume=27|issue=1|pages=17–40|doi=10.1558/bsrv.v27i1.17|issn=0265-2897|access-date=28 March 2020|archive-date=6 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606020126/https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref> According to German [[Pali]] scholar Hellmuth Hecker, Khema's unusually fast attainment of ''arahantship'' was no accident, but was something she earned from the great [[Merit (Buddhism)|merit]] that she accumulated over numerous lifetimes, as described in the [[jatakas]].<ref name=":2" /> Anthropologist Ranjini Obeyesekere notes that of the Buddha's two pairs of chief disciples, each pair had one disciple that was dark-skinned ([[Maudgalyayana|Maha Moggallana]] and [[Uppalavanna]]) 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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dharmasēna, Thera, active 13th century.|title=Portraits of Buddhist women : stories from the Saddharmaratnāvaliya|date=2001|publisher=State University of New York Press|others=Obeyesekere, Ranjini.|isbn=0-7914-5111-9|location=Albany|pages=109–110|oclc=46937658}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":1" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Krey|first=Gisela|date=2010-09-04|title=On Women as Teachers in Early Buddhism: Dhammadinnā and Khemā|url=https://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|journal=Buddhist Studies Review|volume=27|issue=1|pages=24|doi=10.1558/bsrv.v27i1.17|issn=0265-2897|access-date=28 March 2020|archive-date=6 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606020126/https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Krey|first=Gisela|date=2010-09-04|title=On Women as Teachers in Early Buddhism: Dhammadinnā and Khemā|url=https://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|journal=Buddhist Studies Review|volume=27|issue=1|pages=24–25, 29|doi=10.1558/bsrv.v27i1.17|issn=0265-2897|access-date=28 March 2020|archive-date=6 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606020126/https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Krey|first=Gisela|date=2010-09-04|title=On Women as Teachers in Early Buddhism: Dhammadinnā and Khemā|url=https://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|journal=Buddhist Studies Review|volume=27|issue=1|pages=37–38|doi=10.1558/bsrv.v27i1.17|issn=0265-2897|access-date=28 March 2020|archive-date=6 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606020126/https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/BSR/article/view/8560|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Sravaka]]
* [[Prajñā (Buddhism)|Paññā]]
* [[Sariputta]]
* [[Uppalavanna]]

== Notes ==
<references group="note" responsive="1"></references>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://suttacentral.net/sn44.1/en/bodhi Khema Sutta] – The exchange between Khema and King Pasenadi on the subject of the existence of a Buddha after death.

{{Buddhism topics}}
{{Gautama Buddha}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Foremost female disciples of Gautama Buddha]]
[[Category:Arhats]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]
[[Category:Ancient Indian women]]
[[Category:Buddhist nuns]]
[[Category:6th-century BC women]]
[[Category:6th-century BC Indian people]]

Khema - Revision history

KobyQ0272234 at 07:36, 3 November 2025