[Buddha-l] correction: The Buddha's wife

[Jo]

I see that the name Gopaa appears under the Gotama entry, with a feminine long -aa- ending.
http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/g/gotama.htm 

"She is known under various names: Bhaddakaccā (or Kaccānā), Yasodharā. Bimbā, Bimbasundarī and Gopā. For a discussion see Rāhulamātā." 
However, the Rahulamaataa discussion doesn't mention her Gopaa epithet.

Joanna


-----Original Message-----
From: Jo [mailto:ugg-5 at spro.net] 
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2012 7:29 PM
To: 'Buddhist discussion forum'
Subject: RE: [Buddha-l] The Buddha's wife

The names Maya and Gopa, perhaps others, come along as part of the Mahayana resistance/rebellion/revision(?). These names aren't found in the Pali texts.

Mallalasekera online version: http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/dic_idx.html 
"*Most* of the entries have been taken from the "Dictionary of Pali Names" by G P Malalasekera (1899-1973), which is available as printed version from "The Pali Text Society, London".     
Well--disappointing--the online offering is not the complete dictionary of Pali names and I cannot find a complete text online. So where did gopa come from?
 
This version does not list Gopa or Gopalika as related to Gotama's wife:
http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/dic_idx.html  Click on Y, Yasodharaa, and take it from there as Rahulamaataa. No 'Gopa' appears under G.

Raahulamaataa

... Rāhulamātā was born on the same day as the Bodhisatta (J.i.54; BuA. 106, 228). She married him (Gotama) at the age of sixteen (the following account is taken chiefly from J.i.58ff), and was placed at the head of forty thousand women, given to Gotama by the Sākiyans, after he had proved his manly prowess to their satisfaction....

... Buddhaghosa identifies (AA.i.204f) Rāhulamātā with Bhaddakaccānā who, in the Anguttara Nikāya (A.i.25), is mentioned as chief among nuns in the possession of supernormal powers (mahābhiññappattānam). She was one of the four disciples of the Buddha who possessed such attainment, the others being Sāriputta, Moggallāna and Bakkula. Bhaddakacaanaa was one of her names (or epithets--sometimes it's difficult to say which was a name and which a poetic allusion.)

... In the Therī Apadāna (Ap.ii.584ff ) an account is found of a Therī, Yasodharā by name, who is evidently to be identified with Rāhulamātā, because she speaks of herself (vvs. 10, 11) as the Buddha's pajāpatī before he left the household (agāra), and says that she was the chief (pāmokkhā sabbaissarā) of ninety thousand women.
[Here her chiefship has progressed from 40 thousand women to 90 thousand. ]

I would suggest that the epithet Gopa was invented for her with reference to her leadership of thousands of women retainers. In this role she was a cow herd, not a cow girl--hence the masculine vowel ending of short -a- instead of the feminine ending -i-, as in gopi (which would have suggested that she was among the thousands.) 

But who knows?

Joanna




 

-----Original Message-----
From: buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com [mailto:buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of Richard Hayes
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2012 12:19 PM
To: Buddhist discussion forum
Subject: [Buddha-l] The Buddha's wife

http://santifm.org/santipada/2010/w9/

This is an interesting blog posting by Bhikkhu Sujato that deals with, among other things, the mystery of the names given in various texts to the Buddha's wife. 

Say, maybe the papyrus making all the news these days that refers to the wife of Jesus will reveal that his better half was the reincarnation of Gotama's better half. That could lead to some interesting interfaith dialogue.

Richard 
_______________________________________________
buddha-l mailing list
buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com
http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l