남아시아불교와 Gender: 율장의 아난다와 고따미 에피소드를 통해본 초기인도불교의 비구니교단

Abstract

Within the field of Buddhist Studies, the issues on gender have been dealt with in accordance with the rise and fall of the female Buddhist Sangha. For the establishment of the female Buddhist Sangha, there are two of the most important events recorded in the early Buddhist materials: the Buddha’s refusal to MahāPajāpatī Gotamī’s request to be part of the Buddhist Sangha and the public condemnation of Ānanda’s fault just before the first Buddhist council at Rājagṛha. According to the Vinaya, the Buddha was finally persuaded by Ānanda and was granted women to go forth from home to homelessness on condition of the eight special rules(garudhammā). Although this story sounds like plausible, there are many problems to accept it as a historical fact. As noticed by scholars, there is a huge gap in age between MahāPajāpatī Gotamī, the Buddha’s aunt, and Ānanda, the Buddha’s nephew. It is almost impossible for Ānanda to be the Buddha’s chamberlain at the time when MahāPajāpatī Gotamī met the Buddha on the issue of the female Buddhist Sangha. Among the early Vinaya and the canonical texts preserved in the Pali and Chinese languages, there were diverse excuses and interpretations in the answer of Ānanda when he was openly condemned at the first Buddhist council at Rājagṛha. In this work, I will dealing with these problems and discrepancies to show possible picture of the Indian female Buddhist Sangha by clarifying their backgrounds in relation to the changes in the framework of Indian society, by analysing the structure of the related episodes, and by comparing the diverse Ānanda’s answers appeared in the different versions of the Vinaya.