Khema

Khema
Khema
Title	Chief Female Disciple
Personal
Born	6th century BCE; Sagala (Present day Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan)
Religion	Buddhism
Spouse	King Bimbisara
Senior posting
Teacher	Gautama Buddha

Khema (Pali: Khemā; Sanskrit: Kṣemā) was a Buddhist bhikkhuni, or nun, who was one of the top female disciples of the Buddha.^[3]^[4] She is considered the first of the Buddha's two chief female disciples, along with Uppalavanna.^[5]^[6] Khema was born into the royal family of the ancient Kingdom of Madra, and was the wife of King Bimbisara of the ancient Indian kingdom of 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 wisdom. Her male counterpart was Sariputta.

^ Thakur, Amarnath (1996). Buddha and Buddhist Synods in India and Abroad. Abhinav Publications. p. 81. ISBN 978-81-7017-317-5.
^ Buswell, Robert E. Jr.; Lopez, Donald S. Jr. (24 November 2013). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. p. 447. ISBN 978-0-691-15786-3.
^ Nyanaponika; Hecker, Hellmuth (30 January 2012). Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy. Simon and Schuster. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-86171-864-1.
^ Thera, Ven Narada (10 June 2017). Buddha and His Teachings, The. Pariyatti. p. 275. ISBN 978-1-68172-060-9.
^ Emmanuel, Steven M. (22 January 2013). A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy. John Wiley & Sons. p. 458. ISBN 978-1-118-32388-5.
^ Asaṅga (2002). On Knowing Reality: The Tattvārtha Chapter of Asaṅga's Bodhisattvabhūmi. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. p. 64. ISBN 978-81-208-1106-5.

[1] Thakur, Amarnath (1996). Buddha and Buddhist Synods in India and Abroad. Abhinav Publications. p. 81. ISBN 978-81-7017-317-5.

[2] Buswell, Robert E. Jr.; Lopez, Donald S. Jr. (24 November 2013). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. p. 447. ISBN 978-0-691-15786-3.

[3] Nyanaponika; Hecker, Hellmuth (30 January 2012). Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy. Simon and Schuster. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-86171-864-1.

[4] Thera, Ven Narada (10 June 2017). Buddha and His Teachings, The. Pariyatti. p. 275. ISBN 978-1-68172-060-9.

[5] Emmanuel, Steven M. (22 January 2013). A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy. John Wiley & Sons. p. 458. ISBN 978-1-118-32388-5.

[6] Asaṅga (2002). On Knowing Reality: The Tattvārtha Chapter of Asaṅga's Bodhisattvabhūmi. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. p. 64. ISBN 978-81-208-1106-5.

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