Maya (mother of the Buddha)

Maya
Statue of Māyā, from Nepal, 19th century. Musée Guimet, Paris[1]
Born	Devdaha, Koliya Kingdom
Died	Kapilavastu, Shakya Kingdom
Other names	Mahamaya
Occupation	Queen of Shakya Kingdom
Predecessor	Kaccanā
Spouse	Śuddhodana
Children	Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha)
Parent(s)	Anjana (father), Sulakṣañā (mother)
Relatives	Suppabuddha and Dandapāni (brothers), five sisters including Mahapajapati Gotami
Dynasty	Shakya Republic

Maya (/ˈmɑːjə/; Devanagari: माया, IAST: māyā), also known as Mahāmāyā and Māyādevī, was the queen of Shakya and the birth mother of Gautama Buddha, the sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. She was the wife of Śuddhodana, the king of the Shakya kingdom. She died days after giving birth and the Buddha was raised by her sister, Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, who became the first Buddhist nun ordained by the Buddha.^[2][3]

In the Buddhist Commentaries, Maya was on a traditional journey to her familial home in Devadaha where she would give birth, but her labor started as they were in Lumbini. The Buddha was then born in the gardens and Maya died soon after the birth of the Buddha, generally said to have been seven days afterwards.

Maya was then reborn, or came to life again, in a Buddhist heaven, a pattern that is said to be followed in the births of all Buddhas.^[2] Thus Maya did not raise her son, who was instead raised by her sister and his maternal aunt, Mahapajapati Gotami.^[2] Maya would, however, on occasion descend from Heaven to give advice to her son.^[2]

Māyā (माया) means "skillful creator" in Sanskrit.^[4] Māyā is also called Mahāmāyā (महामाया, "Great Māyā") and Māyādevī (मायादेवी, "Queen Māyā"). In Chinese, she is known as Móyé-fūrén (摩耶夫人, "Lady Māyā"), in Tibetan she is known as Gyutrulma and in Japanese she is known as Maya-bunin (摩耶夫人). Also, in Sinhalese she is known as මහාමායා දේවී (Mahāmāyā Dēvi).