Women in Primitive Buddhism English 2007

This is probably the earliest and the most comprehensive account presenting the position of the laywomen and of the alms women in historical focus. The author painstakingly gathered the material for the book from a host of authoritative sources—it was, at the time it was published, highly commended by none other than C.A.F. Rhys Davids. The material for the study of the laywomen has been gathered from the Canonical literature, and also from the Commentaries, the Jataka books and the Milindapanha. Most of the material for the account of the alms women was found in the Vinaya-Pitaka, one of the oldest Buddhist books in existence, and particularly in those portions known as the Bhikkhuni-Khandaka and the Bhikkhuni-Vibhanga that prescribe the rules and discipline for the outward life of the members of the order. Material has also extensively been drawn from the collection of verses known as the Theragatha, and the Commentaries on them.