Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī

E277448

Buddhist nun bhikkhunī disciple of Gautama Buddha founder of religious order historical figure

Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī was the Buddha’s foster mother and the first woman to be ordained as a Buddhist nun, traditionally regarded as the founder of the bhikkhunī (female monastic) order.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī canonical	10
Mahapajapati Gotami	3
Mahāpajāpatī	1
Mahāpajāpatī Gautamī	1
Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2563159 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī
Context triple: [Shakyamuni Buddha, auntAndFosterMother, Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī]

A. Sharada Devi
Sharada Devi is a Hindu goddess of learning and wisdom, venerated particularly in Kashmir as a local form of Saraswati.
B. Yashoda
Yashoda was the wife of Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism, and is traditionally regarded as his consort before he renounced worldly life.
C. Yashoda
Yashoda is the loving foster mother of the Hindu deity Krishna, revered for her deep maternal devotion and prominent role in his childhood stories.
D. Subhadra
Subhadra is a revered princess in the Mahabharata, the sister of Krishna and Balarama and the mother of the hero Abhimanyu.
E. Rukmini
Rukmini is a principal queen of the Hindu god Krishna, revered as an incarnation of the goddess Lakshmi and celebrated for her devotion and role in Krishna’s life.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī
Target entity description: Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī was the Buddha’s foster mother and the first woman to be ordained as a Buddhist nun, traditionally regarded as the founder of the bhikkhunī (female monastic) order.

A. Sharada Devi
Sharada Devi is a Hindu goddess of learning and wisdom, venerated particularly in Kashmir as a local form of Saraswati.
B. Yashoda
Yashoda was the wife of Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism, and is traditionally regarded as his consort before he renounced worldly life.
C. Yashoda
Yashoda is the loving foster mother of the Hindu deity Krishna, revered for her deep maternal devotion and prominent role in his childhood stories.
D. Subhadra
Subhadra is a revered princess in the Mahabharata, the sister of Krishna and Balarama and the mother of the hero Abhimanyu.
E. Rukmini
Rukmini is a principal queen of the Hindu god Krishna, revered as an incarnation of the goddess Lakshmi and celebrated for her devotion and role in Krishna’s life.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Buddhist nun ⓘ bhikkhunī ⓘ disciple of Gautama Buddha ⓘ founder of religious order ⓘ historical figure ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Mahāpajāpatī Gautamī ⓘ linked to: Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī ⓘ linked to: Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī
associatedPlace	Kapilavatthu ⓘ linked to: Kapilavastu
associatedPractice	renunciation ⓘ
associatedWith	Śākya clan ⓘ linked to: Shakya clan
commemoratedOn	various Buddhist observance days honoring nuns ⓘ
ethnicity	Śākya ⓘ
familyRelation	aunt of Gautama Buddha ⓘ foster mother of Gautama Buddha ⓘ stepmother of Gautama Buddha ⓘ
fosterMotherOf	Gautama Buddha ⓘ linked to: Shakyamuni Buddha
founderOf	bhikkhunī order ⓘ
gender	female ⓘ
hasStoryType	hagiography ⓘ
influenced	development of the Buddhist nuns’ order ⓘ
knownFor	being the first woman ordained as a Buddhist nun ⓘ raising Siddhattha Gotama after the death of his birth mother ⓘ requesting the establishment of the bhikkhunī saṅgha ⓘ
languageOfName	Pāli ⓘ
motherOf	Nanda ⓘ Rāhula’s mother (Yasodharā) is sometimes described as her daughter-in-law ⓘ
ordinationStatus	fully ordained bhikkhunī ⓘ
religion	Buddhism ⓘ
requestedOrdinationFrom	Gautama Buddha ⓘ linked to: Shakyamuni Buddha
role	first bhikkhunī ⓘ leader of early Buddhist nuns ⓘ
roleInCanon	exemplar of female spiritual attainment ⓘ
scripturalSource	Cullavagga of the Vinaya Piṭaka ⓘ Pāli Canon ⓘ linked to: Tripitaka Therīgāthā ⓘ
spouse	King Suddhodana ⓘ linked to: Śuddhodana
stepMotherOf	Gautama Buddha ⓘ linked to: Shakyamuni Buddha
supportedByInOrdinationRequest	Ānanda ⓘ
teacher	Gautama Buddha ⓘ linked to: Shakyamuni Buddha
title	Gotamī ⓘ Mahāpajāpatī ⓘ linked to: Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī
tradition	early Buddhism ⓘ
veneratedIn	Mahayana Buddhism ⓘ linked to: Mahayana Theravāda Buddhism ⓘ linked to: Theravada Vajrayana Buddhism ⓘ linked to: Vajrayana
youngerSisterOf	Māyādevī ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (16)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Shakyamuni Buddha → auntAndFosterMother → Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī ⓘ

Shakyamuni Buddha → disciples → Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī ⓘ

Shakya → associatedWithPerson → Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī ⓘ

Shakya republic → notableResident → Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī ⓘ

Śuddhodana → spouse → Mahapajapati Gotami ⓘ