Overview
The female lay community provided the foundational logistics for the daily maintenance of the Saṅgha. The Buddha isolated two outstanding laywomen (Upāsikā) whose extraordinary generosity and unmatched text memorization set the gold standard for lay life.
The List
- Visākhā (Migāramātā): The chief patroness on the Right. A devoted stream-enterer from a young age who constructed the magnificent Pubbārāma monastery in Sāvatthī. She was supreme in grand generosity (Dāna) and was granted unique Vinaya permissions to look after the daily health of the monks.
- Khujjuttarā: The chief patroness on the Left. A maidservant to Queen Sāmāvatī who possessed an extraordinary, near-photographic memory. She regularly went to hear the Buddha preach and returned to recite the sermons flawlessly to the royal court, being declared supreme in learning (Bāhusacca) among laywomen.
Textual References
- Canonical: Etadagga Vagga (AN 1) – Appoints Visākhā and Khujjuttarā as the model laywomen for the dispensation.