Portraits of Buddhist women
Subtitle: stories from the Saddharmaratnāvaliya
By: translated by Ranjini Obeyesekere.
Contributors: Obeyesekere, Ranjini.
Series: SUNY series in Buddhist studies
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Albany
Language: eng
Number of pages: 231
Subjects: Buddhaghosa; Tipiṭaka. Suttapiṭaka. Khuddakanikāya Dhammapada; Buddhist women -- India -- History -- To 1500; Women -- South Asia -- Social conditions
Description: "A collection about Buddhist women translated from the thirteenth-century Sinhala Buddhist text, the Saddharmaratnavaliya, these stories provide insights into the social status and roles of women in medieval India and Sri Lanka and the Buddhist doctrinal ideal. They also reflect the changes that took place as the Buddhist position on gender and female sexuality accommodated the social realities of the time.

Translating, contextualizing, and commenting on the narratives, Ranjini Obeyesekere highlights the differences in perspective between the celibate monks who were the literary authors of the Saddharmaratnavaliya and the social world of their audience."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-220) and index.