BuddhamitrÃÂ (born c. 60) was a Buddhist nun from India during the Kushan Empire. She is remembered because of dated inscriptions on images of bodhisattvas and the Buddha that she erected in three cities near the Ganges river. They mark her success in attracting money and patronage to the SarvÃÂstivÃÂda, the sect of Buddhism to which she belonged.
Buddhamitràwas born around 60 in MathurÃÂ. Her parents were wealthy Buddhists. She entered into the sangha and became a Buddhist nun. Her teacher was a monk named Bala, who belonged to the SarvÃÂstivÃÂda, an early school of Buddhism. Both teacher and student were educated in the entire threefold knowledge of Buddhism (the Tripiá¹Âaka) and were noted for their efforts.
Accompanied at first by a monk named Pushyavuddhi, beginning in about 117, Buddhamitràand Bala built monuments at à ÂrÃÂvastë and at SÃÂrnÃÂth. They had the help of two of the region's satraps or governors, Vanaspara and KharapallÃÂna, the "great satrap". For the next six years, or until about 123, Buddhamitràthen went to Kosam, where she built several monuments.
For example, one of the images at Kosam is a standing stone bodhisattva which today can be seen in the Allahabad Museum. Satya Shrava gives a translation of the inscription, originally written in BrÃÂhmë characters in a mixture of the Sanskrit and PrÃÂkrit. It reads, "In the year 2 of mahÃÂrÃÂja Kanishka, in the 2nd month of hemanta, i.e., the winter season, on the 8th day, the image of Bodhisattva is set up by the nun BuddhamitrÃÂ, well versed in the Tripitaka, at the promenade of the Lord Buddha."
BuddhamitrÃÂ and Bala were not interested in only converting others to their religion. To quote A Rough Guide to Kushan History, "[P]atronage, not conversion was the goal of Buddhamitra." She sought, successfully, money from wealthy and powerful people to promote Buddhism, specifically for followers of the SarvÃÂstivÃÂda school. The prestige of each patron enhanced the legitimacy of SarvÃÂstivÃÂda. Her desire was to reach the leaders of the Kushan Empire.
BuddhamitrÃÂ lived at the time of the Fourth Buddhist council and it is likely that given her political connections and learning that she was involved. She is a remarkable figure because despite living in a patriarchal society she has left a mark in history where many male kings have been entirely forgotten.
Her niece, who was a nun named Dhanavati (or Dhanadevë), in 148 built a memorial in honor of Buddhamitràin the city of her birth. Shrava gives a translation of the inscription:
The female gender of someone named BuddhamitrÃÂ has been known since at least the 1960s or 1970s. A Rough Guide to Kushan History says, "The evidence for Buddhamitra comes completely from inscriptions." Just as other scholars have, catalogs these inscriptions, in his case, in his 1978 doctoral dissertation, Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit, which identifies BuddhamitrÃÂ as a nun. Including all of the known works by and about BuddhamitrÃÂ, in 1993, Satya Shrava published a book of the inscriptions of the Kushan Empire rulers of India that have dates, along with a photograph of each one. Peter Skilling refers to this historical record and to a female named BuddhamitrÃÂ in 2001, in "Nuns, Laywomen, Donors, Goddesses: Female Roles in Early Indian Buddhism". Thea Mohr and Jampa Tsoedren give the female gender of someone named BuddhamitrÃÂ in a footnote in their book Dignity & Discipline: Reviving Full Ordination for Buddhist Nuns (2010), which identifies BuddhamitrÃÂ as a nun, one who had committed the entire Tripitaka to memory.