Mahāprajāpatī ［摩訶波闍波提］ (; Pali Mahāpajāpatī;  Makahajahadai): The aunt and foster mother of Shakyamuni, the younger sister of Māyā, Shakyamuni’s birth mother. She is also known as Gautamī or Gotamī. Gautamī is the feminine form of Gautama, the surname of Shakyamuni’s family. Mahāprajāpatī was a daughter of Suprabuddha, a wealthy man of the Shākya tribe who lived in Devadaha near Kapilavastu. Suprabuddha is also said to have been the ruler of Devadaha. When Māyā, the consort of King Shuddhodana of Kapilavastu, died seven days after giving birth to Shakyamuni, Mahāprajāpatī became Shuddhodana’s wife and raised Shakyamuni. She bore Shuddhodana a son, Nanda. After the death of Shuddhodana, Mahāprajāpatī wished to renounce secular life, imploring the Buddhist Order to receive her. Initially, however, Shakyamuni Buddha would not allow women to join the Buddhist Order. Mahāprajāpatī begged the Buddha earnestly and persistently to grant her request. Ānanda also asked the Buddha to comply. Finally, Shakyamuni admitted Mahāprajāpatī to the Order as the first Buddhist nun. She gave instruction to a number of nuns and was respected as their elder. The “Encouraging Devotion” (thirteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra predicts that she will become a Buddha named Gladly Seen by All Living Beings. She is said to have died three months before Shakyamuni.