SexViolHist Bib: Cases: Mythological Cases: Rape of Uppalavannā

»Utpalavarṇā (Sanskrit: उत्पलवर्णा; Pali: Uppalavannā; Chinese: 蓮華色, pinyin: Liánhuásè) was a Buddhist bhikkhuni, or nun, who was considered one of the top female disciples of the Buddha. She is considered the second of the Buddha's two chief female disciples, along with Khema. She was given the name Uppalavanna, meaning "color of a blue water lily", at birth due to the bluish color of her skin. (...)
According to the Theravada tradition, a man who lusted after Uppalavanna before her ordination hid in her hut and attempted to rape her. Uppalavanna tries to escape using her psychic powers, but due to a bad karma she committed in a past life her psychic powers were rendered ineffective and the rape proceeds. The rapist is then swallowed by the earth and falls to Avici hell for his evil deed. Following the incident, when questioned about the matter, the Buddha states that Uppalavanna did not break the monastic rule of chastity since she gave no consent. This event leads to the creation of a rule prohibiting nuns from dwelling in the wild as a way to protect against such incidents.« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

K e y w o r d s

I. Chronological Index: Acnient History: Ancient India | II. Geographical Index: Asia History: Indian History | III. Topical Index: Types: General: Rape; Offenders: Kinship: Cousins; Victims: Social Status: Nuns

B i b l i o g r a p h y

Religious Texts: Dhammapada, Vinaya Piṭaka