Today in Dalit history, we revisit the story of a Matangi bhikkuni (a Nun from the Dalit Matang Caste ) who is also referred to as Prakirti, Chandalika, or just Matangi — in Buddhist scriptures.

During the travels of Ananda, the Buddha’s closest disciple, he came across a girl who was drawing water from a well. Thirsty, he asked her for water. The girl, who was a Matang — or untouchable, was shocked at this request. She said — “I cannot give you water. Do you not see that I am from an untouchable caste?” Ananda, calmly replied, “ I did not ask you for your caste — I asked you for water to drink.” This request was new to her as a Matang girl whose fundamental humanity had always been shunned. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she began to ask Ananda a hundred questions — Where was he from? Why was he there? What religion did he practice that allowed him to drink from an untouchable’s hand?

This unusual reception of her humanity caused her to fall in love with Ananda. As he was a celibate monk of the Buddha’s order he led her to the Buddha where she realized that her love for Ananda was, in fact, a love for deeper existential equity. She then asked the Buddha to allow her to join the Sangha as a bhikkuni. The Buddha welcomed her into the fold and it is at this moment, that she is said to have become one of the earliest bhikkunis of the Sangha.

Another interesting debate is recorded upon her induction into the Sangha, the once-Brahmin King Prasanjit and other former Kshatriya members of the Sangha staged a protest. “Lord, a Brahmin and a Chandala (untouchable) cannot worship together! They cannot even share space together!” They reprimanded the Buddha for this conduct. However, the Buddha replied, “The Brahmin is not born of friction between pieces of dry wood, he does not descend from the sky or the wind and does not arise piercing the earth. A Brahmin is born from a womb just as a Chandala is. Nature itself contradicts the assumptions of inequalities between people. She shall stay and she shall serve the Sangha!”

Matangi’s story represents the fortitude of early Dalit women and the power of The Buddhist faith to change the lives of the oppressed. #JaiBhim

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