The Enlightened Courtesan

Buddha goes from town to town along with his retinue of monks. The period that lies ahead is arguably the most challenging with the approaching rainy season that will last for four months. Each monk or Bhikshu has to find a place to live. His disciple Ananda who is strikingly handsome in the course of his search, lands at the house of Amrapali the courtesan.

Amrapali welcomes Ananda with utmost reverence and has no objection to sharing her house. Ananda goes back to Buddha and seeks permission to stay with the courtesan. Much to the chagrin of his followers and the general public, Buddha tells Ananda;

‘By all means you can stay till the rains subside”.

There is pandemonium everywhere.

There goes the monkhood out of the window, says one; the courtesan’s beauty has cast a spell on him, says another; He has to be excommunicated from the order, opines a third.

For those four months, Ananda lives in the house of Amrapali. The rainy season comes to an end and it is time to go back to Buddha. But this time, Ananda is not alone. He is accompanied by the courtesan who embraces Buddhism and becomes a disciple.

"When a man of conscience enters the house of a courtesan, it is the temptress that changes – not the man of consciousness. It is always the lower that goes through transformation when it comes in contact with the higher. The higher cannot be dragged down.”

Pic credit - Wordpress

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