The goal of the paper is to ask both “what can we know about this figure?” and “how can we know it?” You therefore will be attempting to locate materials about the figure, sorting out what kinds of materials they are, and thinking through what they can tell us.

The essay is on queen maha Māyā of sakya — mother of the Buddha Gautama. The final product will be investigating the evidence in relation to a female figure from early Buddhism.

The goal of the paper is to ask both “what can we know about this figure?” and “how can we know it?” You therefore will be attempting to locate materials about the figure, sorting out what kinds of materials they are, and thinking through what they can tell us.

The essay needs to include an annotated bibliography and use at least one primary source(like Lalitavistara Sūtra or something else too) and 2-3 other secondary sources like (Garling, Wendy. 2016. Stars at Dawn: Forgotten Stories of Women in the Buddha’s Life Download Stars at Dawn: Forgotten Stories of Women in the Buddha’s Life. Boulder: Shambhala Publications.

[A retelling of women’s stories drawing from primary sources in Pali and Sanskrit. Includes materials on Mahāmāyā, Yasodharā, Sujātā, Mahāpajāpatī, and Kisagotamī.])