A fascinating collection about Buddhist women translated from the thirteenth-century Sinhala Buddhist text, the Saddharmaratnavaliya, these stories provide insights into the social status and roles of women in medieval India and Sri Lanka and the Buddhist doctrinal ideal. They also reflect the changes that took place as the Buddhist position on gender and female sexuality accommodated the social realities of the time. Translating, contextualizing, and commenting on the narratives, Ranjini Obeyesekere highlights the differences in perspective between the celibate monks who were the literary authors of the Saddharmaratnavaliya and the social world of their audience.
