Ambapali
Ambapali
[菴婆羅女] (Pali; Skt Amrapali; Jpn Ambara-nyo)
A courtesan in Vaishali, India, who, upon hearing the teachings from Shakyamuni Buddha, donated her forest of mango trees to the Buddhist Order. Chinese versions of Buddhist scriptures refer to this forest of mango trees as AmbapaliGarden. Legend has it that Ambapaliwas born from a mango tree. Amba means mango tree. According to another legend, she was left in a forest of mango trees after birth and was found and raised by the forest's caretaker. According to yet another legend, she was the mother of the skilled physician Jivaka. It is said that, at age eighty, Shakyamuni left Rajagriha to set forth on his last journey. He proceeded northward across the Ganges to Vaishali where he and his disciples stayed in Amba-pali's mango-tree forest. It was then that she heard the Buddha preach and joyfully invited him and his disciples to a meal at her home.
