Viśākhā

Role: daughter of Balamitra; wife of Viśākha · First appears: Chapter VII

In Chapter VII, Viśākhā’s mother agreed at Champā to give her in marriage to Viśākha, and Mṛgadhara fetched her as his son’s spouse. After they reached Śrāvastī, she began managing the family’s domestic affairs; pleased with her, Mṛgadhara made her mistress of the household. When he fell ill, she treated him herself, and he recovered. Mṛgadhara described the qualities by which a woman “may be called mother,” and King Prasenajit of Kośala—after consulting his grandmother—publicly proclaimed Viśākhā Mṛgadhara’s mother and his own sister.

At Pūrvārāma, Viśākhā built a monastery in a former park and gave it to the community of Bhikshus. On the seventh day, thirty-two boys made their appearance.

Relationship record

Life events

• Viśākhā’s mother agreed to give her daughter in marriage to Viśākha.(Chapter VII · 📍 Champā)
  • With: Viśākhā’s mother (Chapter 007)
  • “They said, ‘This being so, we will give our daughter.’”
• Mṛgadhara fetched Viśākhā as his son Viśākha’s spouse.(Chapter VII)
  • With: Mṛgadhara Viśākha
  • “Then he set forth and fetched away Viśākhā with great pomp as his son’s spouse.”
• Viśākhā began managing the family’s domestic affairs.(Chapter VII · 📍 Śrāvastī)
  • With: Mṛgadhara
  • “By and by they reached Śrāvastī, and after they had recovered from the fatigues of the journey and presented ornaments to friends, relatives, and connections, Viśākhā began to attend to the domestic affairs of the family.”
• Mṛgadhara appointed Viśākhā to manage the household, making her its mistress.(Chapter VII)
  • With: Mṛgadhara
  • “Mṛgadhara was much pleased, asked her to manage the affairs of the household, and ordered all the people of the house to perform, according to Viśākhā’s wishes, whatsoever tasks she might allot to them. She thus became the mistress of the house,”
• Mṛgadhara recovered after Viśākhā treated him herself.(Chapter VII)
  • With: Mṛgadhara
  • “Then she closed the door to the physicians and treated the patient herself. Whereupon he recovered.”
• King Prasenajit approved Viśākhā being called Mṛgadhara’s mother and his own sister.(Chapter VII)
  • With: Mṛgadhara King Prasenajit of Kośala
  • “The king said, ‘As Viśākhā has taken care of me also, I will, after consulting my grandmother, call her my sister.’”
• The king’s grandmother agreed that he could call Viśākhā his sister.(Chapter VII)
  • With: The king’s grandmother (Chapter 007)
  • “So he asked his grandmother, and she said that he might justly call Viśākhā by that name.”
• King Prasenajit publicly proclaimed Viśākhā Mṛgadhara’s mother and his sister.(Chapter VII)
  • With: King Prasenajit of Kośala Mṛgadhara
  • “The king gave orders that Viśākhā should be set upon an elephant, and that public proclamation should be made that she, Viśākhā, was Mṛgadhara’s mother and King Prasenajit’s sister.”
• Viśākhā built a monastery in a former park and gave it to the community of Bhikshus.(Chapter VII · 📍 Pūrvārāma)
  • “In what had been a park she built a monastery, and made it over to the community of Bhikshus of the four parts of the world.”
• Viśākhā’s thirty-two sons hatched from the eggs.(Chapter VII)
  • With: Mṛgadhara Viśākhā’s thirty-two sons (Chapter 007)
  • “When Viśākhā had done all this, thirty-two boys made their appearance on the seventh day.”

Chapter VII

• parent: Balamitra “In it there lived a householder named Balamitra, whose daughter Viśākhā was fair to see, well proportioned, in the bloom of youth, intelligent and clever.”
• parent: Viśākhā’s mother (Chapter 007) “The loving mother, with troubled heart and eyes full of tears, embraced her daughter, and said with sorrowful voice, ‘O daughter, this is the last time that I shall see you.’”
• married with Viśākha “Then he set forth and fetched away Viśākhā with great pomp as his son’s spouse.”
• with Mṛgadhara (Mṛgadhara calls his daughter-in-law his mother.) “If she has five qualities. If she is a nurse to the sick, if she lives in wedlock as a decorous wife, if she protects living creatures, if she is a good guardian of property, and if she has inherited wisdom—in that case she may be called mother.”
• child: Viśākhā’s thirty-two sons (Chapter 007) “When Viśākhā had done all this, thirty-two boys made their appearance on the seventh day.”
• siblings with King Prasenajit of Kośala “The king said, ‘As Viśākhā has taken care of me also, I will, after consulting my grandmother, call her my sister.’”

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Extracted from the original text of Tibetan Tales, Derived from Indian Sources. Made with Rho MD.