Princess Sudhammā spent the whole of her life doing meritorious deeds and at her death, she was reborn in the deva realm. Subsequently, for innumerable years, she was reborn either in the deva-world or the human world.

During the time of Buddha Gotama, she was reborn into the family of a rich man in Rājagaha. When she was of marriageable age, she married a rich man named Visākha and she was called Dhammadinnā (the Rich Man’s wife).

Visākha and Dhammadinnā, ninety-two world-cycles ago, were also a rich couple, as the Royal Treasurer and wife during Buddha Phussa time, who were noted for their liberality. Visākha, the rich man, was one of the one hundred and one disciples of the Buddha, who gained Stream-Entry Knowledge on the day the Buddha arrived in Rājagaha for first time. He was a close friend of King Bimbisāra.

After having become an ariya as Stream-Enterer, Visākha, on a later occasion, listened to the Buddha’s discourse and gained sakadāgāmī-phala (a Once Returner) and then on a later day anāgāmī-phala (a Non-Returner). Once he became a Non-Returner, his outlook and behaviour changed visibly. For whereas he would go home with expectancy to see his wife, his face full of smiles, he was now looking staid, his mien composed and mind tranquil.

His wife Dhammadinnā was, as usual, looking through the window with a long motif carved at the sill, awaiting his return. When she saw the sedate attitude of her husband treading home, it struck her as strange. “What has gone wrong?” she thought. She went down the stair and stretched out her hand to him at the landing. Although it was his custom to take hold of his wife’s welcoming hand and go up the stairs (speaking amiably together), on that day, he withdrew his hand instead of holding hers. “Perhaps I shall find out about this at the table,” she thought to herself. But at the morning meal, he did not sit at table together with his wife as usual, but took his meal alone in silence, like an elderly bhikkhu engaged in meditation. “Perhaps I shall find out about this in the evening,” she thought to herself.

But when evening came, Visākha did not go into their inner chamber, instead, he had a separate room prepared for him with a wooden cot on which he slept alone. His wife now started worrying. “Is my husband in love with another woman? Or has someone tried to cause misunderstanding between us? Or has he seen some fault in me?” These wild unfounded speculations gnawed at her innocent heart. After two or three days she could not bear it any further silently and standing by his side meekly, her joined palms raised in salutation to her husband, she awaited how he would respond.

Then he said:

“Why do you come near me at this untimely hour?”

“Untimely, yes, my lord. But you have changed now. What’s the matter with you? Is there another woman beside me?”

“No, Dhammadinnā, there is none.”

“Then, has someone put in a wedge between us?”

“No, there is none of the sort.”

“In that case, do you see any fault in me?”

“No, Dhammadinnā, you have no fault whatever.”

“If so, why do you stay aloof from me as though we were total strangers and not husband and wife? You have not talked to me much these few days.”

When confronted thus by his wife, Visākha pondered: “Supramundane Dhamma is a profound thing, not easy to explain like mundane matters. If possible, it had better be kept to oneself. But now, if I did not talk about it Dhammadinnā would certainly take it amiss and be broken hearted.”

Thus thinking to himself, Visākhā said to her:

“Dhammadinnā, after I have listened to the Buddha’s discourses, I have comprehended the Supramundane Dhamma. One who comprehends the Supramundane finds mundane affairs incompatible with him. If you would agree, there are forty crore worth of treasures that your parents have endowed to us, and another forty crore worth of treasures that my parents have endowed to us, these eighty crore worth of treasures, I would bequeath to you as sole owner, and treat me just as a mother or an elder sister. I shall be content with whatever manner you might look after me. Or, if you so choose, you may take all those wealth with you and go back to your parents’ house. If you have no other man to give your heart, I shall look after you as my younger sister or as my daughter.”

On hearing these momentous and frank words from her husband, Dhammadinnā was deeply satisfied. She thought to herself: “It is no ordinary man to say such things. My husband surely must have comprehended the Supramundane Dhamma. But is the Supramundane solely for men? Is it possible for a woman to understand it?”

Pondering thus, she said to her husband: “My lord, is the Supramundane Dhamma solely for men? Are women also capable of knowing it?”

“Why, Dhammadinnā, anyone, male or female, who practices the Dhamma according to the Doctrine, with due diligence can become heirs to the Buddha, in the matter of the Dhamma. If one has sufficing condition, i.e. a built-up of past merit for attaining the Path-Knowledge, the Supramundane is realizable.” answered Visākhā.

“If so, my lord, give me permission to become a bhikkhunī.”

“Very well, my dear, I am glad you aspire for the Supramundane. I have not suggested it to you only because I did not know your aptitude.”

Visākha then immediately went to see King Bimbisāra who asked him: “O Rich Man, what is your purpose in seeing me at this untimely hour?”

“Great King,” Visākha said, “Dhammadinnā wishes to become a bhikkhunī.”

“What shall I provide Dhammadinnā with?”

“Great King, I want just-two things: the golden palanquin and the tidying up of tile city.”

The King complied with these two requests.