Question

When did Buddhas mum die?

Answer 1

The Buddha’s mother, died a week after childbirth. Although the narratives depict a blissful pregnancy, free of fatigue and pain, she was not so lucky after delivery. There appears to have been some cause for concern after her delivery, but it is unclear if this was due to bleeding, infection, or other complications. What the early texts do state is that Maya delivered the Buddha in the Lumbini grove, on her way to visit her natal home, rather than in her husband’s palace, which may suggest a precipitous labor. This detail points to the custom of women visiting their natal homes during pregnancy, a custom still practiced in parts of Buddhist India today. Like Maya, women who are pregnant for the first time in Buddhist Kashmir still travel to their natal homes, where they may be better fed and taken care of than in their marital homes under the watchful eyes of in-laws. However, to this day an ideology in both Buddhist and Brahmanic culture considers giving birth to be a polluting event and suggests that women should return to their marital homes for delivery.