Girl Who Became a Buddha

Her sister and co-queen of Kapilavastu, Maya, tries to gently keep her in check, but Pajapati is irrepressible. When Maya dies shortly after giving birth to Siddhartha, Pajapati is devastated. Yet, for the sake of her beloved sister, she must raise the infant prince as her own.

She does so with unwavering devotion, mindful of the prophecy made at Siddhartha's birth: if he were ever to witness suffering or death, he would abandon the kingdom forever. Despite every effort to shield him from the world's hardships, the prophecy comes to pass, and Siddhartha leaves home to become the Buddha.

But this is not his story.

This is the story of Pajapati--the woman who raised him, forged her own spiritual path, and ultimately became a Buddha herself.

Set in the fifth century BCE, Maria Denjongpa's compelling debut novel explores love, grief, duty, and self-discovery through the eyes of an extraordinary woman. Richly imagined and deeply moving, it is a powerful meditation on the challenges of a woman's spiritual journey and the transformative nature of compassion and resilience.