The Buddha's sister: Sundarī-Nandā, Pt. 1

G. P. Malalasekera, Dictionary of Pali Proper Names; edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Sundari Nanda, the beautiful half-sister of the Buddha, was intoxicated by her own beauty

Sundarī-Nandā was the Buddha's sister* who ordained, became a nun of at least ten years (therī), and a fully enlightened disciple (arhat).

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  How beautiful the Central Asian Scythians!

  It may be argued that she was Prince Siddhattha Gotama's half-sister, but consider that her biological mother, the woman who raised Siddhattha from the age of 7 days, was the sister of his biological mother; therefore, through their genetic similarity, she was more than half, and all were raised together in the same household because both sisters were simultaneously married to their father.
• The Central Asian Shakyians (Scythians) were accused of incest by people of India to the east for their custom of marrying cousins, as Prince Siddhartha Gautama (Sanskrit pronunciation), who later became Shakyamuni or the "Sage of the Shakyas," did in his arranged marriage to Princess Yasodhara when both were 16. (See more about her below).

How to cure the pride of beauty? Magic.

She was the daughter of the Buddha's father, King Suddhodana, and his foster mother, Queen Mahā Pajāpatī Gotami (who was the sister of the Buddha's biological mother, Queen Mahā Maya Gotami, who passed away seven days after his birth).

The royal (noble, kshatriya) sisters were co-wives of the king, the Scythian chieftain Suddhodana.

Sundari-Nandā, "Beautiful Nandā," had another brother besides the Buddha, who also became a monk then an arhat, Ven. Nanda Thera.

Seeing that most of her Scythian kin had joined the Buddhist Monastic Order, she too became a nun.

She did so not from confidence (faith, saddha) in the Teacher, the Teaching, or the Taught, but from attachment to her kin.

Intoxicated with her own beauty

She was intoxicated with her own beauty and therefore, like the beautiful chief female disciple of the Buddha (Ven. Khema Theri), she did not go see the Buddha, fearing that he might rebuke her on account of that.

The rest of her story is very similar to that of Abhirūpa Nandā -- which seems to be another one of her names. Abhi means "higher" or "superior" and rupa means "form," so it is another way of saying "extraordinarily beautiful."

The Buddha (Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara)

The Buddha taught her, and she became a stream-enterer (sotāpanna), winning the first stage of enlightenment and freedom.

He then gave her a topic of meditation and, developing insight, she became an arhat. Later the Buddha declared her "foremost among nuns in power of meditation," an eminence which she had resolved to obtain in the time of Padumuttara Buddha (Thag.vs.82-6; ThigA.80f.; Ap.ii.572f; A.i.25; AA.i.198f.)

She also seems to have been called Rūpanandā (AA.i.198); there seems to have been some confusion in the legends of the different nuns or therīs (senior nuns of more than ten years) named Nandā.

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  Prince Siddhartha's wife, Lucky Bimba Devi

  Like "Marys" in the Bible, it just seems more convenient for sexist scholars in world religions to condense many females into one general woman. The same is done to minimize and hide the greatness of the Buddha's cousin and former wife, beautiful Princess Yasodhara, who is variously known as Ven. Bhaddhakaccā, Bhaddakaccānā, Bimbā Devi, Bimbā Sundari, Rahulamata (Rahula's mother), and so on. She was the greatest debater who defeated many men and, in turn, was buried in the texts, hiding her glory, diffusing her greatness. "Yasodhara," by which we all know her today, is not a name but a title like "the buddha."
• The Buddha's sister: Sundari Nanda (Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia)

CONTINUED IN PART II