Patacara was an Indian woman who lived during the 6th century BCE in what is now Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Her story is long, beginning with a rich family, running away to be with her lower cast love, then the death of him and her children and her parents making her insane with grief. When she encountered the Buddha, telling him her story, he used it to guide her to immediately understood the nature of impermanence. She became a sotapanna, the first stage of Arayahood, those who have attained 'the fruits of the path The Buddha appointed her the foremost Keeper of the Vinaya, "Rules of Conduct" of the monastic life amongst the Nuns.
