When King Suddhodana died, Lady Mahapajapati felt very sad. She and several other women decided to leave the worldly life and join the Buddha's group of monks to practice the Dhamma. So she led the women to see the Buddha. She asked him to accept them as nuns (bhikkhunis), but the Buddha refused. The women felt very disappointed and cried. But they did not give up their wish to become nuns.