Ananda then said: I beg you, Lord Buddha, please do a favour to Mahapajapati and accept her and other women as nuns or bhikkhunis, because she has done you great favour. She brought you up as her own son. So finally the Buddha said: "Alright. If they are willing to follow the eight monastic rules I give them, they can leave home and become bhikkhunis." Then he explained these rules to Ananda.