[514] Then the Blessed One, having stayed at Kapilavatthu for as long as he wished, set out on a journey toward Vesālī. Wandering by stages, he arrived at Vesālī. There the Blessed One dwelt at Vesālī, in the Great Wood, in the Hall with the Peaked Roof.
Then Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, having had her hair cut off and having put on ochre robes, set out toward Vesālī together with a number of Sakyan women. Proceeding by stages, she approached Vesālī, the Great Wood, and the Hall with the Peaked Roof. Then Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, with swollen feet, her body covered with dust, pained and dejected, her face tearful and weeping, stood outside the gateway.
The Venerable Ānanda saw Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī standing outside the gateway with swollen feet, her body covered with dust, pained and dejected, her face tearful and weeping. Having seen her, he said this to Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī: "Why, Gotamī, do you stand outside the gateway with swollen feet, your body covered with dust, pained and dejected, your face tearful and weeping?"
"It is, venerable Ānanda, because the Blessed One does not allow women the going forth from the home life into homelessness in the Dhamma and Discipline proclaimed by the Tathāgata."
"In that case, Gotamī, remain right here for a moment, while I ask the Blessed One for the going forth of women from the home life into homelessness in the Dhamma and Discipline proclaimed by the Tathāgata."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.