Yaśodharā: Wife of Gautam Buddha

The name Yaśodharā (Sanskrit) [from yaśas, “glory” + Dhara, “bearing”, from the language root that, “bearing, support”] means the bearer of glory. In addition to Yaśodharā, the names she is called are Yaśodharā There (doyenne Yaśodharā), Bimbādevī, Bhaddakaccānā and Rāhulamātā (Mother of Rahula).

Yaśodharā (Pali Yasodharā) is the wife of Siddhārtha Gautama, later known as Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. She later became Bichuni (Buddhist nun) and is considered to be arahatā.

Who was Yaśodhara?

Yaśodhara is the daughter of King Suppabuddha, the daughter of Amita, the elder sister of Śuddhododana, the father of Buddha. She was born the same day as Prince Siddhartha on the “Washaka” month.

Her grandfather was the patriarch of Añjanaa Koliya, her father was Suppabuddha, and her mother Amitā came from a Shakya family. Shakya and Kolya are branches of Ādicca (Sanskrit: Aditya) or the Ikshvaku dynasty. In the area, no other family is considered equal to them, so the two royal family members only marry each other.

She married her cousin, Prince Shakya Siddhartha, when they were both 16 years old. At the age of 29, she gave birth to their only child, a boy named Rāhula.

What are the Legends associated with Yaśodhrā?

On the evening of the 7th day of his birth, the prince left the palace. Yaśodhrā was devastated and grieved. Once, Prince Siddhartha left home for enlightenment at night with the consent of Yashodhara but did not let others know.

The next day, everyone was surprised by the prince’s absence. Later, when she learned that he had left, Yashodhra decided to start a simple life. Despite the news that her relatives wanted to maintain her, she did not accept the proposals.

Several princes looked for her hand, but she rejected the offer. During the six years, he was absent, Princess Yaśodharā has been closely following the news of his actions.

When the Buddha visited Kapilavastu after enlightenment, instead of visiting her ex-husband, Yaśodharā asked Rāhula to go to the Buddha to seek inheritance.

For herself, she thought: “If I have gained any virtue completely, the Lord will come to me.” To fulfill his desire, the Buddha appeared before her, admiring her patience and sacrifice.

Yaśodhrā first encountered Siddhartha Gautama in his last life, when the young Indian Brahmin Sumedha was officially recognized as the future Buddha of that era, Dīpankara Buddha.

He was waiting for Buddha Dīpankara in Padumah City, trying to buy flowers as a sacrifice, but soon learned that the king had bought all the flowers for his sacrifice. However, with the arrival of Dīpankara, Sumedha found a girl named Sumithra (or Bhadra) holding seven lotus flowers in his hand.

He wanted to talk to her and planned to buy one of her flowers, but she immediately realized his potential. If he promised that they would become husband and wife in all future life, he would give him five lotus flowers.

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Did Yaśodhrā had a lengthy pregnancy?

Bodhisattva Śkyamuni has two wives: the first is called K’iu p’i ye (Gupia or Gopha), the second is called Ye chou t’o lo (Yaśodharā) or Ye chou t’o he he lo lo mou (Yaśodharā Rāhulamātā). Gopā is infertile (bandhya) and has no children.

Yaśodhrā knew that she was pregnant (garbhiṇī) the night the Buddha left home (pravrajita). After the Bodhisattva left, he practiced asceticism (duṣkaracaryā) for six years. Yaśodhrā was also pregnant for six years and had no children.

Jiajia asked her: “The Bodhisattva left the house; who is your fruit?” Yaśodhrā said: “I have not committed adultery; my son born in the womb is indeed a descendant of the crown prince (Śākyamuni).”

The religious leader continued to Say: “Why didn’t you have children for so long?” She replied that she didn’t know. In public discussions, the religious leader asked the king [uddhodana] to impose appropriate punishment on her.

Copa said to the king: “I want you to forgive Yashudara; I have been with her. I am her witness. I know that she has not sinned. When her son is born, you will know whether he is with his father. Similar. It’s not too late to punish her.” Then the king indulged in treating Yasundara.

The Buddha has completed six years of austerity policy; on the night he became Buddha, Yashudara gave birth to Rāhula. The king saw him like a father, overjoyed, and forgot his anger. He said to the Minister: “Although my son has gone, today he has a son who likes him completely.”

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How did Yaśodhrā prove her innocence?

Although Yaśodhrā avoided the humiliation of being punished, her bad reputation has spread throughout the kingdom. She tried to use this bad reputation to wash her face.

When Śkyamuni obtained Buddha status and returned to Kapilavastu to convert to Śākyas, King Kingdhdhana and Yaśodharā immediately invited him to dinner in the palace.

Then Yaśodhrā took a hundred flavors of the magic potion (modaka) and gave it to Rahula to worship the Buddha. At the same time, with his magical power (ṛddhibala), the Buddha created five hundred identical arhats.

 At that time, Rāhula, who was only seven years old, took the potion cake, went directly to the Buddha, and respectfully handed it to the Bhagavad-gita (thus proving that he was found like the Buddha in the five hundred arahants. His father).

Then the Buddha suspended his miraculous power, and the five hundred bhikṣus returned to their original state: they sat in an empty bowl (dhautapātreṇa), and the Buddha’s bowl was the only bowl filled with potions. Yaśodharā said to the king: “This proves that I haven’t sinned.”

What did Buddha explain to Yaśodhrā?

Yaśodharā then asked the Buddha why she wasn’t pregnant for six years. Buddha explained to her that in the previous life, her son Rāhula was the king of a country. At that time, Abu Hai (abi), who possessed five kinds of super knowledge, entered his kingdom and said to the king: “The king is responsible for punishing the thief; I want him to punish me.”

 The king asked, “What did you do wrong?” The believer replied: “I entered your kingdom and was stolen (adattādāna): I drank the water that belongs to you without any kind, and I took off the willow branches that belonged to you.” The king said: “But I will give them to you what crime did you commit?

When I ascended the throne, I gave this water and these willow branches for everyone to use.” The king replied: “Although the king gave this gift, I was worried that my crime did not happen because of it. Repressed; I want to be punished today so that I don’t have to be punished again in the future.”

The king replied: “If you insist, stay here for a while and wait for me to come back.” The king returned to his palace, where he stayed for six God, did not come out.

The king stayed in the king’s garden, he was hungry and thirsty for six days, and at the same time said to him that the king punished him well.

Six days later, the king came out of his palace and apologized to the religious organization: “I have forgotten you, please don’t hold grudges against me.”

For this reason, the king is destined to these three evils (Durgati) was punished five hundred times, while in the other five hundred years, he stayed in his mother’s womb for six years. This is the way to prove that Yaśodharā did not commit a crime.

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What did Yaśodhrā try to win back Buddha?

Yaśodharā was very angry, whenever she thought of him, she sank to the ground, her breathing stopped, her companion sprinkled water on her, and then began to breathe again.

She always asked herself: ​​”Who has enough skills in this area to change his feelings and restore him to his original feelings so that we can be as happy (together) as before?”

Then she used seven jewels (Saptaratna) and precious jewelry (maṇi) are filled with a golden bowl and provided to anyone.

After accepting this sentence, a Brahminist said: “I can put a spell on the Buddha to change his feelings. It is necessary to make a small cake with a hundred flavors (saptarasanamaya modaka) mixed with herbs, and then use the spell to “bind” (spell); his thoughts will change, and he will come back.”

Yaśodharā followed the instructions of the Brahma Morin and then sent someone to invite the Buddha: she wanted to be completely in front of monks lower the status of Buddha.

Buddha enters the king’s palace, Yaśodhrā provided him with a hundred flavors of cake and put it in a bowl, and the Buddha ate it. Yaśodharā hopes that, according to her wishes, they will be as happy as before.

But the food the Buddha took did not affect. His mind and eyes remained calm. Yaśodharā said: “At present, he is not moving. Maybe the power of herbal medicine has not worked yet. But when their power appears, he will do what I want.”

 After eating, the Buddha shouted and stood up from his seat and left. Yaśodhrā still hopes that the power of the herb will work in the afternoon and that the Buddha will return to the palace.

However, the Buddha’s food is the same as everything else. His body and mind have not changed. The next day, at mealtime, the monks put on their robes, picked up the bowls, and entered the city to beg for food.

Hearing this story, their respect for the Buddha increased. They said: “The power of the Buddha is great; his miracle of thought (ṛddhicitta) is hard to sound (durvighāhya) and unimaginable (acintya). The cake made by Yaśodharā is very powerful.

However, the Buddha did not change his body and mind I ate it.” After the meal, the monks left the city and consulted on “Bhagavad Gita” on the matter. Buddha said to the bhikshus: “Not only in this life, had this Yaśodharā tried to seduce me with cake (modaka) in the previous life, she attracted me with cake.”

When did Yaśodhrā die?

Sometime after her son Rāhula became a novice monk, Yaśodharā also entered the monks and nuns’ association and reached the state of arahat within a time. After Mahapajapati Gotami first established the Bichuni Order, she was appointed as Bichuni along with 500 women. She died at the age of 78, two years before the Buddha’s death.

Conclusion

The appearance of “Yaśodhara” is the preferred name for texts translated in the second half of the 5th century and beyond. In addition to Rhys David’s theory, he also proposed other explanations, including the possibility of multiple marriages.

 In some cases, such marriages are more suitable for different changes in the story of the Buddha’s life, which shows that when multiple different stories are combined into a single story, these contradictions will appear.

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