阿彌陀經通贊疏 1.71

1.71

梵云羅怙羅，此云執日，羅睺羅不正，執日者障蔽也。往昔曾為國王太子，兄弟二人，大者名日、小者名月。父王崩後兄紹國位，後厭榮貴付位與弟月太子，乃投佛出家，精持禁戒無有少犯。後因夜暗誤用他人瓶水，鳴鐘作相集僧懺除，眾僧知罪輕微，不與作法懺謝。憂愁轉甚，乃自入宮告月王求懺盜罪。月王不違兄意，尋遣左右收兄拘繫一房，貪遂歡娛六日忌治，今招惡報腹內六年。又云：昔填鼠穴六日，今招斯報六載腹中。此皆不然。太子逾城之日，馬鞭指耶輸之腹令有此孕，表異凡眾特現異靈，六載胎中方誕殊質。國王疑謗母子俱焚，火變蓮池都無傷損，群臣國王頓息疑心，知釋迦之久離染情，顯羅睺之不同餘眾。又乃將珠奉佛，雪恥耶輸，鶖子將歸便令度脫，少欲知足大行密修已證四果。此尊者聖凡莫測因果難知，內修菩薩之心、外現聲聞之相，故云密行也。

In Sanskrit he is called Rāhula, which is translated as "Seizing the Sun." "Luohouluo" is inaccurate; "seizing the sun" means obscuring it. In the past, he was once a king's prince. There were two brothers: the elder was named Sun and the younger was named Moon. After their royal father passed away, the elder brother succeeded to the royal throne. Later, weary of glory and nobility, he handed over the throne to his younger brother, Prince Moon, and went to the Buddha to leave home, scrupulously upholding the prohibitive precepts without the slightest transgression. Later, in the dark of night, he mistakenly used another's jar of water; he sounded the bell to assemble the Saṅgha and repent. Knowing his offense was slight, the assembly of monks did not perform the ritual of confession and repentance for him. His distress grew increasingly severe, so he personally entered the palace and informed King Moon, seeking repentance for the theft. Not wishing to go against his brother's wishes, King Moon soon sent his attendants to seize his brother and confine him to a single room; given to pursuit of pleasure, he neglected to release him for six days. Now, he incurred the evil retribution of remaining in the womb for six years. It is also said: In the past, he plugged a rat hole for six days, and now incurred this retribution of being in the womb for six years. Neither of these is correct. On the day the Prince leaped over the city walls, he pointed his horsewhip at Yaśodharā's womb, causing her to conceive this child, in order to show distinction from the ordinary multitude and specifically manifest an extraordinary miracle; only after six years in the womb was this wondrous being born. The king, suspecting and slandering [her], ordered mother and son burned together, but the fire transformed into a lotus pond without causing any harm. The ministers and the king immediately dispelled their suspicions, knowing that Śākyamuni had long abandoned defiling passions, and making clear that Rāhula was unlike the rest of the multitude. Furthermore, he presented jewels to the Buddha, clearing Yaśodharā of disgrace; and when Śāriputra brought him back, [the Buddha] directly caused him to attain liberation. With few desires and knowing contentment, through great practices and esoteric cultivation he had already realized the four fruits. For this venerable one, whose sagehood or ordinariness is unfathomable and whose cause and effect are difficult to know, internally he cultivated the mind of a bodhisattva, while externally he displayed the appearance of a śrāvaka; hence it is called "esoteric practice."