維摩經略疏 5.76

5.76

「佛告羅睺羅」，九、命羅睺羅。文為二：一命問疾、二辭不堪。所以次命者，以其弟子中密行第一。羅睺羅是佛菩薩時子，亦言羅云，此云覆障。以其在胎六年故名覆障，昔塞鼠穴今得此報。《大論》明羅云往昔為王，期看仙人，王著樂遂忘，仙人六日在外不得飲食，故六年處胎因名覆障。有翻宮生，悉達太子將欲踰城出家，以指指其妃腹語言：「却後六年汝當生男。」耶輸因覺有身。國人皆疑太子出家，太妃在宮，何得有身。將非邪通？佛共淨飯王於後證是太子之子親，是宮之所生，因名宮生。羅云當是從思數入道，故密行第一。深求其致，乃至成前五種利益，具如身子章。

"The Buddha told Rāhula": ninth, commanding Rāhula. The text has two parts: first, commanding him to inquire after the illness; second, declining as not competent. The reason for commanding him next is that among the disciples, he is foremost in esoteric practice. Rāhula was the son of the Buddha when he was a bodhisattva, also called Luoyun, which is translated here as "Concealment and Obstruction." Because he was in the womb for six years, he was named Concealment and Obstruction; having blocked a rat's hole in the past, he received this retribution now. The Dàzhìdù lùn explains that in the past Rāhula was a king who made an appointment to see a ṛṣi; the king indulged in pleasures and subsequently forgot, and the ṛṣi remained outside for six days without obtaining food and drink; therefore he remained in the womb for six years, and was consequently named Concealment and Obstruction. Some translate it as "Born in the Palace": when Prince Siddhārtha was about to leap over the city wall to leave home, he pointed with his finger at his consort's belly and spoke to her, saying, "Six years from now, you will give birth to a boy." Yaśodharā thereupon realized she was pregnant. The people of the state all suspected: the prince had left home, and the princess consort was in the palace—how could she be pregnant? Could it not be due to an illicit liaison? Later, the Buddha together with King Śuddhodana verified that this was indeed the prince's own son, born of the palace, and thus he was named "Born in the Palace." Rāhula must have entered the Path through the mental factor of volition, hence he is foremost in esoteric practice. Deeply inquiring into its principle, it even brings about the five kinds of benefits mentioned before, fully as described in the Śāriputra section.