維摩經略疏 5.76

5.76

"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.