釋迦譜 1.88

1.88

瑞應本起云。太子年十七。王為納妃簡選數千。最後一女名曰裘夷。端正第一禮義備舉。是則宿命賣花女也。太子雖納久而不接。婦人之情欲有附近。太子曰。常得好花置我中間。共視之寧不好乎。裘夷即具好花。又欲近之。太子曰却。此花汁污於床席。久後復曰。得好白𧜼置我中間。兩人觀之不亦好乎。婦即具𧜼又有近意。太子曰却。人有污垢必洿此𧜼。婦不敢近。侍女咸疑謂不能男。太子以手指妃腹曰。却後六年爾當生男。遂以有身。大善權經云。何故菩薩而有室娶菩薩無欲。所以示現妻息。防人懷疑。菩薩非男斯黃門耳。故納瞿夷釋氏之女。羅云於天變沒化生。不由父母合會而育。又是菩薩本願所致。

The Ruiying benqi jing says: When the prince was seventeen years of age, the king selected from thousands [of maidens] to take a consort for him. The last maiden was named Gopī, foremost in beauty and fully endowed with propriety and righteousness; she was the flower-selling maiden from a past life. Although the prince took her, he did not intimacy with her for a long time. It is the nature of women to wish for closeness. The prince said: "Let us always obtain fine flowers, place them between us, and look at them together; would that not be pleasant?" Gopī then prepared fine flowers and wished to draw near him again. The prince said: "Step back. The sap of these flowers will soil the bed." A long time later, he said again: "Let us obtain a fine white woolen cloth, place it between us, and look at it together; would that not be pleasant?" The woman prepared the woolen cloth and again had the intention to draw near. The prince said: "Step back. If a person has impurities, they will surely soil this woolen cloth." The woman did not dare draw near. The attending maidservants all doubted him, thinking he was impotent. The prince pointed with his finger at the consort's belly and said: "Six years from now, you shall give birth to a boy." Thereupon, she became pregnant. The Da shanquan jing says: Why did the Bodhisattva take a wife? The Bodhisattva is free from desire; he manifested a wife and child only to prevent people from harboring doubts that the Bodhisattva was not a man but a eunuch. Therefore, he took Gopī, a daughter of the Śākya clan. Rāhula vanished from heaven and was born by miraculous transformation, not nurtured through the union of parents; this too was brought about by the Bodhisattva's original vow.