釋迦譜 2.35

2.35

At that time, the World-Honoured One said to Maudgalyāyana: "Go now to the city of Kapilavastu to inquire after the well-being of my father, King Śuddhodana, my maternal aunt Prajāpatī, and my three paternal uncles, King Droṇodana and the others. Further, console and admonish Rāhula's mother, Yaśodharā, to let go of affectionate attachment and release Rāhula so that he may become a śrāmaṇera and cultivate the noble path. Why? The affectionate love between mother and child brings only a fleeting moment of joy; at death they fall into hell, where mother and child do not know each other, forever separated in deep gloom, suffering myriad torments, when regrets will come too late. When Rāhula attains the Way, he will return to deliver his mother, severing forever the root of birth, old age, sickness, and death, and attaining the state of an arhat just like me at present." Receiving the command, Maudgalyāyana reached King Śuddhodana's place in Kapilavastu in the time it takes to bend and stretch an arm. He addressed the king, saying: "The World-Honoured One sends his earnest inquiries: 'Are your everyday movements light and easy, and is your vigor sound and well?' To the Great Queen Prajāpatī and the three paternal uncles, King Droṇodana and the others, he inquires after their health in like manner." At that time, Yaśodharā heard that the Buddha had sent a messenger to the king's quarters. Not knowing the purpose, she sent a handmaid to inquire. The handmaid returned and reported: "The World-Honoured One has sent a messenger to take Rāhula and ordain him as a śrāmaṇera." Hearing this news, Yaśodharā took Rāhula up to a high tower and ordered the overseers to shut and lock the gates, making them completely secure. When Mahāmaudgalyāyana arrived at the palace gates, he could not enter, nor was there anyone to announce him; so with his supernormal powers he flew up to the high tower and stood before Yaśodharā's seat. Seeing Maudgalyāyana arrive, Yaśodharā was filled with mingled grief and joy. Having no choice, she arose, bowed, ordered a seat prepared, and invited Maudgalyāyana to sit. She asked Maudgalyāyana: "Is the World-Honoured One well, and does teaching and converting sentient beings not weary his spirit? Why has he sent the superior man here?" Maudgalyāyana replied: "Prince Rāhula is already nine years old; he should be permitted to go forth from the household and train in the noble path. Why? The affectionate love of mother and child is gratifying for only a short time; once life ends, they fall into the three evil destinies, separated in love and deep gloom, mother not knowing child and child not knowing mother. When Rāhula attains the Way, he will return to deliver his mother, forever crossing beyond the sorrows of birth, old age, sickness, and death, and attaining nirvāṇa just like the Buddha at present." Yaśodharā answered Maudgalyāyana: "When the Śākya Tathāgata was crown prince, he took me as his wife. I served the prince as one serves a heavenly spirit, without a single failing. Before we had been husband and wife for full three years, he abandoned the pleasures of the five desires, leaped over the palace walls, and fled to the royal fields. The king went in person to welcome him back, but he was obstinate and would not comply. Instead, he sent Chandaka and the white horse back, vowing to attain the Way himself and pledging that he would return once accomplished. Clad in deerskin, like a madman dwelling in the mountains and marshes, he underwent six years of bitter toil, attained buddhahood, and returned to his homeland; yet he paid no heed to his kin, completely forgetting old affection, worse than a stranger on the road. He left us mother and child to endure loneliness and embrace poverty. Now he sends an envoy wishing to claim my child as his disciple. What could be more cruel than this? The prince, having attained the Way, claims to be compassionate; but the path of compassion ought to bring peace and joy to sentient beings. Now instead he separates mother and child. Among all sufferings, none is worse than the suffering of separation from those one loves. Deducing from this, what compassion is there in separating a mother and her child?" She said to Maudgalyāyana: "Return to the World-Honoured One and convey what I have said." Then Mahāmaudgalyāyana employed further skillful means, using diverse admonitions to enlighten Yaśodharā, but Yaśodharā had no intention whatsoever of listening. Taking his leave, he returned to King Śuddhodana's place and reported everything in detail. When the king heard this, he said to Queen Prajāpatī: "My son Siddhārtha has sent Maudgalyāyana to take Rāhula, wishing him to enter the Way and train in the noble Dharma. Yaśodharā is foolish as women are; not understanding the essentials of the Dharma, her heart is firm and unyielding, entangled in love and unwilling to let go. You should go there and repeatedly admonish her, so that her mind may awaken." The queen then took five hundred handmaids and went to her palace, offering appropriate admonitions time and again; yet Yaśodharā still would not listen. She said to the queen: "When I was at home, kings of eight countries vied to ask for my hand, but my parents did not consent. Why? Because the Śākya prince's talent and skill surpassed others; therefore my parents betrothed me to him. If the prince knew at that time that he would not remain in the world but would go forth to study the Way, why did he so earnestly and persistently seek me? When a man takes a wife, it is precisely for affection and harmony, to gather joy, and to succeed through myriad generations, lineally continuing the ancestral lineage, which is the proper propriety of the world. Since the prince has already left, and now seeks Rāhula wishing him to go forth as well, forever cutting off the succession of the realm, what sense is there in this?" Hearing these words, the queen was silent and did not know what to say. At that time, the World-Honoured One created an apparition who said from the sky: "Yaśodharā, do you remember the vow made in a past age? When I was practicing the bodhisattva path, I purchased five lotus stems from you with five hundred gold coins to offer to Dīpaṃkara Buddha. At that time, you begged me that in life after life we might be husband and wife. Unwilling to accept, I told you: 'As a bodhisattva practicing vows through many kalpas, I give everything in charity, never refusing anyone's wish. If you can do likewise, I will accept you as my wife.' You made a vow, saying: 'In life after life, whether my country, cities, wife, children, or my own body, you may give them away as you please; I vow never to regret it.' Why then do you now cling to Rāhula and not permit him to go forth and learn the noble path?" Hearing these words, Yaśodharā was suddenly startled into recognizing her past karmic causes and conditions, everything as clear as if seen yesterday. Her emotional attachment to her son naturally dissolved. She sent for Maudgalyāyana, repented and apologized, and taking Rāhula's hand, entrusted him to Maudgalyāyana. Parting from her child, her tears streamed down. At that time, seeing his mother's sorrow, Rāhula knelt upright with palms joined, went forward, and said to his mother: "Please, Mother, do not grieve. Rāhula goes now to pay respects to the World-Honoured One, and soon I shall return to see you." Then King Śuddhodana, wishing to comfort Yaśodharā and bring her joy, assembled the eminent clansmen of the realm and addressed them: "The prince of the golden wheel is now to go to the kingdom of Śrāvastī to go forth under the Buddha and study the Way. I request that each of you send one son to accompany my grandson." All complied with his order. Immediately fifty youths were gathered, who accompanied Rāhula to the Buddha's presence and prostrated with head to the ground. The Buddha instructed Ānanda to shave Rāhula's head and those of the fifty princes and nobles' sons, causing them all to go forth. He appointed Śāriputra as their upādhyāya and Mahāmaudgalyāyana as their ācārya, who conferred the ten precepts upon them, making them śrāmaṇeras. At that time, the Buddha's son Rāhula and the other fifty śrāmaṇeras, hearing the Buddha expound the karmic retribution for the sins of Śaṇḍila and others (Śaṇḍila and others were formerly monks, whose past karmic retribution is omitted as the text is lengthy), became exceedingly anxious and fearful. They prostrated with heads to the ground before the Buddha and said: "World-Honoured One, having now heard of this matter of Śaṇḍila and the others, we are gripped with terror. Why? Our upādhyāya Śāriputra possesses great wisdom and merit, receiving the finest sweet delicacies in offerings throughout the realm. We children are foolish and devoid of merit; if we consume such exquisite food from others, we will surely suffer bitter retribution in future lives like Śaṇḍila. Therefore we are truly anxious. May the Buddha show pity and allow our group to abandon the Way and return home, hoping to avoid transgression." At that time, the World-Honoured One said to Rāhula: "For you now to return home out of fear of sin seeking to escape suffering—this is not right. Why? Suppose two men were starving for lack of food, and suddenly met a host who prepared various rich, savory delicacies for them. In their hunger, they ate voraciously to excess. Yet of these two men, one had wisdom, and the other was foolish. The wise man, knowing he had overeaten and feeling heavy in body, stretching and yawning, promptly visited a skilled physician to ask for relief from his distress. The skilled physician gave him madana medicine and had him take it; after he vomited up the old food, he had him stay near a warm fire, observe moderation, and rest, whereby he escaped disaster and preserved his lifespan to the end. The foolish man did not know he had overeaten; thinking it was demonic possession, he slaughtered living beings in sacrifice seeking to save his life. The stagnant food in his belly produced internal wind, causing writhing, sharp abdominal pain, and because of this he died and was born in hell." The Buddha told Rāhula: "Your returning home out of fear of sin is just like that unwise, foolish man. You already possess the causes and conditions of roots of good, and now you have met me, just as one meets that skilled physician who can alleviate suffering and save from death. Why would you now abandon light to enter darkness?" Rāhula said: "World-Honoured One, the wisdom of the Buddhas is like the great ocean; the minds of Rāhula and the others are like the tip of a fine hair. How could we uphold the Tathāgata's wisdom?" The Buddha told Rāhula: "Just as drops of rain from the sky, where the later do not catch up to the earlier, though not catching up can still fill a great vessel; cultivating wisdom is also like this. Beginning from what is small and slight, it ultimately fulfills a great vessel. Gradually filling immeasurable vessels in this way—this is benefiting oneself and benefiting others; such is called a mahāsattva, just like me at present." Rāhula and the others, hearing what the Buddha said, experienced mental awakening and clarity. The Puyao jing states: The Buddha returned to the palace and sat in the hall. Gopā brought Rāhula, prostrated at the Buddha's feet, and gazed at him in greeting. At that time the king and his officials all harbored deep suspicion: "The prince abandoned the realm twelve years ago; whence was this child born?" The Buddha addressed his royal father and the assembly of officials: "Gopā kept her chastity pure and unstained, without flaw. If the king does not believe it, I shall now manifest proof." Thereupon the World-Honoured One transformed all the monks so that they all looked like the Buddha. Rāhula was just seven years old. Gopā gave him her signet ring, saying to Rāhula: "Give this to whoever is your father." Rāhula immediately went straight forward to the Buddha and offered the signet ring to the World-Honoured One. The king and all his ministers rejoiced and leaped, praising: "Wonderful! Truly he is the Buddha's son!" The Buddha said to his royal father and the ministers: "From now on, harbor doubts no more. This son of mine was born through transformation conditioned by me; do not blame Gopā." The king attained realization of the Way, and Gopā kept the precepts and purely cultivated the brahma-faring. The Mahīśāsaka Vinaya states: When the Buddha went to King Śuddhodana's palace, Rāhula's mother took Rāhula up to a high tower. Seeing the Buddha approaching from afar, she said to him: "Do you see that śramaṇa?" He answered: "I see him." She said again: "He is your father; you may go and ask for your father's remaining wealth." Once the Buddha entered the palace and sat in the open air of the courtyard, Rāhula ran down toward the Buddha, prostrated with his head at his feet, and standing in the Buddha's shadow, said: "This shadow is so delightful! May the Buddha give me my father's remaining wealth." The Buddha said: "Do you truly wish to have it?" He answered: "I wish to have it." The Buddha then brought him back and told Śāriputra: "You may ordain him." Śāriputra then ordained him into the household and administered the śrāmaṇera precepts. When King Śuddhodana heard that Rāhula had been ordained, he was deeply distressed, went to the Buddha, and said: "When the Buddha formerly went forth, there was still Nanda, so it did not cause me such distress as now. Then Nanda went forth as well, and my remaining affections rested solely upon this child. Now that he is to go forth, the great plan of the house and state is severed forever. Love for children and grandchildren penetrates to the very marrow; how can bhikṣus arbitrarily ordain others' children? May the Buddha from now on command the bhikṣus that without parental permission, none may undertake the Way." The Buddha then preached various Dharmas for the king, and afterward assembled the bhikṣus to establish the rule: without parental permission, one may not go forth and receive the precepts. Sengyou notes: In examining the circumstances of Rāhula's ordination as related in this Vinaya, they differ greatly from those in the Weicengyou jing. Because the dispositions faced at the time were different, both accounts are preserved here. Sengyou notes: The Śākya clan flourished like clouds spreading over red marshes; though the monastic and secular states differ, their attainment of the Way was the same. Nanda abandoned glory and desire to follow the Way; Rāhula renounced the wheel-turning king's throne to inherit the Dharma. Sandalwood surrounding them, dragon-elephants in herds, showing neither favoritism nor estrangement, they were delivered according to their capacities—the excellence of the Tamer can be seen herein.