法苑珠林 10.30

10.30

At that time the Buddha told Udāyin: "Udāyin, you should understand this: the lion, king of beasts at that time, was myself. The tigress was the Śākya maiden Gautamī today. Those beasts are the five hundred Śākya youths today. At that time, Gautamī already disliked those beasts and had no desire for them; hearing my verse, she immediately became my wife. Today it is just the same: having forsaken the five hundred youths of the Śākya clan and slighted them, she took me as her husband." Furthermore, the Sūtra on Cause and Effect says: When the prince reached the age of seventeen, the king gathered his ministers to consult together on arranging a marriage. There was a Śākya brāhmaṇa named Mahānāman who had a daughter named Yaśodharā, with fair countenance, bright and wise, of virtuous talent surpassing others, fully possessed of decorum. Having such virtues, she was sought as consort. Although the prince took her as his consort, though walking, standing, sitting, and lying down together with her, he never had any worldly thoughts, cultivating only dhyāna and contemplation. Furthermore, the Lalitavistara-sūtra says: At that time the Śākya champions and elders addressed the king: "If the prince becomes a Buddha, the lineage of universal monarchs will be severed." The king said: "Where is there a jewel woman suitable to be consort to the prince? We shall test them through expedient means." He ordered master craftsmen to fashion dark robes and gold statues inscribed with characters, stating that only a woman endowed with virtue matching his standards could qualify. The king told the brāhmans around him to enter the kingdom of Kapilavastu to observe far and wide. They saw a jewel woman, pure as a lotus blossom, resembling the jewel woman of a universal monarch. She was the daughter of the Śākya Dandapāṇi named Gopī. Seeing the prince's extraordinary skills, Dandapāṇi gave his daughter Gopī to be the Bodhisattva's consort. Again, at age seventeen, the king sought a consort for him. After screening several thousands, the very last maiden was named Gopī, foremost in beauty, fully endowed with spiritual virtues; she was the flower girl from his past life. Although taken as consort, for a long time they did not unite. Women naturally have carnal desire and wished to draw near. The prince said: "Step back! Women have defilements that will surely soil these garments." The woman dared not approach. All the women suspected the prince was not a man. The prince pointed to the consort's belly with his finger, saying: "Six years from now, you will give birth to a boy." Thereupon she became pregnant. Furthermore, the Pañcasvapna-sūtra says: The prince had three consorts. The first consort was of the Gautama clan, the daughter of elder Śākyan. The elder was named Shuiguang (Water Light), and his wife was named Yuming (Remaining Brightness). The wife lived near the border city; when she gave birth to the daughter, the sun was about to set, but the remaining brightness illuminated their house thoroughly. Therefore she was named Gopī (meaning "Bright Maiden"); she was the prince's first consort. The second consort gave birth to Rāhula, named Yetan, also named Yaśo. Her father was the elder Yi-shi. (According to the Rulying benqi, Shanquan zhong jing, and the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra, all say that Rāhula was born to the second consort, Yaśodharā. Relying on the Pañcasvapna and the Shi'eryou jing, they say he was born to the first consort. The Shi'eryou jing originally lacked this, and its transmission was deficient; it is feared that arhats of the western regions compiled them separately, as explained in the preceding fascicle.) The third consort was named Mṛgī, and her father was the elder Śākya. Because the prince had three consorts, King Śuddhodana built three-season palaces for him. (According to the western regions, a year is divided into three seasons: spring, summer, and winter; autumn is not separately established, four months being treated as one season; hence they are called three-season palaces.) Each palace had twenty thousand court maidens to entertain the prince. If the prince had not left home, he would have become a cakravartin, also called a Cakravartin-rāja (meaning an "emperor of flight").