法苑珠林 10.32

10.32

As the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra says: The Bodhisattva had two wives. One was named Gopī, a jewel woman who was barren. The second was named Yaśodharā. When the Bodhisattva left home, someone said at night: "Now that the prince has left home, how can she be pregnant? Defiling our clan!" The Śākyas wanted to throw mother and child into a fire pit to burn them. Yaśodharā, aggrieved by the baseless accusation, made a great vow: "If I have committed improper conduct, let the child in my belly and the mother perish with the fire!" Having made this vow, Yaśodharā leaped into the fire pit. Thereupon the fire was extinguished, and both mother and child survived unharmed. The fire turned into a lotus pond, with the mother seated upon a lotus seat, proving her truthfulness. Later, she gave birth to a child whose body resembled the Bodhisattva's. The father-king was overjoyed. He prepared delightful sweetmeats of a hundred flavors to offer to the Buddha. The Buddha manifested five hundred monks who all looked identical to the Buddha's body. Rāhula held the sweetmeat and placed it directly into the Buddha's bowl, thereby confirming the truth. Furthermore, the Great Upāyakauśalya-sūtra says: Because people suspected the Bodhisattva was not a man but a eunuch, he took the Śākya maiden Gopī as wife. Rāhula manifested through transformation from heaven, coming into being without the union of parents.