The Life Story of the Great Arahant Theri YASHODHARA - Part 02
When Prince Rāhula became a monk, Yaśodarā again asked for permission from King Suddhodana to become ordain. Then the king said,
“Daughter, if you are to ordain now itself, people in the future will condemn your ordination, saying that you have become a nun out of mere sorrow from the loss of one and only son.
Don’t you remember that even when you lost your beloved jāliya and Kanhajinā, you could bear up that pain and tolerate the grief. The instances you happen to give away your children born from your womb with their hands tied together, are more in number than this mountain ‘Sineru. But in such situations, too, you tolerated the grief and pain. Now, when my son, Prince Sidhārtha, has attained enlightenment and ordained his only son, how can we go against that fate? At first, I was defeated by Sidhārtha, then by Nanda, and now by my little grandson Rāhula. How can I lose you too?
Besides, this is not the right time for you to be ordained. Be patient until your ordination takes place at the right time.”
A few years later, the king Suddhodana, having attained Arahantship, passed away into final bliss of nibbana while lying under the white parasol in his chamber. By then, Mother Gotami had become alone. One day she addressed Yaśodarā, who repeatedly asked for permission to ordain, and said:
‘Listen, my beloved daughter, when my son was in the palace, due to your immeasurable love and respect, you were not even able to look directly at his face at once. Nor could you say more than two or three words to his face. You were extremely shy. So how can you now ask for ordination in front of the Enlightened One? If you showed so much respect and honor even when he was just a prince, how can you now ask for monasticism in front of the Lord Buddha?
Even though I asked three times for women’s ordination, the Buddha refused. If you ask for ordination now, people will think that the Buddha has specially treated his wife in lay life and has now even offered her ordination. That thought would never lead to good.
So, my daughter, be patient for a moment. I will go first and ask for the ordination in the presence of the Enlightened One. When I am ordained, you can come and ask for ordination.”
Thus, Yaśodarā had to wait at the palace, and mother Gotami, accompanied by five hundred high-born Sākyan women, left for Vishālā, seeking the ordination in the Buddha’s dispensation. With the acceptance of ‘the Eight Special Conditions’ (Aṣṭha Garu Dhamma) in the presence of the Lord Buddha, Mahā Prajāpatī Gotami obtained the higher ordination in the Buddha’s dispensation and thus started the ‘order of bhikkhuni sangha’, the ‘order of nuns’ in the dispensation of Gotama Buddha.
With the renunciation of mother Prajāpatī, Yaśodarā was left alone in the palace. After the great renunciation of our Bodhisatva, the entire possession, including three beautiful palaces named ‘Ramya, Suramya, and Subha’, with their dancers and attendants, belonged to Yaśodarā. Then, with the renunciation of mother Gotami, the whole possession and royal powers of King Suddhodana, the possession and glory of queen Mahāmāyā and queen Prajāpatī Gotami, the possession of prince Nanda and prince Rāhula, and also the whole possession of her brother, Devadatta, came to Yaśodarā. Just like the rivers flow toward the ocean, the whole wealth and glory belonging to the Shākyans in Kapilavattu, and the Koliyans in Devdaha came to Yaśodarā. But she remained still. None of such wealth or luxuries could overcome her heart. Instead of enjoying sensual pleasures, her heart was strictly attached to going forth and becoming a nun.
There is no surprise in the fact that she refused to enjoy such a large amount of wealth. Yasodara is someone who had already practiced giving up abundant wealth in samsara—not only material wealth but also the great wealth of children and husbands, and even her life and her own flesh—for countless eons. She had done it with no hesitation, with no repulsive mind, with no regrets, but only with a heart full of loving kindness and equanimity.
She left behind all her possessions like the one who threw away a carcass of a snake tied around his or her neck, and made her final decision to go seeking liberation. She, with a thousand noble ladies with Shākyan blood, shaved their heads, put on saffron robes, took clay bowls in their hands, and set out from the great Shākyan palace in Kapilawattu on foot to meet ‘the Giver of Liberation’, the Lord Buddha.
When it was heard that Yaśodarā and the thousand Shākyan ladies were abandoning worldly pleasures and going in seeking bliss of liberation, millions of people in the Shakya and Koliya clans ran to her and started to protest with tearful faces. Like the waves of the great ocean, their cries became even louder. They ran behind her, weeping. Some people chased them with chariots and palanquins, saying,
‘Oh, my princesses, let us offer you a ride… Let us ride with our chariots with these beautiful horses and tuskers; please let us carry you in these comfortable palanquins; please allow us to serve you; please let us be obedient to you with all these ministrations’.
And some people ran to her, carrying food and drinks in golden bowls and vessels, saying,
‘Oh, my lady with a sweet voice and exquisite beauty! Please accept these delicious food and drinks. Please stay with us for a while, have these food and drinks, and rest for a while here with us.
Some people broke down in the middle of the road, bewailing. Holding her feet and crying:
‘Oh, my princess with all glory, first we lost our ever-so-kind prince, ‘Siddhārtha’…. Then our charming prince Nanda and sweet Rāhula, Oh, my princess! motherly queen Prajāpatī too left us behind. Now, how can we console ourselves if you too leave us behind and go? Oh, my lady, with all glory! Don’t leave us; don’t let us suffer in this bad misery.
Along the way from Kapilavattu to Sāvatti, by both humans and gods, princess Yaśodarā and thousand Shākyan princesses were venerated, honored, and highly respected, served with food and drinks. Ladies came to them and massaged their swollen feet with oil and soothing items. They built temporary huts for them to rest in, cleaned up roads and sprinkled water to provide comfort, spread soft sand over roads, guarded them from thieves and philanderers, and even from ferocious wild beasts wandering along the roads.
There was absolutely, no wonder in those miracles that happened around her. If such things didn’t happen, that would be the wonder.
When Bodhisatva was to give great alms, she stayed next to him, prepared those alms, and made all arrangements. If the bodhisatta ran out of things to give, she even gave away her ornaments, jewels, cloths, and other belongings in support of Bodhisatta without ever hiding them. She gave up all her possessions for the sake of Bodhisatta’s perfection of generosity -not even a thing in the size of a mustard seed was hid by her in this samsara.
When she was given as a slave or a wife to some other man, she never got angry, nor did she curse. Instead, she said ‘Sadu! Sadu! Sadu!’ aloud. The same was her reaction when her husband happened to give away her own children.
When the bodhisatta practiced austerity, so did she. When the Bodhisatta lived in celibacy and seclusion, so did she. When the Bodhisatta was practicing virtue, so was she. When Bodhisatta renounced the worldly life, so did she; or, she kept celibacy or chastity.
She lived with a heart free of jealousy and anger without being caught by the defilements of womanhood.
So, which other woman in this world is worthy of receiving such veneration other than Yasodara?
Yaśodarā and a thousand Shākyan ladies obtained the ordination from the great arahant thērī Prajapati, and then she took them to the Blessed One.
On that occasion, the Blessed One preached thus:
“Nun Yaśodarā, the Mother of Rahula, rare is the arising of the Buddha; rare is the Enlightenment. Rare is the ‘opportune moment’ (kṣaṇa sampatti), rare is the sight of the Buddha, rare is the birth in the human world, rare is the going forth in a Buddha’s dispensation, and rare is the listening to dhamma. Hence, be heedful. Move about in this well-established dhamma and discipline with no delays.”
Theri Yaśodarā accepted the advice given by the Lord Buddha with great respect. Obeying the admonition and dedicating her life to the great Dhamma, she continued practicing Dhamma with great effort. Devoting her life to the dhamma and discipline, she practiced the dhamma. Within two weeks , eradicating all defilements, cutting off all the fetters, and burning out the craving that leads into samsara, the Thērī Yaśodarā attained the bliss of nibbana and became enlightened.
The great arahant Thērī Yaśodarā, being enlightened, gained the three knowledges (the knowledge of the recollection of past lives, the divine eye, and the knowledge of the destruction of the taints), the four analytical modes (satara paitsambhida), the eight deliverances (ashta vimoksha), and mastered the six special knowledges (Chalabingna). The great arahant Thērī Yaśodarā became the ‘foremost among the nuns who possessed direct knowledges (abhiññā) in the Gautama Buddha’s dispensation’.