1190. A Courageous Woman.....!

When I posted a write up on “Maha Vishnu as Bauddha” a few days ago, there were a few who insisted that Gautam Buddha was different from the one which many Vaishnavas like me believe to be one among the ten incarnations of Maha Vishnu. Not going in details about the authenticity or contesting their views there was this one question which always haunted me.

Why did Prince Siddhartha leave behind his wife Yasodhara and son Rahula???  

The story says He left her in the middle of the night all of a sudden. How could Yasodhara have felt when she heard that He had left, the news must have been devastating for her. Yet, she did not blame anyone and never thought her life lost all meaning. Her son Rahula was everything for her from then on. She was advised by many of her friends and relatives to forget about the man who had left her and start life again. She was still young and most beautiful they all insisted that she marry again but she refused. She wanted to mould her son in such a way that the world would look up to.

Years rolled by……  

Then one fine day Prince Siddhartha came back as Gautama Buddha!

Gautama Buddha stood in front of Yasodhara and she could hardly remember him as the man who had left her.

“Now you are called “Buddha” isn’t it?” she asked him gently.

“I hear them call me so,” he answered in a politely.

“What does it mean?” she further inquired.

“I think it means the Enlightened One,” he informed.

Yasodhara smiled and then there was silence.

She then asked him, “Just tell me one thing, whatever they say you have attained. I can see you have attained whatsoever it is. I don’t know what it is, just tell me one thing: was it not possible for you to attain it here right in this palace?”

Gautama Buddha had no answer to it. He stood still. He knew now that it was possible to attain it right in that palace. He was advising all His disciples that to experience the stillness in the seat of silence it doesn’t matter if you are in a forest or in a royal palace, with family or in ashram. It was something to do with just being in the innermost core and that could have been done anywhere. Even in the palace and in the arms of Yasodhara.

To break the silence, Yasodhara continued, “I suppose we have both learned something. Your lessons, O! Buddha, will make the world richer spiritually, but my lesson will unfortunately remain largely unknown.”

“And what lesson is that?” Gautama Buddha asked her.

There was a spark from the light that reflected on her unshed tear, “That a courageous woman does not need anyone to complete her..... She is complete on her own.”

I bow to the womanhood for the Yasodhara!!!