In contrast to the story about The Deer Park, some of Master Hsuan Hua’s stories diverge from more common traditions. Consider this explanation of Rāhula, Śākyamuni’s son, and Yaśodharā, Rāhula’s mother.

Rāhula was Śākyamuni Buddha’s son. The Buddha had three wives. His senior wife was Gopika, his middle wife was Yaśodharā, and his junior wife was Mṛgadāva. Rāhula was the son of his second wife, Yaśodharā. After giving birth to him, Yaśodharā encountered a lot of problems and was involved in a scandal. Why was that? She did not show signs of pregnancy until after the Buddha had left the home life. Naturally, the entire Śākya clan was outraged. They said, “She’s certainly been up to no good. Her husband has been gone for six years. How could she have a son?” The truth was that Rāhula had been living in his mother’s womb for six years. Of course, no one could believe this. The Śākyans were furious and wanted to punish Yaśodharā for her infidelity by sentencing her to death.

Malicious rumors spread through the streets and all over the country. Everyone knew that the Buddha had been away for six years, but his wife had given birth to a son. Even though the palace maids had sworn before the Buddha’s father that Yaśodharā had not been unfaithful and that the child was indeed Śākyamuni Buddha’s, no one believed her innocence. It was thought to be impossible!

Left with no choice, Yaśodharā swore, “If I have behaved improperly, then when I jump into a pit of fire, my son and I will be burned to death; but if I am blameless, the heavenly spirits will protect us from the fire.

Consequently, a large pit was made and filled with lots of wood, and a roaring fire was lit. Holding Rāhula in her arms, she jumped into the fire. Miraculously, the fiery pit turned into a pond, and a lotus emerged to support her and Rāhula. After witnessing this, the king realized that his daughter-in-law had been wrongfully accused. Everyone in the country acknowledged this was an extraordinary situation and stopped criticizing her.

Rāhula means “covering and obstructing.” Why was he called Covering and Obstructing? In one of his past lives, when he was a child, he plugged up a mouse hole with a piece of wood for six days before removing it. As a result, in this life he had to bear the consequence of having to stay in his mother’s womb for six years. We should all consider this carefully: cause and effect is truly remarkable. Even though Rāhula was the Buddha’s son, he still had to undergo the retribution of spending six years in his mother’s womb because of this misdeed of plugging up a mouse hole. That was how he got the name Covering and Obstructing.

Another possible interpretation would be from Yaśodharā’s point of view. Because of Rāhula, she had to face a lot of troubles and adversities. The obstacles that she faced came from her son. That could also explain the name Covering and Obstructing.

Ultimately, where did Śākyamuni Buddha’s son come from? Was he really Śākyamuni Buddha’s son? Yes, he was. Did Śākyamuni Buddha have his son in the same manner as ordinary couples do? No. When Yaśodharā expressed her desire to have a son, the Buddha pointed his finger at her, and she became pregnant. This may sound like a myth, but in Buddhism there are many such myths. Yaśodharā’s pregnancy was inconceivable. There is no way to verify it

Google’s AI Mode search is helpful here. If you ask, “Which Buddhist school says Siddhartha had multiple wives and that his son, Rahula, was born years after he became the Buddha?” you find that Hsuan Hua’s story follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition. The Widkipedia entry for Rāhula has more on this.

Following on yesterday’s post, here’s another example Master Hsuan Hua’s explanation of the basic stories of Buddhism.

See also Using Śāriputra’s Failure to Explain the Meaning of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva

Why was Śāriputra unable to practice the Bodhisattva Path?

Śāriputra was a Śrāvaka, and he once resolved to cultivate the Bodhisattva Dharma and practice the Bodhisattva Path of the Great Vehicle. Before you have genuinely brought forth the resolve for bodhi, nobody will test you. However, as soon as you have truly and sincerely brought forth the bodhi resolve, the gods, dragons, and other spiritual beings of the eightfold division, or the Bodhisattvas, will come to test you. It is sort of like university entrance exams. If you pass, you get in; otherwise, you have to start over again. Śāriputra resolved to practice the Bodhisattva Path, and Bodhisattvas must practice giving. If people want something that you have, you must give it to them. If you cannot fulfill their wishes, then you cannot be called a Bodhisattva.

When Śāriputra was practicing the Bodhisattva Path, he ran into a man who was crying in grief as he walked. The sad scene moved Śāriputra to compassion. As Bodhisattvas must sympathize and be compassionate with all living beings as well as alleviate their suffering and agony, Śāriputra asked the man, “Why are you crying?”

“My mother is sick,” said the man, “and she needs an eye from a living person to treat this illness. But where can I find such an eye? She will not recover without an eye from a living person. I went to all the medicine shops, but none of them carry eyes from living donors. How could I not cry?”

When Śāriputra heard this, he thought, “Ah, his mother is sick. He needs a live eye to cure her. He is very filial, but obviously there’s no medicine shop in this world where one can buy the eye of a living person. Since I have two eyes, I’ll give him one of mine.” Moved by compassion, he gouged out one of his eyes with his hand and said, “I’m here to help. Take this eye and go cure your mother’s ailment. Don’t cry now.”

The man took the eye, looked at it, and suddenly smashed it on the ground. The eye burst like a firecracker going off, and was no more.

“Why did you throw my eye to the ground?” asked Śāriputra.

The man said, “Your old eye is stinky and smelly and just plain useless, you know? What I need is a right eye! You gave me a left eye! Those are two different things. You didn’t even ask whether I needed a left or a right eye before you gouged your left one out. It’s useless, utterly useless. If you really want to help me, then please give me your right eye!”

Śāriputra was already suffering unbearable pain from gouging out his left eye. If he gouged out his right eye as well, he’d be totally blind. “No way! I can’t do any more giving! I can’t give you my right eye. Go look somewhere else.”

“Ah hah!” said the man. “So your Bodhisattva resolve was only half a resolve, eh? It wasn’t total. You could only give one eye. You couldn’t give the other one. Okay. So much for that. We’ll just have to wait awhile, won’t we?”

After saying that, the man flew up into space. He was actually a god who had come to test Śāriputra. He then said, “This time you didn’t pass the test. You can wait another few years.” This is like someone who wants to go to college but fails the exams and has to wait some time before he can try again.