Thus, the prince's life before enlightenment is about two parallel spiritual lives, that of the Buddha and that of his family. The accounts about Rāhula reveal that when Prince Siddhārtha left his palace to become a monk his decision and subsequent spiritual quest was not just a personal matter, but also affected his family every step during the way, as they responded to and affected the prince on his path to enlightenment. Apart from the early texts, there are many post-canonical Buddhist texts that contain accounts about Rāhula.
Because of the lack of detail, especially after Rāhula's ordination, some scholars have argued Rāhula did not have an important role in Buddhism.
Earliest texts do not describe Rāhula in much detail, and he remains an ideal figure without much depth in character. Some early texts such as those of the Pāli tradition do not mention Rāhula at all but he is mentioned in later Pāli texts such as the Apadāna and the commentaries, as well as in the texts on monastic discipline of the Mūlasarvāstivāda and Mahāsaṇghika traditions.
His accounts have led to a perspective in Buddhism of seeing children as hindrances to the spiritual life on the one hand, and as people with potential for enlightenment on the other hand. Rāhula is known in Buddhist texts for his eagerness for learning, and was honored by novice monks and nuns throughout Buddhist history. Although early accounts state that Rāhula died before the Buddha did, later tradition has it that Rāhula was one of the disciples that outlived the Buddha, guarding the Buddha's Dispensation until the rising of the next Buddha. He taught the young novice about truth, self-reflection, and not-self, eventually leading to Rāhula's enlightenment. The Buddha responded by having Rāhula ordained as the first Buddhist novice monk. Schumann has argued that Prince Siddhārtha conceived Rāhula and waited for his birth, to be able to leave the palace with the king and queen's permission, but Orientalist Noël Péri considered it more likely that Rāhula was born after Prince Siddhārtha left his palace.īetween seven and fifteen years after Rāhula was born, the Buddha returned to his hometown, where Yaśodharā had Rāhula ask the Buddha for the throne of the Śākya clan. As a result of the late birth, Yaśodharā needed to prove that Rāhula was really Prince Siddhārtha's son, which she eventually did successfully by an act of truth. This long gestation period was explained by bad karma from previous lives of both Yaśodharā and of Rāhula himself, although more naturalistic reasons are also given. According to the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition, and numerous other later sources, however, Rāhula was only conceived on the day of Prince Siddhartha's renunciation, and was born six years later, when Prince Siddhārtha became enlightened as the Buddha. According to the Pāli tradition, Rāhula was born on the day of Prince Siddhārtha's renunciation, and was therefore named Rāhula, meaning a fetter on the path to enlightenment. Accounts about Rāhula indicate a mutual impact between Prince Siddhārtha's life and the lives of his family members. He is mentioned in numerous Buddhist texts, from the early period onward.
563 or 480 – 483 or 400 BCE), and his wife, princess Yaśodharā. Rāhula ( Pāli and Sanskrit) was the only son of Siddhārtha Gautama (commonly known as the Buddha) ( c. Chinese: 長子 Japanese pronunciation: chōshi "The Eldest Child" Pali: Rāhula-bhadda, lit.'Rāhula the Lucky', Sanskrit: Rāhula-bhadra Ģ. Pali: sikkhākāmanaṃ, lit.'Eagerness for learning' Ģ.
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