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Yaśodharā or Yashodhara (Pali: Yasodharā, Sanskrit: यशोधरा, romanized: Yaśodharā) was the wife of Prince Siddhartha — until he left his home to become a śramaṇa— the mother of Rāhula, and the sister of Mahaprajapati Gautami. She later became a Bhikkhunī and is considered an arahatā.
Yaśodharā (P. Yasodharā; T. grags 'dzin ma གྲགས་འཛིན་མ་; C. yeshutuoluo) was the wife of Siddhartha Gautama and the mother of his son Rāhula. In the Pali tradition, she is often referred to as Rāhulamātā, "the mother of Rāhula."
Separated from the world, he later married Yaśodharā (Yaśodharā was the daughter of King Suppabuddha and Amita), and together they had one child: a son named Rāhula. Both Yashodhara and Rāhula later became disciples of Buddha.
Mar 31, 2023 · This is the story of Yasodhara, the woman who was married to the one who became the Buddha. Yasodhara is not the focus of most early Buddhist texts. The literature preserves fragments of her life, but the focus is (unsurprisingly) usually on her husband. The literature is genuinely scant where she is concerned—particularly regarding her youth.
The Story of Princess Yasodhara. When the Buddha had taken his evening meal that day, all who knew him as Prince Siddhartha, except Princess Yasodhara, came to talk to him. All of them were surprised but happy to see their prince dressed like a monk.
Changing, adapting, evolving. Alive. In so many of these many renditions, the Buddha’s wife (or widow?) emerges as one of the most fascinating characters. Although some people are surprised to discover her, she flies off the pages of many hagiographies, soaring through the narrative with passion, force, suffering, and love.
The story describes also the many years spent in futile and extreme asceticism, his achievement of Buddhahood, his subsequent life as a teacher, and final death. His wife, Yasodharā, appears only as a shadowy figure in that larger, more important, story.
