“मौन बुद्ध”

मौनताको अर्थ धेरै छ यसोधरा,

शब्दमा त अर्थ सीमित छ,

भान आँखामा लुकिरहेको छ,

कुनै बन्धनले बाँध्न सकेन उसलाई,

न नवजात पुत्रकै अनुहारले,

न दरबारले- न त पत्निको प्यारले।

तिमिले सोधेको कुरा सोध्नै सक्दैन कसैले,

किन भाग्यो ऊ सबैदेखि ?

के दरबारमा ग्यान सम्भव थिएन ?

बाधक थियो कि तिम्रो प्रेम?

कि त्यो शिशुको मुष्कान ?

उसको मौनतामा तिम्रो प्रश्नको उत्तर छ/छैन !

चिवर वस्त्रमा यतिखेर राजमहलको ढोकामा-

उभिएको छ यौटा भुतपूर्व राजकुमार,

माग्न आयो कि दिन आयो ऊ ?

कि केही बिर्सेको थियो र लिन आयो कि ?

शब्दमा त उत्तर छैन यसोधरा,

भेट्नै पर्थो र भेट्यौ तिमिलाई,

सोध्नै पर्थो र सोध्यौ तिमिले,

तर तिम्रो प्रश्नको उत्तर छैन यसोधरा

समय छ बलवान- समयमै छ सबैकुरा

आखिर तिमिले त्यो मौका पनि पायौ

कि राहुललाई एकैचोटि ढाल र तरवार देऊ

तिम्रो प्रश्नको तैपनि उत्तर छैन यसोधरा

यतिखेर बुद्ध पनि मौन छ,

काहिँ छैन, कसैसित छैन तिम्रो प्रश्नको जवाफ,

हेर्दै जाऊ- तिम्रो प्रश्न स्वयम मौन हुँदैछ ।

This poem described the meeting of Buddha and Yasodhara-Rahul after he returned to Kapilbastu after acheiving Bodhisattva.

When Buddha came back to Kapilvastu after attaining enlightenment, everybody went to pay homage to him except Yasodhara.  Buddha went to meet Yasodhara himself along with Sariputra, his disciple. After touching Buddha’s feet, Yasodhara asked him a very profound question, ‘Isn’t the truth that you attained under the Bodhi tree on the bank of Niranjana River present here? Couldn’t you have had that understanding here as well?’ This made Buddha speechless. This question reveals the depth of her understanding and intelligence.

Yasodhara didn’t stop her son Rahul when he wanted to become Buddha’s disciple, instead she asked Buddha to initiate her too. But as Buddha was not yet ready to accept women into his Sangha, she couldn’t become his disciple.  Later on, after the death of King Suddhodhan, Buddha’s stepmother, Prajapati Gautami shaved her head, dressed herself with an attire of a monk and asked Buddha to initiate her. Buddha hesitatingly initiated Gautami after listening to the strong advocacy of his disciple, Anand, who was in favor of accepting women into the Sangha.  This incident opened the opportunity for Yasodhara to take initiation from Buddha.
Buddhist literature keeps on mentioning the names of Buddha’s female disciples such as Visakha, Amrapali, Prajapati Gautami, Kahjutara and Krisha Gautami. But it seems that after Yasodhara’s initiation, Buddhist literature completely forgot the name of Yasodhara. In the Sangha, Yasodhara never demanded acknowledgement for being Buddha’s wife rather she lived a very simple life. In the ashram, she washed dishes, swept the floor and nursed the sick ones. Her son Rahul had already attained Arhatwa and was one of the main Acharyas among Buddha’s ten Gandharvas. Yasodhara, the wife of an enlightened master and the mother of an Acharya, never asked for any important position and chose to live anonymously. It is absolutely admirable that she completely dissolved herself into the Buddha Sangha.

At the age of 78, on the same full moon day of Baisakh Purnima, Yasodhara’s last conversation with her beloved in the Benuban of Rajgrihi is poignant to the core. She requested Buddha, ‘Now I am old, and my body is tired. I have respectfully fulfilled my duties as the Koili princess, Shakya crown-princess and a disciple of the Buddha Sangha. I have remembered my past lives. I served you with immense love and trust in one form or another in many earlier lives. In this life you accepted me as your wife and gave me a son and later guided me as my master till I attained enlightenment. Now I have no desires left. With your permission I want to leave my body. Please forgive me if I have done anything wrong to you or the Buddha Sangha.’ After saying this she encircled Buddha three times, went to her hut and burnt a lamp for Buddha with love. She bowed down to him from within her heart and left her body in peace.
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