Advice to Rāhula: Four Discourses of the Buddha
Upon his return to Kapilavatthu from a day spent at a nearby park, Prince Siddhattha received news that had been delivered to him.
“A son has been born to thee, O prince!”
The prince was ecstatic when he heard the news that a baby had been born, and exclaimed that a form of bondage had arrived. King Suddhodana then named the newborn Rāhula, meaning “fetter”.
On that special day, Siddhattha was presented with an extraordinary set of words to welcome his first-born. When we consider the other experience he encountered on this same day, we can gain a better understanding of them.
Reports say that Siddhattha encountered a serene ascetic or had a vision of one. This encounter showed him a path of life that could help him and humanity find liberation from the pain of aging, sickness, and death that had greatly affected him when he fully comprehended their meaning during previous journeys.
At the conclusion of his stay in the palace, Siddhattha was determined to pursue the goal of attaining the Deathless.
It was close to midnight when he entered the chambers of his wife, Princess Yasodharā, to take one last look at her and his son.
However, she had her arm wrapped around Rāhula’s head, preventing Siddhattha from seeing his child’s face.
He then set off on a journey that would eventually lead him to enlightenment and Buddhahood after six years.
