Yashodhara

The Buddha was not oblivious of the virtues of Yasodhara. Therefore, he himself went to her residence. King Suddhodana, Sariputta and Mogallana also accompanied him. The Buddha instructed his chief disciples that they should not stop Yasodhara from whatever way she chose to pay her respects to the Buddha. Yasodhara came and seated herself before the Buddha and paid respects in the manner she wished by holding his feet. Then King Suddhodana described the virtues of Yasodhara in brief— When you renounced household life, many royal princes wanted to marry this young lady. But my daughter did not even raise an eye to look at them. When she heard that having become a samaṇa you had shaved your head, she also got her head shaved and took to wearing ochre-colored robes. When she heard that you were having only one meal a day, she also restricted herself to just one meal a day. Like you, she also gave up sleeping on high luxurious beds, gave up adornments, perfumes and other bodily decorations and abstained from enjoyments of dance, music and all kinds of other entertainments. This was bound to happen. Countless aeons ago, when Siddhartha Gotama was the ascetic Sumedha, he had obtained blessings from the then Buddha Dipankara, that he would become a Buddha named Gotama. At that time she had obtained the blessings that she would be his wife in that life and when Gotama becomes a Samma Saṃbuddha, she will accept his teachings and attain liberation. This is what happened. Blessed was Yashodhara, the devoted follower of her husband.