The Buddha and Princess Yasodhara

When the Buddha visited the palace, all but Princess Yasodhara came to pay their reverence to the Buddha. Yasodhara thought:

Certainly if there is any virtue in me, the noble Lord Himself will come to my presence. Then will I reverence Him."

The Buddha handed His bowl to the King, and accompanied by His two chief disciples entered the chamber of Yasodhara and sat on the prepared seat, saying:-

"Let the King’s daughter reverence as she likes. Say nothing."

Swiftly she came, clasped His ankles, and placing her head on His feet, reverenced Him as she liked.

The King then commented on her great love and said:

"Lord, when my daughter heard that you were wearing yellow robes, she also robed herself in yellow; when she heard that You were taking one meal a day, she also did the same; when she heard that You had given up lofty couches, she lay on a low couch; when she heard that You had given up garlands and scents, she also gave them up; when her relatives sent messages to say that they maintain her, she did not even look at a single one. So virtuous was my daughter!"

"Not only in this birth but in a previous birth, too, she protected me, O' King," remarked the Buddha and cited the Candakinnara Jataka. Consoling her with these words, the Buddha left the palace.

After the death of King Suddhodana, when Maha Pajapati Gotami became a Bhikkhuni, Yasodhara also entered the Order and later attained Arahantship. It may be mentioned that Princess Yasodhara was of the same age as the Buddha.