Gotama Buddha is revered as the founder of Buddhism. The details of his life are embellished to be suitable for a founder of a religion, someone worthy of reverance. Indeed it is such interpretation and intentionality based on faith which makes our attempt to apprehend the real Gotama Buddha so difficult. In this paper, I will take a critical stance towards such position, and as one method for approaching the real Gotama Buddha, take up the problem of the birth and naming of Gotama Buddha's child Rahula. Through this approach I will reconsider the reason for Gotama Buddha's renunciation. Traditionally, it is said that Gotama Buddha renounced the householder's life in order to "gain liberation from suffering" or "seek virtue." However, Gotama Buddha's renunciation cannot be explained solely by reference to such reasons which are common to all Indian ascetics of the age. Rather there must exist Gotama Buddha's personal, actual and direct cause for renunciation. There must be some serious matter behind his decision. A key for unlocking this matter is the birth of Rahula and his naming. The content of my paper is as follows: (1) There are two traditions concerning the time of Rahula's birth, one which holds that he was born immediately before Gotama Buddha's renunciation, and another while holds that it occurred at the time of Gotama Buddha's enlightenment. In particular, the latter story is centered on the doubt that Rahula is not Gotama Buddha's real child. (2) Etymologically, the name Rahula does not mean "obstacle" or "one who hinders." Rather it should be interpreted as "One like the demon Rahu" or "One who possess the Rahu-like qualities of a demon." (3) It is said that the demon Rahu swallowed the sun and the moon, thereby giving rise to solar and lunar eclipses. Thus the demon Ra:hu is depicted as the enemy of the sun and the moon. (4) The ancestor of the Sakya clan was a solar god, and Gotama Buddha and Ra:hula were descendants of a solar god. (5) From this, the name Ra:hula comes to mean "one who possess the Ra:hu-like qualities of the demon who swallowed the sun and the moon." The fact that Ra:hula was given this name suggests that Ra:hula's birth resulted in the destruction or the defilement of the Sakya lineage. (6) If we suppose that Gotama Buddha's renunciation took place after Ra:hula's birth, we can suppose that the reason for Gotama Buddha's renunciation is to be found in some serious event which gave rise to the destruction or the defilement of the Sakya lineage-the same thing behind Ra:hula's naming. We can also suppose that this serious event is not only in content a religious matter, but also something which allowed for the interpretation that Ra:hula is not Gotama Buddha's real child to arise. I believe that this attempt, which seeks to investigate the reason for Gotama Buddha's renunciation in connection with Ra:hula's birth and naming, falls within what can be acceptably considered the true facts concerning Gotama Buddha's life. |