Siddhartha Gautama's wife – Yashodara

Of all women down the ages, including present times, I most admire Yashodara of 2,600 years ago. I revere her too and strongly empathize with her. If the latter part of my statement implies hubris in me or in plain language makes me a presumptions upstart, none of those accusations are justified. She was a human being and so I can equalize myself to the extent of stating I empathize with her.

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Women of then

Yashodara, in the Buddhist stories we absorbed and sermons we listened to, was minor, not given prominence at all. Brought more to our notice as children was Queen Mahamaya, wife of King Suddodhana of the Sakyan clan living in Kapilavasatu, who gave him a son and heir. She was karmadestined to die within a short period of birthing. Thus came to prominence Prajapati Gotami, sister of Mahamaya who Suddhodana took as wife; she nurtured the motherless infant as her very own.

Visakha, a situduwa, daughter and then wife of rich Brahmins, who supposedly had gone far on the Path preached by the Buddha, became his chief female dayaki or devotee. Sujata offered the ascetic Siddhartha a meal which sufficed for weeks since early next morning of having the food, seated under the Bo tree in Gaya, he realized the truth of samsaric life which he had sought for seven years and more.

Prominent as having been saved from insanity and seeking solace in the dispensation of the Buddha are Kisa Gotami who had her child dying, and Patachara suffering the death of her entire family. He saved them from pangs of intense bereavement, making them realize the impermanence of life and its eternal suffering until the Truth is realized and Nibbana reached.

Film portraits of Yashodara

I am grateful to Navin Gooneratne and Prof Sunil Ariyaratna for their films giving more prominence to Yashodra in the former and the second being principally a biopic on her.

Gooneratne's Sri Siddhartha Gautama, 2013 Sinhalese epic, is on life of Siddhartha until he attains enlightenment. Directed by Saman Weeraman, written by him, Dr Edwin Ariyadasa and Navin, the film starred Gagan Malik, Anchal Singh, Ranjan Ramanayake and other Indian and local stars. It received five of eight awards presented at the 2014 UN Vesak Buddhist Film Festival in Hanoi, Vietnam, and was translated to many languages or dubbed and screened overseas.