Rahula (The Buddha's Son)

Rahula was the only son of Prince Siddhartha (the Buddha) and Princess Yashodhara, born just before Siddhartha renounced the world. When the Buddha returned to Kapilavastu years later, Rahula was seven years old.

Yashodhara pointed to the Buddha and told Rahula, 'That is your father. Go and ask him for your inheritance, so you can become a great king.'

Young Rahula followed the Buddha, saying, 'Pleasant is your shadow, O ascetic! Give me my inheritance.' The Buddha did not reply and walked back to the Nigrodharama monastery. Rahula followed him all the way.

The Buddha thought, 'He desires his father's wealth, but material wealth is subject to decay and brings suffering. I shall give him the sevenfold noble wealth I discovered under the Bodhi tree. I shall make him an heir to a spiritual legacy that never decays.'

The Buddha instructed his chief disciple, Sariputta, to ordain the seven-year-old boy. Rahula's head was shaved, he put on robes, and he became the first Samanera (novice monk) in the Buddhist order.

When King Suddhodana (the Buddha's father) heard this, he was deeply heartbroken, having lost his son and now his grandson to monastic life. He requested the Buddha to never ordain a child without the parents' consent, a rule the Buddha established immediately.