Exploring the Path - Pāli Course

The Ambalaṭṭhikarāhulovādasutta presents the first of the three Suttas from Majjhimanikāya that were addressed to the Venerable Rāhula.¹ The Venerable Rāhula was the only son of the Buddha born on the night when as Prince Siddhattha he decided to leave his palace. The name Rāhulo (bondage, hindrance) was given to the baby so it could function as a reminder to his father to leave the household without delay in spite of his son’s birth.

When the Buddha later returned to his hometown of Kapilavatthu on invitation of his father, King Suddhodana, his former wife, Queen Yasodharā, sent Rāhula to ask for his inheritance. The Buddha remained silent and simply left the palace. Rāhula followed him and repeated his request. Then the Buddha introduced him to the Venerable Sariputta and asked him to ordain Rāhula then and there at the age of seven. It is said that this Ambalaṭṭhikarāhulovādasutta had been taught to Venerable Rāhula shortly after this ordination. Later King Suddhodana requested that no more children be ordained without the consent of their parents.

It is said that the Venerable Rāhula spent most of his days at Ambalaṭṭhikā from the period of his ordination at seven onwards. Ambalaṭṭhikā was a pāsāda, a kind of meditation hall in the outskirts of veḷuvana kalandakanivāpe, the bamboo-grove, which was also a favourite resting place of the Buddha. It had originally been the pleasure park of King Bimbimsāra² who had fallen asleep after a picnic and was left all by himself. While a snake, attracted by the scent of the food, approached the king, a squirrel chirped loudly and thus saved the king. Out of gratitude Bimbimsāra ordered that the food (nivāpe) should be given regularly to the squirrels (kalandaka) in this bamboo (veḷu) forest (vane), hence the name.³

The sutta introduces primarily two similes to alert Rāhula:

The Buddha shows Rāhula the water vessel after having washed his feet with only little water left. He further throws all the water away, turns the vessel upside down and shows the fully empty vessel. Every time he compares this with a monk, who by telling a deliberate lie has only a little of his holy life left, has thrown it away, turned it upside down and whose sāmañña-ship becomes fully hollow. Vain and purposeless, like this empty vessel, would such a life turn out for such a recluse. Buddha continues with a further metaphor, the story of a royal elephant who would give up his life from the very moment onwards once he starts using his trunk in battle. Again the elephant is compared to any recluse, who deliberately tells a lie and thus gives up his recluseship — ready to perform any unhealthy action resulting from this lie.⁴

The Buddha then exhorts with the following words:

Tasmātiha te, rāhula, ‘hassāpi na musā bhaṇissāmī’ti – evañhi te, rāhula, sikkhitabbaṃ.

Therefore you should train yourself, Rāhulo: ‘I will not utter any false speech!’

and then proceeds to exhort the Venerable Rāhula that he should reflect on his actions of body, speech and mind in a threefold manner like saints of all times had done.