Yashodhara Waits

Yashodhara waits
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July 10, 2008

'Yashodhara waits' came up to me as an odd thought while I was reading about Buddhism and Buddha's life and teachings. Almost all the available documentation stated clearly that he walked out of his palace in the middle of the night, leaving his son Rahul and his wife Yashodhara behind and took to austerity, before attaining Nirvana and arriving at his approach of 'middle path'.

And almost all available documentation mentioned 'Yashodhara' only once and that is when prince Siddhartha left her and went on to become 'Shakyamuni' or 'Shakya Buddha'. Just led me to think what happened to Yashodhara then? There might be some Buddhist text avaiable that would bring facts to the fore, but as an author I took the liberty to think from Yashodhara's point of view and thus 'Yashodhara waits' was born.

I have churned out this short story from Yashodhara's point of view and have tried to imagine her emotions and feelings. What if, she never could forgive her husband for leaving her desolate without a word (she was human too) and if her soul is still restless and haunts the place where prince Siddhartha left her?

I have tried to be different with this work of fiction and have deliberately opted to be a little melodramatic and use heavier words (I guess, the plot demanded it). However, I retain my style of single line story plots and first person narration.

Read on the story HERE & share your comments.

PS: This is a work of fiction and I am not liable to answer anybody who feels that his religious sentiments have been hurt (I am just playing safe, I know, not many people read my blog otherwise too)