The Buddha goes for alms round in the town; Bimbayasodhara sees him and points him out to Rahula, saying, "There, that is your father!"
After the torrential rain had fallen, the monks who accompanied the Buddha were amazed and began to converse among themselves about the rain, saying it was like none they had ever seen. The Buddha said to the monks, "This bokkharavassa rain falling during the Buddha's time is not so amazing, but the bokkharavassa rain that fell in his previous life, when he was Prince Vessantara, was truly amazing."
At that the monks were intrigued to hear about the Buddha's previous life as Prince Vessantara, and so asked the Lord to relate it to them. The Buddha thus related the Vessantara Jataka to them, from the beginning up until the episode of the prince's return to the city and the event of the bokkharavassa rain, just like the rain that had fallen that day. The story of the Vessantara Jataka, which Thai Buddhists revere and nowadays like to invite monks to relate to them in the ceremony of the Great Life Desana (desana maha jati) originated from the story the Buddha related on this very day, when he went to give teachings to his relatives.
As for the relatives, including King Suddhodana, they paid homage to the Buddha and variously took their leave, but none of them invited the Buddha for the next day's meal.
The next morning, the Buddha together with his retinue of monks entered the town of Kapilavatthu for alms round. The townsfolk were all in a flutter, never having imagined that the Buddha, who was a king by birth, would walk in the town for alms, or, in more common terms, "begging."
The Pathamasambodhi relates this event as follows: "At that time the leading citizens of the town reported that Prince Siddhattha was going for alms in the city, so the people of the town all opened the windows of their houses, which were two and three stories high, to see, but all of the people were intent on looking at the Omniscient One as he went on his alms round [i.e., none of them put food in his bowl]."
Bimbayasodhara, who had been Prince Siddhattha's wife, and who had still not gotten over her sorrow at the Prince's departure, heard the noise of the citizens as they talked excitedly about the Buddha walking through the streets of their town. She took Rahula, her son, who at that time was seven years old, to the window and, when they saw the Buddha walking at the head of the Order, pointed him out to Rahula, saying, "There, that's your father."
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