Princess Bimba pines over the Buddha; he goes to see her in her palace
The picture we see here is of the Buddha going to see Princess Bimbayasodhara, his former wife.
The day the Buddha went to see Princess Bimba was the same day that he went to receive the meal in his father's palace, as already described. The place of their meeting was the princess's palace. Accompanying the Buddha on this visit were Venerables Sariputta and Moggallana, the right and left hand disciples, and King Suddhodana.
Princess Bimba had been grief stricken ever since the Buddha left for the life of homelessness, feeling that the Buddha had rejected her. When she heard that the Buddha had entered Kapilavatthu, her sorrow became even greater. Even when King Suddhodana sent for her to come and pay respects to the Buddha she could not bring herself to go, and when the Buddha himself went to see her at her own palace, she could not walk to him unaided, but had to be helped in to see him by some of her maidservants. When she reached where the Buddha was sitting, she collapsed in a heap in front of him and rolled her head over his feet, wailing and almost losing her senses.
King Suddhodana extolled the virtues of Princess Bimba to the Buddha, telling him how loyal she was to him and that she had never let her heart change all the time he had been away. The Buddha answered the King that the Princess had not only been loyal to him in this life but also in many previous lives, when she had been his partner through many a difficulty. Then the Buddha recounted many a jataka, past life story, for the benefit of King Suddhodana and Princess Bimba.
Hearing the stories, Princess Bimba's sorrow lifted from her heart and she was filled with joy at the Buddha's teaching. When the Buddha had finished giving his teaching, she attained Stream Entry.
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