Siddhartha loved his wife
More than his own life.
In the pleasure palace,
He enjoyed music and dance.

Some time he was restless
Yashodhara noticed this.
But she couldn’t guess,
The reason for his worries.

Though physically he was
With her in their palace,
He was elsewhere mentally.
Like this, she felt naturally.

Outside the pleasure palace,
There was something else,
Which he had never seen.
To see it, he was so keen.

But he couldn’t go out
As the security was tight.
To go out of the palace
He waited for a chance.

She delivered, one fine morn,
As expected, a beautiful son.
A messenger made a mention
“Oh prince, a son is born.”

“Rahula! ” Said the prince,
In a low whispering voice,
“Obstacle, ” what it meant.
The messenger mistook it.

It’s a name, what he thought.
To the King, he conveyed it.
So, they named the child
“Rahula, ” as the prince told.

As an obstacle, any day,
Never Rahula was on his way.
He too wasn’t bound,
By the new born child.

Before his love developed,
He had left the child,
But was happy, he had a son,
As an heir to the throne.

Years later, Rahula was one,
Among the main disciples ten,
So, the word ‘obstacle’ lost
What it signified, at last.

Rajaram Ramachandran

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/buddha-07-birth-of-rahula/