The Pali Apadana makes a "Doyenne" (theri) out of this woman named Yasodhara, who is known as such in the Theravadin (57) literature. In the verses dedicated to her, she describes herself as Buddha's main wife (Pajapati) before he left the layman's life. She further identifies herself with Sumitta, the young woman who in a previous existence gave 8 handfuls of lotus to a young ascete who in turn gave them to Dipankara Buddha. This identification process is analogous to the one already noted in the Pali Jataka and in those cited by the Mahavastu. As for the rest, since one finds here the confirmation that Buddha's ancient spouse has become a nun and a saint, hence a "doyenne (in French)," we remain surprised that the texts have given her the name of Yasodhara.
The Nidanakatha, Buddha's biography that was the first among the Pali Jataka, but was actually written a while later, seems to have also been influenced, more subtly and indirectly, since our heroine only appears as Rahulamata, the name given to her in most Pali texts. Therein, she is born on the same day as Buddha and various other characters of varied importance in Buddha's legendary biography.(5

She marries him at age 16, after he conquers her hand by proving his superiority over her other pretenders in a series of games comparable to the Olympics. (59) Buddha leaves the layman's life, his wife and his son after taking one last look at his sleeping family, this is the same night that Yasodhara bears Rahula.(60) When Buddha returns to K., Yasodhara is awestruck by his appearance and pronounces verses of praise in his favor.(61) She refuses to assist in the banquet given for Buddha the day after his arrival, although all the other ladies of the court are present. So, Buddha visits her in her wing and she bows before her husband. At the same time S. informs Buddha of Yasodhara's austerity since his death.(62)
Although the Nidanakatha was somewhat influenced by traditions of "septentrional" India, it distinguishes itself at certain points. First it was not sufficient for Buddha to court and offer her a jewel for her hand, but he needed to triumph over his rivals by proving his superiority in various areas. Furthermore, it was not Rahula's conception that occurred the night of Buddha's departure, it was his birth. This has two consequences, one of which is important: before leaving Buddha sees Yasodhara and Rahula one last time- Rahula's legitimacy is no longer in doubt, Yasodhara is therefore not subjected to doubts and punishments by the Shakya, so she will not need to prove by miracle that Rahula is Buddha's son. When Buddha returns to K, her love and admiration are expressed in verses, and by staying reclusive, she causes Buddha to be obliged to come to her, at which time S. praises her and she receives the ultimate approval of Buddha himself.
Finally the post-canonical texts of the non Theravadin, whether preserved in Sanskrit or in their Chinese translations, contain much information relating to Gautama's wife. There are, as usual, big differences from other texts. It is actually useless to examine them in detail as they contain nothing that would help us solve the mystery of Buddha's wife.
We can now say that most of the information about Yasodhara being the wife of Buddha is derived from information about Rahula being Buddha's son. The rare elements with a positive historic base, such as Yasodhara's name and her father's name, are the late fruits of the later author's imagination- proven by their silence and diversification. There are many different names given to Yasodhara and her father, this fact exemplifies
the confusion.
Everything is geared towards the exaltation of this woman, her social rank, her virtues, even her supernatural powers. All are heavily insisted upon by the Mulasarvastivadin. The rare negative traits are present to underline a quality of hers, if she sends Rahula off with a sweet for Buddha during the lunch she is offering him, it is in order to honor and feed him. If it is seen as a seduction attempt by old monks, if the ancient spouse of the Buddha tries to bring the Buddha back to her by offering him a feast, and attempts in every honorable way to seduce him through her ladies or herself, if she sends Rahula with a condiment or a magic love filter, it is all because of the immense love which ties her to her ancient husband throughout many communal lives. If she attempts to dissuade Rahula from becoming a monk, it is because of the natural affection she holds for her only son. Only old monks and dried out devotees could blame her, because of their religious egoism.
Daughter of one of the principle Shakya notables, she is so beautiful and virtuous Buddha falls in love with her and conquers her in a contest where he obliterates his rivals. Through this marriage she acquires a very high rank in King Sudhoddava's court, a rank she will keep after the great Departure and conserve after Buddha's return. The austerities she practices are proof of her devotion, courage, and the strength of her attachment to Buddha. (While he is carrying out his macerations.) According to Northern texts, the result of these austerities is the delay of Rahula's birth and development in her womb for six years. This miracle causes her to have to undergo severe tests, due to the incredulity of the Shakyas. She ends in accomplishing two out of three miracles. Buddha himself tops the defense by performing one miracle and his wife is finally praised. Shortly after she becomes a nun, then successively attains all degrees of sainthood, leaving the memory of an exceptional woman. She therefore deserved the name given her in "septentrional" India, Yasodhara, "the glorious one." But where is there one historical detail?
The actual quantity of texts involving this woman, the leading part she often plays, the diversity of the information we can find about her; all prove that from the first century B.C., Buddhist authors attached great interest to "Buddha's wife," an interest which rapidly developed itself over the centuries.
So far we have seen that the reasons for this are easy to understand- they transpire through the stories. Since Buddha had been married in his past lives, the one chosen for marriage must have been extraordinary to justify such a choice by the omniscient Buddha. It stands to reason that such a woman should provoke interest and be praised, venerated and admired by the faithful.
However this interest emerges late, four centuries after the parinirvana of Buddha and the death of Yasodhara. Also this interest contrasts sharply with the (almost) complete silence of the ancient canonical texts written during the first four centuries of Buddhist history. This strange silence, which could be interpreted as scornful but also reveals the historians total neglect of this woman, is suddenly replaced with such preoccupation that as such it could be interpreted as an attempt for rehabilitation and justice. This contrast between the ancient and newer texts is compounded by another contrast, the fact that in the ancient canonical texts there does exist much information on the rest of the people close to Buddha.
The woman Buddha married may have simply been an ordinary woman, whose acts and character were not interesting enough to recall, if this were the case, she must have resigned herself to the widowhood imposed by Buddha's departure and goes about educating her son correctly, but in the shadow of Mahapra-Gautami, whose strong personality is clearly defined in the ancient canonical texts. Does she become a nun under Gautami's influence, along with the other young women of the Shakya tribe? (As was the tradition) There is no proof of this except for affirmative repetitions and the praises of later texts. However we can see that this woman is the only member of Buddha's family (in the large sense) that ancient tradition completely neglected, without even attempting to give her fictitious character traits or memorable acts because of her close relationship to Buddha and Rahula.