Siddhattha Gotama

Siddhattha Gotama

On the fifth day the king invited the court brahmins and asked them to read the future of Bodhisat. The seven brahmins told the king. "Your son will become either the sovereign of the whole universe or the Enlightened Buddha;" thus they prophesied in two ways. But the youngest brahmin Kondannya said definitely. "Your son will retire from the world and become the Enlightened Buddha." The king then asked, "What will he see and retire from the world?" Kondannya brahmin replied, "He will retire from the world after seeing the four omens viz; an old man, a sick person, a dead person and a monk." Bodhisat was named Siddhattha and as he was of the Gotama clan He was also called Siddhattha Gotama.

Desire of Bodhisattva's father

On the seventh day Queen Mayadevi passed away and her younger sister, the lesser queen became the chief queen. Step mother Gotami looked after and brought up the little prince Siddhattha as her own son. She herself fed the prince. Two or three days after the birth of Prince Siddhattha, Gotami gave birth to a son called Prince Nanda. But she entrusted her own son to the wet-nurses to breed.

As for King Suddhodana, he wanted his son only to become the sovereign of the entire universe instead of becoming an Enlightened Buddha. So the king forbid old and aged, sick and the dead, and the monks to come within two miles of the palace, inner-city and outer city. To prevent them the king placed guards all around the palace, inner-city and outer-city ordering them, "In order that my son will not see the four omens, so you all guard diligently."

At the age of sixteen

When Prince Siddhattha attained the age of sixteen, for him King Suddhodana constructed three palaces in accordance with the three seasons, viz: Summer, Winter and Rainy season. The king let his son enjoy all sorts of luxuries.

One day King Suddhodana had a contemplation thus, "Now, my son has reached marriageable age_ It will be proper to marry him to a suitable princess and bestow the sovereignty to him. In this way, enjoying the luxuries of kingship, my son will not want to become a recluse and retire (to the forest.) Thus I will perceive him as a universal monarch." So the king sent messages to his relatives to send their daughters to be chosen as bride for his son.