Page 2
Siddhartha from his very childhood was kindhearted. One day,when he was playing in the palace garden a swan hit by an arrow fell near him.As Siddhartha was attending to the wounded swan,his cousin Devadatta came running and said,"This swan is mine as I have shot it!"But Prince Siddhartha refused to give his cousin the swan.
Devadatta angrily complained to King Suddhodana. After listening to them both,the king asked his jury to settle the dispute. Devadatta argued that the swan was his,as he had shot it.But Siddhartha said calmly,"If the swan had died then it would have belonged to Devadatta.But I saved its life.Life belongs to its Savior ,not destroyer!"Impressed by Siddhartha's argument the jury gave him the swan.
One day,the king and his attendants noticed that Siddhartha was missing,and they started looking for him.A little later,they found him sitting under a tree absorbed in meditation. The king was worried."I must distract hisind from all thoughts of austerity,"he thought.So,a luxurious palace was built to divert his mind and Siddhartha was not allowed to go out of it.
By the time Siddhartha was sixteen, he had grown up to be a handsome young prince.King Suddhodhana thought,'It is time Siddhartha should get married so that he never abandons family life.'And so,Siddhartha was married to Princess Yasodhara.But Siddhartha often thought,'I wonder how life is outside this palace?'After some time,Siddhartha and Yasodhara were blessed with a baby boy called Rahula.
Siddhartha was very affected by people's sufferings.So he thought,'I will find a way to stop suffering.'He decided to abandon his family and kingdom. So,one night,at the age of 29,Siddhartha left his wife and infant son accompanied by his charioteer Channa.
The 2 travelled for sometime and finally stopped near a river.Siddhartha shaved his hair and discarding his princely robes wore the garb of an ascetic.Calmly he said to Channa,'Now my quest for truth begins.'Asking Channa to return to the palace,Siddhartha went to Rajagriha and began living like an ascetic, begging for alms.
No comments:
Post a Comment